Growing up as a farmgirl in the Shuswap valley, Richelle (she/her) is an inclusive and compassionate Registered Clinical Counsellor (regulated through the BCACC) and founder of Peach Door Counselling. She believes strongly in the power of connection and therapeutic relationships as a vehicle for emotional expression and moving through difficult experiences with strength and support. Richelle offers trauma-informed care from an anti-oppressive and culturally-competent lens. She believes people have the innate capacity for healing – mind, heart, body – from traumatic and adverse experiences, and knows that each and every one of us holds the key to a fulfilling and balanced life. We are the experts in our own lives, and Richelle is here to help tease that expert out and guide them through difficult and rocky terrain.

Her professional education path began at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, where Richelle received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Human Geography and a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Humanities. She taught in a rural K-12 school for nearly ten years and took on the role of School Counsellor in 2018. Simultaneously, Richelle completed a Master of Arts degree in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University. She opened Peach Door Counselling in 2022 as an answer to the mental health crisis in her community and is thrilled to be supporting the mental health and wellness needs in Nakusp, BC and beyond.

Richelle says, “Just like you, my own healing journey has been full of ups and downs, learning and skill-building. Along the way, I have asked for help and been supported in beautiful ways. I am passionate about helping and supporting others along their own journeys and do so from a place of empathy, compassion, and ZERO judgment. I get it, I’m human too.”

Working with Richelle, clients can expect inclusive clinical care from an intersectional feminist lens. In session, Richelle draws from Humanistic and Attachment-based theories. Her work is influenced by Person-Centred, Emotion-Focused, and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic psychotherapies, but is also known to explore mindfulness and cognition-based modalities such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Richelle’s areas of practice include perinatal population challenges (postpartum depression/anxiety, infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, and parenting), trauma and trauma recovery, core wound and inner-child healing, women’s issues including body image, self-esteem, mental load, burnout and stress, and relationship difficulties, She is dedicated to your healing and personal empowerment.

RECENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT and CONTINUING EDUCATION/TRAINING

• Birth and Reproductive Trauma Program - Canadian Perinatal Mental Health, 2024

• Relational-Cultural Therapy for Perinatal Populations Certificate - Canadian Perinatal Mental Health, 2023

• Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - PESI, 2023