EMDR Basic Training
Ajay Sahota Counselling & Consulting (www.ajaysahota.ca)
Welcome to my website. My name is Ajay Sahota (he/him). I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) Psychotherapist and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapist with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC). I support people in Vancouver/Richmond and communities in the Lower Mainland area.
I am a second-generation settler. I live/work on the stolen, traditional, sacred, ancestral shared homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
I am grateful to the ancestors who have cared for their land that I currently occupy. I am committed to being here respectfully, increasing my understanding of the impact of colonization, contributing to healing, and to take action against racism.
I aim to create a safe environment for you during our counselling sessions. A place where you feel connected, safe, and free to be yourself. I honour your truth and your story, I respect your openness and vulnerability.
I am excited to learn what makes you a unique person. My goal is to create a therapeutic connection based on empathy, nonjudgement, care, and kindness. Your mental health, wellness, and resiliency are my priorities.
I listen, I challenge, and I empower. It is important to me that you are heard and I will listen to your truth. Where appropriate, I may challenge you with kindness so that you feel inspired to make changes towards personal growth and overcoming obstacles. Your life experiences hold wisdom. Your wisdom and strengths contribute to your healing journey and personal transformation.
I am a second generation south Asian Canadian settler, born and raised in British Columbia. My parents immigrated to Canada from India, and as such, I have an appreciation for the challenges and resiliency of the immigrant experience.
During my childhood, I was raised by my aunt in the small city of Williams Lake in central British Columbia, a small-town community that felt like extended family. In my adolescence, I lived in a collective household with extended family who had recently immigrated to Canada. For several years I lived in a small home with 10 people, all trying to make a better life for themselves in Vancouver. I have an appreciation of the role family had on my life, and I hope to learn about your family of origin in counselling and explore how it has shaped who you are.
Some of my clinical specialties among others include:
1. Adults/Youth (16+years) who identify as LGBTQ+
2. Adult Children (16+ years) of Alcoholics (ACOA)
3. Adults/Youth (16+ years) involved in Crime or Gangs
4. Persons (16+ years) who struggle with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and difficulty regulating emotions
I identify with the LGBTQ+ community.
I recognize that each person has unique experiences with discrimination and oppression. Oppression overlaps with what makes you unique (e.g., race, gender identity/expression, economic status, biology, sexual preferences, abilities, age, personality, occupation, education, etc.). Respecting and celebrating diversity informs my counselling practice.
Growing up as a person of colour, I experienced hate speech, fears from family members and in the workplace about who I was as a person. These experiences, and through my relationship with my first counsellor, led me to activism in support of causes that work to build awareness of queer stories in society, prevention of suicide in young people, and anti-bullying.
5811 Cooney Rd Suite 305, , Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, V6X 3M1
Phone: (604) 248-2456
Email: counselling@ajaysahota.ca
Population Served:
Both Adults and Children & Adolescents
Languages:
How EMDR is Offered:
In-person
Areas of Expertise:
Anxiety
C-PTSD
Depression
Grief & Bereavement
PTSD
Panic Attacks
Phobias
Physical Abuse
Road Traffic Accidents
Sexual Abuse
Social Anxiety