Get to the heart of the matter

Isabel Bleim

A Little About Me, Your Empathetic Witness to the Struggles You Face

I know I’m living my calling. Everything I’ve faced in my lifetime gives me a unique perspective on helping you find hope and discover what you want out of life. As a woman of mixed ancestry, born in the Philippines and migrating to Canada at the tender age of 7, I know what wearing different cultural cloaks feels like. They can be heavy.

My family of origin has a colourful past tinged with transgenerational trauma and dysfunction. From a young age, I had to take on parental responsibilities and experienced several adverse events in my childhood and adolescence. But as a proud mother of two thriving adult children, I can tell you with certainty that where you came from does not determine your destiny.

I overcame, and you can too.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) can be the catalyst for you to define your values and goals clearly. My own struggles have fueled my desire to help individuals and couples discover how to face their pain and use it as a source of power to transcend it all. What has happened to you is not your fault, but it is your choice to rise above it. This isn’t something you have to do alone – I’m here to support your transformation.

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

MARCUS AURELIUS

What to Expect From Me

My aim for every session is to actively listen so I can accurately reflect your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This allows me to ask candid questions that help you examine your beliefs and assumptions about yourself, others, and the world.

Together, we can uncover unmet expectations and desires while identifying your core values, bringing conscious intention to your actions. This process can be both challenging and liberating.

When you partner with me as your individual or relationship therapist, you will feel welcomed, accepted, and supported from our first session to our last. Your therapy journey, just like your story, is unique to you.

And while I can’t guarantee the outcome, I’ve also been told that I under promise and overdeliver.

My Promise to YOU

We’ll work together to help you discover new possibilities in yourself, others, and the world. You’ll learn to get curious, accept, and change your present to create your best future.

  • Compassionate support

  • Candid conversation
  • Transparent guidance
  • Life-affirming research findings
  • Invitations to practice invaluable, transformative strategies between sessions
  • Hearing me say, “To get different results, you have to do something different, so practice, practice, practice!”

Credentials

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Simon Fraser University, and a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from Adler University in Vancouver. I am registered with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and certified by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Additionally, I am an EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist.

My training included a social justice practicum at Cameray Child and Family Services, where I held educational group meetings for new parents.

As a proud mother of two adult children, it was a joy to play a small part in people’s transition to parenthood. It was a privilege to answer questions about my lived experience, and impart evidence-based approaches to help new parents feel more confident in their ability to raise children who thrive.

For my clinical practicum, I requested and was granted an extended internship at Fraser House Society where I worked with youth, adults, couples, and families who were struggling with substance abuse. Having witnessed this type of suffering in my childhood, this work was near and dear to my heart. I was grateful for the opportunity to work with people who gave me their trust and permission to guide them toward a new path to well-being.

My time at Fraser House led me to work at a residential treatment facility where I conducted individual and group therapy for people from all walks of life. As diverse as they were, experiencing trauma was a common theme of their lives – in particular, adverse childhood experiences.

My love of learning and commitment to my clients drive me to hone my skills in the most recent advancements of counselling therapy. To that end, I continue to study therapies that have been extensively researched and proven in both academic and real-world clinical settings. These evidenced-based interventions and empirical-supported treatments come from the major theoretical orientations: psychodynamic, somatic, cognitive-behavioural, humanistic-experiential, and systems theories.