Karyn Henkel

Karyn Henkel is a Registered Clinical Social Worker (#12044) with the BC Association of Clinical Social Workers and holds a master’s degree from the University of Northern British Columbia. Trained in a holistic systems approach to counselling, Karyn provides the unique social work perspective of environmental and systemic impacts that are embedded in personal challenges like interpersonal relationships, professional exhaustion, historic and intergenerational trauma, and post traumatic stress disorder.

Karyn has spent the last 14 years working with individuals, families and communities and has witnessed many examples of the human capacity to change and create a life of peace, joy and meaning.

Therapy is not only for crisis moments, but a place to better understand yourself and your relationships. Pursuing therapy can be an experience and adventure that takes courage, time, and commitment and so I’m glad you’re here taking the first steps toward living a more fulfilling life.

Areas of counselling expertise

Grief & Loss

The experience of losing someone close to us can lead us into deep sorrow. Life transitions such as growing older, a medical diagnosis that impacts health, employment changes, and relationship changes can also require mourning of what was lost before moving into a new way of being. I believe our losses are a sacred part of our story and need to be honoured. I specialize in helping you create your own unique way in which to express your sadness. Ceremonies and rituals could become part of grieving and healing and could mean containment of sorrow or the letting go of someone/thing we really enjoyed and wanted to last forever. Adults are not the only ones to benefit from this counselling approach, children respond well to story as it creates meaning and containment in an organic way.

Depression

Low mood? No energy? Zero motivation or joy?  Surviving each day is very different than thriving. Failure to thrive can have many sources including but not limited to chemical imbalances causes by one sudden stressful situation or decades of tiny stressors which have depleted your coping resources. I can help you find out the source and then collaborate on a healing plan. We are a team, and I believe in your power and strength to do the hard work of making a comeback!

Professional Exhaustion

Compassionate fatigue? Burn-out? Overwhelmed caregiver? Shell shock? Battle fatigue? Soldiers heart? Post traumatic stress disorder? I have been there, and I can personally tell you, “Your career does not have to be over.” Each term comes with its own unique set of circumstances, all can apply to your individual employment environments.  You don’t have to ‘power through’, ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps,’ ‘put on your big person underwear,’ or whatever coined phrase they are using now to imply, ‘you must do it alone.’ You do not need to ‘do it’ alone. I can help.

Respectful Relationship Concepts and Skills

Has your relationship gotten to the point that you don’t know how to get it back on track? Does anger prevent you from having healthy relationships with your children/family? I believe relationships are what brings meaning to our life and healthy relationships can be hard to figure out. I can help with that. Learning concepts like interdependence, communication, and boundaries and skills like conflict resolution and emotional regulation are things I can assist with.

Anxiety

Do you find yourself white knuckling it through each day? Are you paralysed with fear and indecision or maybe it is the opposite for you, engaging in frantic activity that accomplishes nothing? Is your anxiety showing up in ways you find uncomfortable?  Let’s have a conversation about the origin of anxiety, why it shows up for you, and how to take advantage of a stress response designed to keep us safe by communicating with our body and brain.

Trauma

A high percentage of people will experience at least one trauma in their lives.  Trauma can include a wide range of situations, ranging from serious injury, sexual violence, witnessing violence, life-threatening events (vehicular/medical), to chronic abuse and neglect, being bullied, spiritual abuse, and homelessness. I can help you reduce fear and avoidance, improve coping skills, build trust, challenge problematic beliefs, and offer validation.

Self-Esteem

Do you experience self-criticism, social anxiety, loneliness, shame, even anger? Low self-esteem can lead to feeling isolated and alone. A positive self image is essential as our basic sense of worth determines how well we can deal with situations and how well we perform in the family, at school, at work, and in life. I offer strategies to determine the cause of self-esteem issues, teach you to separate who you are from what you have and how you look. Discovering one’s worth is a great way to take control of situations and to learn to feel adequate.

Addictions

Substance misuse and process addictions (gambling, sex, shopping, scrolling social media, gaming, overeating, etc) cause dopamine release that feels good in the moment but results in moving you further away from goals of health, relationships, and quality of life.  Recovery can look different for everyone. I can help make a plan that will work for you. In a safe and supportive environment you can explore the purpose of your addiction and develop different coping strategies.  Building success on success, day by day, and step by step will reduce the risk of relapse.  You deserve support – let’s start today.

Indigenous and Multicultural

I appear to be a white female with blonde hair and green eyes, but my indigenous roots run deep. I am of German, Mennonite, Spanish, and Choctaw Nation descent. I love to experience food, music, art, textiles, family dynamics, stories of origin and faith from other geographical places on this earth. My genuine curiosity creates a non-judgemental space for you to explore hidden assumptions you might make in regards to your own family, relationships, culture, etc.

Spiritual Counselling

In western culture spiritual health is often ignored but I believe it is an important part of health and healing. Do you feel the need to explore your spirituality and find out what that means to you? Spiritual exploration can connect us with a sense of awe and gratitude and helps us ‘wake up’ and ‘let go’ of pain and struggle we have become accustomed to. My bias is of the Christian faith with indigenous grassroots. I have a moderate to above average knowledge of other world faiths and therapeutic exploration of spirituality with me is open to everyone regardless of belief.

What you can expect from working with me

My superpower is to create a safe space to tell your story. There is something magical about telling our story in the presence of a witness and to be validated. I combine that with offering life altering tools that can transform your life into something you are truly motivated to get out of bed for. Beyond traditional talk therapy and skill-building, I incorporate creative methods such as art, writing, music therapies to facilitate self-expression and empowerment, helping you engage with your emotions and experiences in meaningful ways. Curiosity, problem-solving and humor are regular admissions to sessions.

Modalities I use in my practice

Leveraging my depth of experience as a therapist, I am able to discern the needs of the client to draw upon the modality that is best suited to the individual.

Rooted in a strength based, person centred and holistic practice, the following are the modalities that I utilize most often: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Solution Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy.

Personal qualities / strengths as a counsellor

As a social worker I have been able to witness the tremendous strength and resilience of the human spirit. I know that change is possible because I have seen the results in my clients. This capacity to change and adapt is life-affirming and is what motivates me as a counsellor to support people to live their best lives.

I am grateful to be living, working, and playing on the unceded traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, part of the Dakelh (Carrier) peoples’ territory. As an avid learner, I am currently enjoying rug tufting, wood torching and neurofeedback training. In my leisure time I enjoy snowmobiling, hiking, ATV’ing in the mountains, travel and audiobooks.

Education and professional development

• Non-violent Crisis Intervention
• Asist Suicide Prevention
• San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training