Navigate Counselling Oakville

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    • Individual Counselling
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    • Laura Emmerson
    • Brooke Barkwell
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Holding space for your healing journey.

We provide counselling and therapy services to adult and teen individuals in Oakville, Ontario and its surrounding areas.

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Your journey toward healing and meaningful change does not need to happen alone.

We can help. It is our belief that your greatest resources are already within you and we are here to help you discover them.
Individual Therapy
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We honour your courage and vulnerability as you step forward to seek help.

Hi there, I’m Laura!

I am a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) with a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology and I am the founder of Navigate Counselling Services. 

Here, we take a trauma-informed approach as we support clients with diverse backgrounds in the areas of anxiety, depression, relational trauma and abuse, insomnia, anger, relationship issues, low self-esteem, grief and loss, pornography addiction, stress, infertility, and perinatal/postpartum mental health. A strong therapeutic relationship is highly valued in our work as we integrate interventions from evidence-based models such as Internal Family Systems (IFS), Brainspotting (BSP), and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).

meet the team

"We don’t have to do it all alone. We were never meant to."

– Brené Brown

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Our inner critics come across as mean and scary parts and yet in reality they themselves are scared and will do everything to protect the little person inside of us. Inner critics are scared that if they don’t criticize us, we will act in a way that will cause others to hurt us again. They manage our every move as a way to prevent us from feeling the pain we once felt at the time of our trauma. Your inner critics are parts of you, but they are not you. There is a you that can offer these critics and the little people they protect love and compassion. #ifstherapy #internalfamilysystems #partswork #selfcriticism #innercritic #loveoverfear #ifstherapist #traumainformedtherapist #innerchildwork #innerchildhealing #selfcompassion #bullyinghurts #bullying #verbalabuseisstillabuse #emotionalabuserecovery
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Our inner critics come across as mean and scary parts and yet in reality they themselves are scared and will do everything to protect the little person inside of us. Inner critics are scared that if they don’t criticize us, we will act in a way that will cause others to hurt us again. They manage our every move as a way to prevent us from feeling the pain we once felt at the time of our trauma. Your inner critics are parts of you, but they are not you. There is a you that can offer these critics and the little people they protect love and compassion. #ifstherapy #internalfamilysystems #partswork #selfcriticism #innercritic #loveoverfear #ifstherapist #traumainformedtherapist #innerchildwork #innerchildhealing #selfcompassion #bullyinghurts #bullying #verbalabuseisstillabuse #emotionalabuserecovery
4 months ago
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1/5
Not all pain can be seen on an MRI. When professional athletes are injured, they are given ample amount of time to tend to their injuries and heal. And yet when we are injured but our wounds are not seen on the outside, we are told to get back in the game. The sad part is this pain often hurts more than anything that can be seen on the body. Your invisible pain is very real and very worthy of your tenderness and care. #mentalheathquotes #feelthefeels #feelingsareforfeeling #emotionalhealth #invisiblepain #selfcompassion #selfcompassionjourney #mentalhealthjourney #traumatherapy #traumainformed #counsellingservices #oakvilleontario
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Not all pain can be seen on an MRI. When professional athletes are injured, they are given ample amount of time to tend to their injuries and heal. And yet when we are injured but our wounds are not seen on the outside, we are told to get back in the game. The sad part is this pain often hurts more than anything that can be seen on the body. Your invisible pain is very real and very worthy of your tenderness and care. #mentalheathquotes #feelthefeels #feelingsareforfeeling #emotionalhealth #invisiblepain #selfcompassion #selfcompassionjourney #mentalhealthjourney #traumatherapy #traumainformed #counsellingservices #oakvilleontario
4 months ago
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2/5
Therapy from an IFS lens invites all parts into the room. There are no bad parts of us, just parts that are working hard to keep us safe or get our attention in an attempt to have their story be told. When therapy is solely focused on increasing “good” or positive thoughts and feelings, the parts that are longing to be noticed, appreciated, and unburdened can be missed and so they continue believing that they are not worthy of being heard. 🌿I consider it a privilege to welcome all parts into therapy, especially the ones we’d rather leave at the door. 💻To learn more about the IFS model, check out our recent blog post by clicking on the link in our bio. #internalfamilysystems #ifstherapy #partswork #innerchildwork #innerchildhealing #allpartswelcome #internalfamilysystemstherapy #traumainformed #toxicpositivity #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealthblogger #mentalhealthblog #oakvilleontario #counsellingpsychology #therapistsofinstagram #compassionandcuriosity #selfenergy
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Therapy from an IFS lens invites all parts into the room. There are no bad parts of us, just parts that are working hard to keep us safe or get our attention in an attempt to have their story be told. When therapy is solely focused on increasing “good” or positive thoughts and feelings, the parts that are longing to be noticed, appreciated, and unburdened can be missed and so they continue believing that they are not worthy of being heard. 🌿I consider it a privilege to welcome all parts into therapy, especially the ones we’d rather leave at the door. 💻To learn more about the IFS model, check out our recent blog post by clicking on the link in our bio. #internalfamilysystems #ifstherapy #partswork #innerchildwork #innerchildhealing #allpartswelcome #internalfamilysystemstherapy #traumainformed #toxicpositivity #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealthblogger #mentalhealthblog #oakvilleontario #counsellingpsychology #therapistsofinstagram #compassionandcuriosity #selfenergy
4 months ago
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3/5
Have you ever wanted a roadmap or manual for your inner system? The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model comes pretty close. We can understand our various motives, feelings and beliefs by acknowledging that we have distinctive parts that have needed to adopt certain beliefs or roles as a way to help us navigate our world. We have parts that carry the pains of the past and parts that work hard to protect us from feeling those pains. 🔒EXILES are the parts that have been locked away because of the distressing feelings and beliefs they hold. At the time of their trauma, these younger parts didn’t have the right outlet to express and release their pain so it has stayed frozen inside of them. These little burdened parts desperately want to be seen and heard which is why they flood the system with painful memories and strong emotions/sensations…cue the firefighters👇 👩‍🚒 Our FIREFIGHTER parts are master distractors. These parts are the heroes that rush in and take the fastest approach to snuff out pain. At times, these parts go to extreme lengths to smother heavy pain. We don’t want to blame them for that; firefighters have helped us survive when we didn’t know we had access to another way. While firefighter parts are creative in distracting us from pain, our exiles continue to carry the wounds that generate the pain. And so our managers step in👇 👨🏻‍💼Our MANAGER parts like to run the show. Managers work hard to prevent the exiles from getting triggered so that the distressing feelings and beliefs they carry don’t flood in. They are very aware of the demands, expectations and standards that exist in the outside world and will do everything they can to make sure they are met. These parts tell us what we “should” do so that we are well liked and protected from the same situations that first wounded us. ✨The key to this inner system is the SELF. The place from which we connect with, unburden, and lead our parts into their most helpful states.
Navigate Counselling
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Have you ever wanted a roadmap or manual for your inner system? The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model comes pretty close. We can understand our various motives, feelings and beliefs by acknowledging that we have distinctive parts that have needed to adopt certain beliefs or roles as a way to help us navigate our world. We have parts that carry the pains of the past and parts that work hard to protect us from feeling those pains. 🔒EXILES are the parts that have been locked away because of the distressing feelings and beliefs they hold. At the time of their trauma, these younger parts didn’t have the right outlet to express and release their pain so it has stayed frozen inside of them. These little burdened parts desperately want to be seen and heard which is why they flood the system with painful memories and strong emotions/sensations…cue the firefighters👇 👩‍🚒 Our FIREFIGHTER parts are master distractors. These parts are the heroes that rush in and take the fastest approach to snuff out pain. At times, these parts go to extreme lengths to smother heavy pain. We don’t want to blame them for that; firefighters have helped us survive when we didn’t know we had access to another way. While firefighter parts are creative in distracting us from pain, our exiles continue to carry the wounds that generate the pain. And so our managers step in👇 👨🏻‍💼Our MANAGER parts like to run the show. Managers work hard to prevent the exiles from getting triggered so that the distressing feelings and beliefs they carry don’t flood in. They are very aware of the demands, expectations and standards that exist in the outside world and will do everything they can to make sure they are met. These parts tell us what we “should” do so that we are well liked and protected from the same situations that first wounded us. ✨The key to this inner system is the SELF. The place from which we connect with, unburden, and lead our parts into their most helpful states.
4 months ago
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4/5
Let’s be honest, our automatic tactics for managing and medicating emotional pain are brilliant and in many cases needed. Especially when we are experiencing or have survived trauma. Like tiny flotation devices, they keep our head above water so that we can keep breathing. They are great for survival but won’t keep us dry enough for our below-surface wounds to heal. When we have the resources, we can step into a life boat and tend to our pain. To fully see it for what it is. Sometimes a life boat is a safe living arrangement, a self-regulation strategy, a therapy office, a spiritual community or any resource that brings our nervous systems into safety. Becoming awake to our pain isn’t easy but it is the door opener to our healing. And healing IS possible ❤️‍🩹 #trauma #traumarecovery #traumainformed #traumainformedcare #emotionalhealing #traumatherapy #traumainformedtherapist #strengthbasedtherapy #healingpain #psychotherapy #psychotherapist #therapistsofinstagram #oakvilleontario #mentalhealthmatters
Navigate Counselling
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Let’s be honest, our automatic tactics for managing and medicating emotional pain are brilliant and in many cases needed. Especially when we are experiencing or have survived trauma. Like tiny flotation devices, they keep our head above water so that we can keep breathing. They are great for survival but won’t keep us dry enough for our below-surface wounds to heal. When we have the resources, we can step into a life boat and tend to our pain. To fully see it for what it is. Sometimes a life boat is a safe living arrangement, a self-regulation strategy, a therapy office, a spiritual community or any resource that brings our nervous systems into safety. Becoming awake to our pain isn’t easy but it is the door opener to our healing. And healing IS possible ❤️‍🩹 #trauma #traumarecovery #traumainformed #traumainformedcare #emotionalhealing #traumatherapy #traumainformedtherapist #strengthbasedtherapy #healingpain #psychotherapy #psychotherapist #therapistsofinstagram #oakvilleontario #mentalhealthmatters
4 months ago
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5/5

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