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My name is Anda Vintila. I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Somatic Psychotherapist, and guide for those who struggle with early life difficult experiences, trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, transitions, a sense of powerlessness, abandonment fears, relational attachment wounding, PTSD, CPTSD, and/or a perceived loss of self. I support individuals and couples.

Below lists my credentials and the somatic modalities that I will weave together in our sessions along with a little bit about me.

  • Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC)

& approved by ( current member of )
British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC)
First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)

  • Master of Counselling Psychology

City University of Seattle (Vancouver Campus)
Awarded to the Dean’s List for academic excellence

  • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

University of Victoria

• Somatic Experiencing® (SE) — 3-year professional training
  Healing shock trauma, developmental trauma, and nervous system dysregulation

• Somatic Regulation & Resilience — Kathy Kain & Stephen Terrell (Modules 1 & 2)
  Developmental trauma, attachment wounds, and early nervous system patterning

• Embodied Experiential Dreamwork™ — 1-year training (Dr. Leslie Ellis)
  Using dreams and imagery as pathways to trauma resolution, integration, the unconscious, and creativity

• Family Constellations — 1-year professional training (Agata Burdziuk)
  Working with intergenerational, ancestral, and systemic trauma patterns

• Brainspotting® — Phases 1 & 2
  Neurobiological trauma processing and integration

• Mindfulness-Based Somatic Therapy — Levels 1–3 (Ratha Chek)
  Embodied awareness for emotional regulation and trauma healing

• Jungian Somatics™ — Foundations (Jane Clapp)
  Integrating psyche, body, imagery, and unconscious material

• Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy — Seminars 2–4
  Supporting deep nervous system settling, regulation, and resourcing

• Trauma-Informed Practice — Levels 1–3

• Narrative Therapy — Foundations
  Deconstructing trauma-shaped stories and restoring agency

• Traumatic Stress & the Breath (Jane Clapp)

• Intimate Partner Violence — Clinical Training

• Motivational Interviewing — Clinical Training

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) — Foundations

What challenges do I typically help clients navigate?

· Trauma

· Family dynamics and childhood wounding

· Looping thoughts

· Uneasiness in the body and mind

· Relationship and attachment difficulties, fear of intimacy or codependency

· Shame and unworthiness

· Grief and loss

· Spirituality

· Identity / Disconnection from self

· Cultural displacement and confusion

· Physiological, psychological, and emotional pain

· Numbness and difficulty in feeling emotions

· Overstimulation, feeling flooded by emotions and sensations, and difficulty in containing emotions

· Addiction and self-sabotage tendencies

· Depression

· Anxiety

· Chronic fearfulness

· Control tendencies

What therapeutic modalities and techniques do I draw from in sessions?

·Attachment-Focused / Relational Therapy

· Somatic Experiencing / Body-centered Therapy (TOUCH-WORK optional)

·Nervous System Rewiring

·Embodied Dreamwork

·Active Imagination

·Shadow Work

·Inner Child Re-parenting

·Family Constellations & Ancestral Healing

What can you expect from our sessions?

Most clients who come to see me experience a sense of inner emotional discomfort usually stemming from challenging early life experiences. At the core of most presenting issues or traumatic experiences is not only a negative mindset but also a sense of emotional unease – these two are often experienced together. Therefore, you can expect our sessions to focus on and support change of your current problematic thought patterns as well as tend to and regulate your distressing emotions and body sensations.

Our sessions will support these changes through a process of exploring and identifying the areas of your life that feel in need of transformation such as your relationships, family dynamics, career, health, and spirituality. After identifying the area, we begin a deep process of combing through layers of thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and sensations that you experience when facing this area of your life. We look for re-occurring patterns you may be experiencing.

When we feel helpless with a certain pattern in our life or we notice it re-appearing, we may try to avoid facing it. Alternatively, we may attempt to address and understand it with tools we have learned from our life experience, books, podcasts etc but continue to feel stuck in it. In our sessions, I will support you in making a pattern fully conscious in order to transform the way you engage it. I have found that this process begins to strip the pattern of its emotional intensity and allow us to soften into greater self-compassion.

When we have access to more compassion for ourselves, we are less likely to sink into shame and avoidance and we are able to perceive different ways of engaging situations that lead to problematic patterns. We also feel more empowered and prepared to disentangle ourself if we are faced with the pattern again. We develop a sense of deeper trust and faith in our self and in relationships.

Our therapeutic relationship serves to contain this process, and I consider our connection a large part of the process, part of the medicine. Often these patterns are rooted in wounding we have acquired in relationships and so repair and healing of these patterns and wounds often requires a safe relationship. My intention is to cultivate and maintain a genuine, honest, compassionate, and sturdy connection with you as we move through and transform different parts of you. I will always do my very best to meet you in the arena and be right by your side, no matter what we are facing.

An example of a client case

You may notice that you feel quite frustrated in your relationship because you feel challenged in expressing your needs to your partner. You often silence your needs and prioritize your partner’s needs instead. Although this has created resentment in your mind and body, you feel stuck and confused in how to voice your concerns. Since I often aim to trace a presenting problem to its root, I would ask a series of intuitive questions exploring past memories where you have silenced your needs. What purpose has the behavior of silencing your needs served – what would have happened if you tried to share them? What sensations and emotions come up in the body now as we explore these moments? How does it feel to silence your needs? This can be seen as a process of exploring the ways we have been conditioned to behave, think, and feel that are no longer serving us in the present day. What patterns are we engaged in that have been formed throughout childhood, teen years, and adulthood? A somatic approach is included where together we learn how to safely feel distressing emotions and sensations that often prevent you from choosing a different way of engaging life.

This pattern or theme of silencing one’s self can also show up in our dreams through a variety of visual imagery and dynamics with other dream characters. The unconscious often speaks through imagery that can reveal both the suppression and the longing to reclaim one’s genuine voice and truth. You may be having dreams of losing your voice or shouting but noticing no sound comes out. Your dream self could have a mouth full of gum, hair, water, or teeth falling out. You could be trapped, hidden, or underwater – drowning or experiencing breathing difficulties i.e. can be mirroring holding one’s breath in waking life to maintain connection or peace. Another common one could be dreams of betrayal – the psyche could be showing you that if you reveal your true self or express your needs, the love will leave. In our sessions, we can re-enter any of your dreams and explore and process imagery, sensations, and emotions as dreams often reveal what the unconscious wishes for you to address and transform. Dreamwork can be a beautiful and creative route to processing difficult patterns and challenges we face in our waking life.

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A little bit about me

I am so glad you’re here! As my path into this work began long before I became a therapist.

During my childhood, I immigrated to Canada with my family from Romania amidst the post-communist era. This transition proved challenging for me as a sensitive and empathetic child, as I struggled to integrate and search for a sense of belonging within a new cultural environment. Growing up, I noticed a lack of representation and understanding of diverse cultural experiences among my peers, further contributing to my internal conflict. As my parents worked tirelessly to establish themselves in Canada, the capacity for in-depth conversations and support for my adaptation was limited. Although my childhood and teenage years presented difficulties, I developed deep friendships and community which has been critical in my healing journey.

These early experiences fueled a deep curiosity about myself, family dynamics, friendships, relationships, identity, and the range of human experiences. In my 20s, I began understanding how unmet needs in childhood can quietly (and sometimes loudly) shape the patterns we carry into adulthood. The connections I was making in my mind throughout my teen years and adult life paved my desire and commitment to personal growth, healing, and supporting others in their growth. This ongoing inner work and education continues to inform how I sit with and understand others.

In sessions, I strive to create a safe, compassionate, collaborative, and empowering environment that can support your process of change. I believe healing happens in relationship – through being met with gentle curiosity, deep care, warmth, and respect. I weave mind-body-spirit approaches that can involve working with your nervous system, emotions, dreams, family & ancestry, attachment style, inner critic, shadow, and inner child. I look forward to hearing from you!