Katrina Grabner (she/her) is a Registered Clinical Counsellor at FSGV with an MA in Psychotherapy and specialization in art therapy. Katrina has always worked with non-profits and she’s always been an artist – so this line of work was a natural way to combine her passions to find fulfilling work.
“I love all of it. I love what I do. It’s very creative. I get to be tuned in, flexible, creative, and playful in every session.” In her role with us, she works in Trauma Counselling for both our STV and PEACE programs.
STV (or Stopping the Violence) is a program that provides individual and group counselling for women and people of marginalized genders who have experienced violence. Clients explore how to recognize and understand the dynamics and impacts of abuse, learn self-care, coping, and assertiveness skills, and develop a safety plan and support system.
PEACE (or Prevention, Education, Advocacy, Counselling, and Empowerment) provides culturally sensitive, child-centered individual and group counselling for children and youth who have witnessed and/or experienced family violence. Using, art, play, and talk therapies, participants explore themes like establishing a sense of safety, exploring their emotions and boundaries, and developing secure attachments.
Despite the fact that it would be easy to think of Katrina’s work as heavy, she doesn’t. In large part this is because, although she is working with people to heal from trauma, healing is the focus. She describes her work as helping people to heal by “reorienting to pleasure, reconnecting to the self, and rediscovering play.”
Our counsellors use a variety of creative tools to help clients explore feelings, learn to set boundaries, and more. To do this work, Katrina wrote and illustrated an entire book with unique characters to teach folks about their nervous system. With characters like Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Attach, she talks about the ways our nervous system responds to keep us safe. It’s relatable and cute, full of reassurances that these parts of us are important, normal, and part of how our brains protect us. To see a preview of Team Survival Parts, click the picture of the cover.
The work Katrina does is inherently creative because it requires high levels of customization and personalization. She finds her artistic side to be especially helpful because she feels so empowered to make her own resources, like Team Survival Parts. Katrina’s book is a standout, tangible example of how our counsellors each bring unique backgrounds, skillsets, and interests to the work they do with clients.
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