Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice

Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice

I believe in enhancing the body’s own capacity to heal & Reclaim Hope!

~ Ratha Chek                    

Mahvash Derakhshan MA, RCC

Counselling & Psychotherapy | Somatic Therapy & Breathwork

[With Individual Adults & Couples]

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English & Farsi Speaking
As your therapist, I create a safe space for you to access your inner ability to heal. Through a holistic approach, I empower you to take a proactive role in your healing process as you gain control over your nervous system, your body, your mind, and consequently your life. I use intentional stimulation to regulate the nervous system and bring your body back into balance.
I believe that the true healing comes when we work in tandem with both mind and body. The modalities I use support body’s natural processes of releasing self-restricting patterns from body-stored trauma; opening a path for individuals to feel joy, peace, self-compassion, and love.
It is an approach to healing trauma using mindfulness, breathwork, and hands-on bodywork. In a soothing and stimulating environment, I create a therapeutic sanctuary by adding music, aroma, visualization, and gentle touch. Every session will be a special journey that provides you with insight and clarity.
If you feel hopeless, stuck, drained, lost, numb, and find it difficult to feel joy and happiness; if you feel a tension that is constantly activated and stealing your energy away; and if you feel exhausted or unmotivated; there is a great chance that you hold some undigested and repressed emotions and experiences in your body.
If that is how you feel and where you are, then allow me to hold a safe space for you to digest and release your repressed emotions and experiences and replace them with elevated, joyful emotions accompanied with clarity.
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PERSONAL STATEMENT

In our ever increasingly busy lives, it seems the level of stress keeps rising and impacts the quality of our life. When we face all these stressful life pressures, we need to find a way to move those pressures out of our system, not just on the mental level, but physical and emotional levels as well. Finding a healthy way to express is the key to our mental health status. If we don’t find a way to express, we may end up repressing them. We tend to hold back our expressions due to fear of being judged by others, consequently we repress and become depressed. Finding a safe space where we can express these repressed emotions is key. Trauma is not an actual event that happens to us but it is what is happening inside and is subjective to each of us. A safe space provided by a therapist facilitates the release of what we are holding back.

Bridging the gap between two hearts, one conversation at a time.

Mahvash Derakhshan Tweet

MY SERVICES

INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
We all go through periods of emotional distress. Whether you’re dealing with losing a loved one, coping with a medical illness, or feeling anxious, stressed, or depressed, it might be time to consider talk therapy.
In a safe and non-judgmental environment through many different Psychotherapy modalities you would be able to share your thoughts and experiences to an empathic neutral active listener. The purpose of talk therapy is to help identify issues causing emotional distress.
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COUPLE'S COUNSELLING
In couple therapy, I guide you through an inner journey where you connect to your partner in a much deeper level as you focus on nurturing your relationship. I combine Integrative Somatic Therapy and Guttman Method in my couple therapy practice.
The goal is to create a healthy balance between connecting, creating boundaries, reducing destructive co-dependency, and building the Gottman Sound Relationship House.
The therapy goal is to improve relationship from the emotional level. It aims to increase intimacy, respect, and affection. It also aims to heightened sense of empathy and understanding within the context of the relationship. It helps the couple to remove barriers that create a feeling of stagnancy.
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SOMATIC THERAPY
(Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice, ISTP) ™
We work with both the mind and body. Our Body and Soul Centered Psychotherapy focuses on fully supporting body, mind, and soul toward clarity, hope, greater emotional resilience, and self-compassion. This hands-on modality enhances the body’s own capacity to heal, achieving peace and personal growth. During the session we create a safe space where individuals are guided to release body stored trauma and stress.
The goal is to facilitate a route for the individual to feel fulfilled and provide an ability to realize their intention into reality. Through a holistic approach, individually or as a couple, I empower you to take a proactive role in your healing process as you gain control over your nervous system, your relationship, and consequently your life.
Instead of outsourcing, I guide you to use your own inner abilities to co-regulate, reclaim your autonomic nervous system and change your state of being. My therapy room is your sanctuary where you awaken your repressed emotions, bring clarity to your mind, and create an equilibrium to your body and soul.
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BREATHWORK
(Integrative Somatic Breathwork)
Breathwork naturally releases emotional and physical pain that honours your capacity to self heal, relief from ailments such as grief, anger, anxiety, addictions, depression, low self-esteem, and/or relationship issues. Our Breathwork sessions will help you to experience a greater sense of peace, clarity in decision-making and feel more connected to your purpose and your spirituality.
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INVESTMENT

INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING

[INVESTMENT, Click Here]

$150

1 hr.
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COUPLE'S COUNSELLING

[INVESTMENT, Click Here]

$250

1 hr. 30 mins
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SOMATIC THERAPY (ISTP)™

[INVESTMENT Click Here]

$250

2 hrs.
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BREATHWORK

[INVESTMENT, Click Here]

$200

1 hr. 30 mins
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LOCATION

GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ME

My name is Mahvash Derakhshan, I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor. I bring over 30 years of experience in the mental health sector to my practice. After finishing my BA in Psychology, I pursued a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology.

I started my practice with talk therapy focusing on different relevant modalities. I worked with women facing domestic abuse, families, youth, adults, and groups. I also taught General Psychology in a university in Iran for a few years.

As I continued my own practice, I also worked with non-profit organizations in the social service sectors for over two decades mostly in senior management roles. Currently the focus of my practice is on Somatic Therapy.

When I was exposed to Somatic therapy, not only did it change the direction of my practice but also changed my way of living. I worked as a Psychologist in Iran for more than a decade before moving to Canada in 1997. I have been a supporter of the women’s movement in Iran and all around the world.

Breath-work is a profound tool to access the innate intelligence of our body.

Mahvash Derakhshan Tweet
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Integrative Somatic Studies Institute acknowledges that we operate on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.