Yalda Ravanbakhsh (she/her) MA, Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC)

May 21

Written By Heidi Kwok

BA, MA, Registered Clinical Counsellor
Therapy Formats: Virtual & In-Person

I speak English
Accepting New Clients

I am devoted to supporting people who feel they’ve spent much of their lives adapting, moving between worlds, roles, cultures, or identities, often carrying a quiet sense of otherness, grief, or disconnection. Many of the people I work with are capable, thoughtful, and resilient, yet feel something inside longing to be met more fully: a desire for belonging, safety, and a deeper sense of home within themselves.
I support clients in coming into a more embodied, compassionate relationship with their inner world—learning to listen to emotions, body sensations, and relational patterns with curiosity rather than judgment. Often, what brings people to therapy is not a single crisis, but a cumulative fatigue from having to be strong, self-sufficient, or “put together” for too long.
My approach is strength-based, relational, and integrative. I see you as the expert in your own lived experience, and therapy as a collaborative process of inquiry rather than fixing. Together, we explore how early relational experiences, cultural narratives, and life transitions have shaped how you protect yourself, connect with others, and make sense of who you are.
My work is informed by somatic and neuroscience-based therapies, attachment and relational approaches, existential and psychodynamic perspectives, feminist and spiritual frameworks, and depth psychology influenced by Adlerian and Jungian traditions. I integrate practical, solution-focused tools with depth-oriented exploration, allowing space for both insight and embodied change.
At the heart of my approach is the commitment to meet you where you are. Together, we will work toward cultivating constructive resilience and expanding your relational capacity—with yourself and with the world around you. Whether you're navigating life transitions, emotional challenges, or a desire for deeper self-understanding, I offer a grounded, compassionate presence to walk alongside you on your journey.
My therapeutic presence is informed by lived experience. Before the age of five, I had lived in three different countries. My early life was marked by movement, migration, and forces beyond my control - war, displacement, and cultural rupture. These experiences shaped deep questions around interdependence, safety, and belonging, and they continue to inform how I sit with others who are searching for a sense of home within themselves, their relationships, or the world.
These questions stayed with me through adulthood. They have shaped how I relate to people, how I navigate transitions, and how I sit with others in their own search for home—whether that’s within relationships, culture, identity, or self.
If you’ve ever felt like your life was outside the box, a sense of otherness, or like you had to leave parts of yourself behind to fit in, I see you. I know how hard it can be to soften your guard when the world has asked you to be strong for too long. And I also know the quiet strength that emerges when we begin to grieve, to feel, and to make space for all the parts of us that have been waiting to be heard.
My approach to therapy is shaped by these lived experiences. I work from a lens of attachment and embodied awareness, attuned to how early relational wounds and cultural dynamics impact our adult lives. I believe healing happens not in isolation, but in relationship—when we feel safe enough to be seen, and brave enough to reclaim the pieces we’ve had to hide.
Therapy with me is a space for gentle unfolding. I work with individuals navigating identity, gender-based narratives, belonging, grief, emotional resilience, and the longing for deeper connection whether spiritual or otherwise. Whether you are rebuilding after loss, untangling patterns in relationships, or trying to find your voice—this is a space for you to come home to yourself.
“If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
You don’t have to walk through that door alone.
- Anxiety, Depression, Chronic Stress, and Emotional Regulation
- Recovering from Past Traumas
- Intergenerational Trauma
- Grief and Loss
- Life Transitions and Identity Exploration
- Attachment, Relationship Patterns and Relational Rupture/Injury
- Cultural Identity, and Belonging
- Self-Discovery, Personal Growth and Self Esteem
- Boundaries & Codependence
- Prenatal/perinatal support
- Somatic Awareness, Embodiment and Mindfulness
  Depth Psychology and Meaning-Making
- Intersectionality, Gender, and Identity
- Spirituality, Interdependence and Existential Exploration
Psychotherapy and therapeutic coaching for individuals and couples.
Individual session - 50 min: $180
Couples session - 50 min: $200
Accepts CVAP and Extended Health Coverage (for clients in BC)
Offers Sliding Scale