Suli Ackhurst MSW, RCSW, RCC, Clinical Director
Individual & Family Therapist
I’m an experienced family therapist that has worked as a clinician and clinical supervisor for over 20 years in the area of mental health in both public and private settings. I have depth of expertise in adolescent mental health and eating disorders but after years of clinical practice with individuals and families, I am skilled at building meaningful therapeutic relationships with people from all walks of life with a diverse range of issues and experiences. Through our work together, you can expect that I will practice from a place of integrity, practicality, regulation and above all, compassion.
Essentially, we are all embodied, relational beings. For this reason, I think we are best served in therapy when we work intentionally with the healing power of the body and always with the significance of our attachment relationships in mind. In order to shift the negative patterns that we are stuck in and move through our pain, I believe we are required to engage meaningfully with our emotions, come to appreciate the complexity of our own neurobiology and seek integration within all the parts of ourselves.
When mind, body and relationship are aligned, I believe we are able to make heart-centred personal choices that honour our highest values. I am deeply invested in helping my clients and their families achieve this alignment so they are able to heal and experience satisfying and sustainable change in their lives.
I look forward to meeting you.
Areas of Specialization
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Parenting Sensitive and/or Neurodivergent Children/Adolescents
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Disordered Eating in children, adolescents and adults
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Feeding Consultation (across the developmental spectrum)
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Over-Controlled Coping (inflexibility, stuck thinking, compulsive behaviours, loneliness and disconnection from others)
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Problems with Emotional Dysregulation
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Parental Mental Health and Well-Being
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Anxiety
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Depression
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Relational/Developmental Trauma
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Clinical Supervision for Therapists
Therapeutic Approaches
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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
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Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO-DBT)
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Emotion-Focused Family Therapy
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Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy for trauma
Educational Background
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Masters in Social Work at the University of Toronto
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Intensively trained in both DBT and RO-DBT
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Two Year Intensive Training in Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy
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EFFT Therapist Certification
Professional Designations
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Registered Clinical Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers (RCSW)
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Registered Clinical Counsellor with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (RCC)
A designation of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (RCC)