Michelle Carchrae, MC BA
Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) #18720
About Michelle
When you’re seeking therapy, you might feel like you're all alone in your experience. It's hard to open up to friends and family about certain challenges that life throws our way, and friends don't always have the ability to be with us in the ways we might need. You might also feel overwhelmed and discouraged. When you've tried everything that usually helps and it's not getting better, or is even getting worse, it can feel like being at the bottom of a deep hole.
I help people connect with their hope in the future. Together we will shine a light down into that hole and locate the ladder. It’s possible to find relief: to have more confidence and clarity in the way you behave, the ability to engage with the world energetically during the day and relax comfortably at night, and the capacity to feel emotions without being completely lost in them.
Specific client challenges
I work with adult individuals who are experiencing many different problems, such as anxiety, depression, grief and loss, relationship challenges, and low self-esteem. While these problems may seem like they are all different, under the surface there is often the experience of feeling stuck in one way of being that isn’t working anymore. By exploring whatever your problem is together, we can discover what is keeping you stuck and bring healing to the places that are hurt. When you’re not hurting so much, then there will naturally be more freedom and choice to behave in different ways.
Training and modalities
I have a Master of Counselling degree from City University of Seattle, and I am also a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC). I am currently training in focusing oriented therapy and internal family systems (IFS). Both of these are experiential approaches that see change happening as a result of new inner experiences, and are safe, effective ways of working with trauma.
I also have a special interest in dreams, including PTSD nightmares, and I’m currently training in embodied experiential dreamwork. If you are suffering from nightmares, you may be interested to know that there are effective treatments that can bring relief, which often translate to improved functioning during the day as well.
My background
I graduated from the University of Alberta with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2002. I knew that I wanted to be a parent and a therapist, and decided to be a hands-on parent first and train as a therapist later. I spent many years as an at-home and homeschooling parent before going back to school.
During those years of intense parenting I began my own journey of therapy, inner work and learning about trauma. I continue to work with a therapist as part of my self-care and professional development.