Karen Bovencamp

Some seasons, life is just life-ing too much. A loss you haven’t had time to grieve. A body that keeps sending signals you keep pushing past. A long list of people who need you, with your own name somewhere near the bottom. Sometimes the first thing you need is a place to set it all down and catch your breath.

I work with adults, teens, and couples, and many of the people I see feel things deeply. They notice everything, soak up other people’s moods, and have heard “you’re too sensitive” more times than they can count. A lot of them are caregivers and helpers, at home or at work, who have spent years tending to everyone else. Others come to me grieving a death, a pregnancy loss, a divorce, or a health change that took part of the life they knew.

Our work pays as much attention to your body as to your story. We get curious about where stress and grief show up physically, and what actually helps your nervous system settle. We look at the messages you picked up early about your worth, and the younger parts of you that learned to please, stay quiet, or keep the peace. Then we go past understanding. We practise new responses in session, in your body and in your words, so they’re there when you need them in real life: saying no without the guilt spiral, resting without earning it first, and offering yourself the care you needed back then. 

With couples, I help you slow down the fight you keep having and hear what each of you is really asking for, using my training in the Gottman Method and Relational Life Therapy. It’s an honour to sit with people through the hard parts, and a joy to watch them grow and heal. Everyone who works with me gets kindness, respect, and dignity, along with a little humour, because we’re all human here. All parts of you are welcome, however they show up.