KPU alumna launches counselling clinic in Langley

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A Kwantlen Polytechnic University alumna has launched a new counselling clinic in downtown Langley.

Cassandra Hildebrand’s Luma Vita Counselling offers services for anxiety, stress, depression, trauma and PTSD, grief, and addiction, among other specializations. Individual counselling for youth and adults and relationship counselling for couples and families are also offered.

Hildebrand graduated from KPU’s educational assistant diploma program in 2013. She worked as an educational assistant in the Langley School District before coming back to KPU to study psychology and counselling, aspiring to become a teacher.

“As I worked as an educational assistant, I started chatting with kids more than making them do their work, and I realized that kids can’t learn if they’re not OK mentally,” Hildebrand says.

She then decided to switch to counselling and attended Trinity Western University to pursue a master’s degree. She now works in the education assistant department at KPU.

Building a team and working with other counsellors rather than sitting alone in an office, with clients coming in one after the other, was one of the inspirations behind opening the clinic, Hildebrand says.

“I thought … we can have team meetings and outings together, and we can bounce ideas off each other if we get stuck. That’s what made me want the group practice.”

When it came to launching the clinic, Hildebrand says more work went into it than she thought it would. She started by renting one room but later ended up renting an additional one in the same office area.

It was important for Hildebrand to build a comfortable space, where people coming for counselling would feel secure and private. 

“That took a bit of work, and then hiring clinicians took a couple months,” she says. “Now we’re getting going, but there’s a lot of marketing and advertising and things you don’t learn when you become a counsellor.”

Luma Vita Counselling also offers services in sexual health and wellness therapy, NeurOptimal neurofeedback, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, among others.

Designed to process traumatic experiences, the EMDR practice is a new technique in counselling, Hildebrand says.

“[EMDR] is based [on] how we sleep,” she says. “EMDR therapy has a foot in the present and a foot in the past. It’s letting you know you’re safe right now, but we’re going to go back to that memory, and we’re going to move your eyes back and forth.”

Hildebrand’s areas of focus include play therapy, anxiety, self-compassion, self-esteem, sleep, and psychedelic-assisted counselling therapy.

“I’m really big on self-compassion. I think that you’re stuck with yourself 24/7. You need to love yourself .… Something I really try to bring into it is looking at your strengths, positive attributes that you have, and focusing on that.”

Working in the school district and engaging with youth led Hildebrand to specialize in counselling children aged 6 and above as well. 

The team at Luma Vita also has a blog series, where they share information on mental health, self-care, and personal growth on their Facebook and Instagram pages to help individuals navigate life’s challenges.

For Hildebrand, launching the clinic means having the opportunity to help people from diverse backgrounds and specialize in different areas. 

She hopes to build a small community around Luma Vita Counselling where people can feel safe. She also aims to make counselling more accessible to youth. 

“I think all kids and youth can use counselling. It’s really helpful, but counselling can be expensive if someone doesn’t have benefits,” she says. “We’re really hoping to bring healing to the community, and so this Christmas, we’re putting on a Christmas hamper.” 

Luma Vita Counselling is collecting donations for two families in the Langley area in need. The team is also doing a fundraiser to raise money for those who don’t have health benefits to help them access counselling. 

To learn more about the clinic, visit www.lumavitacounselling.ca.