Brandy Holownia

Her interest in becoming a counsellor began from formative experiences of connection to marginalized people. She worked as an Inner-city youth leader in Edmonton, AB; a member of an outreach team for orphaned youth in Brazil; a short-term crisis Foster Parent; and is currently volunteering as a Crisis Services Responder in Vancouver. These experiences formed a deep interest in offering acceptance and support to people experiencing vulnerability, isolation, and oppression while also offering capacity for hope, resilience, and transformation. She has experienced the power of being known, valued, and accepted and seeks to offer this supportive presence to her clients. Her passion is to see people thriving in life, connected with their values, engaged with what matters most to them.

Brandy holds a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology from UBC (2022) and is a registered clinical counsellor with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. Prior to becoming counsellor, she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (1994) from the University of Alberta and worked for several years in business until moving to Vancouver to complete a Master of Arts in Theological Studies (2000) at Regent College. For over 20 years she worked at Regent in a variety of roles supporting students and staff. Through her study and work at Regent, she came to view all aspects of life, and people from all walks of life, as part of God’s creative and redemptive work. She seeks to be sensitive to the breath of cultural experiences and range of faith paradigms within communities. Brandy is aware that faith and spirituality can be viewed with distrust and seeks to offer dignity and respect for all perspectives regardless of faith.

Brandy brings a non-directive, person centred approach grounded in the belief that every person has value and holds the capacity for self discovery and growth. She encourages curiosity and openness to explore emotions, meaning, and unmet needs. Her approach is trauma-informed, relational, and experiential. She incorporates mindfulness, self-compassion, and somatic awareness in her work with clients and understands the counselling relationship to be built on safety, trust, and hope. Brandy has interest in working with young adults and adults with various concerns including spiritual and cultural crisis, life transitions, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, identity issues.