Carmen D’Souza

RCC #21278

Carmen D’Souza is accepting new clients.

Carmen-Maria D’Souza, RCC

Hi, I’m Carmen-Maria (she/her). I’m a Registered Clinical Counsellor, and a mixed-race woman of Dutch and Goan heritage. If you’ve found your way here, something in you may already be asking for change. I invite you to read on and notice what feels true for you.

Anxiety, OCD & the Need to Get It Right

Maybe you know the exhausting pull toward getting it “right” — the checking, the worrying, the bracing for what might go wrong if you choose wrong. Maybe that shows up as anxiety or OCD, or as the paralysis that can come with a life transition where there’s no clear correct answer.

None of this makes you broken. It’s a nervous system that learned, early and well, how to keep you safe — and it can learn something different too.

Immigrant Experience & Hypervigilance

If you carry the immigrant experience, or grew up as the child of immigrants, you may know this kind of high alert intimately — the hypervigilance, the instinct to stay quiet or freeze, the overcompensating that can feel like it’s always running on overdrive, always trying to be exactly what everyone around you needs.

Growing up between two worlds gave me a personal understanding of what it costs to constantly translate yourself for other people’s comfort — and what it means to finally stop.

Counselling for Women’s Health:

Fertility, Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), Perimenopause, and Menopause are seasons that don’t come with a right answer — only the one that’s right for you. These experiences carry a grief and uncertainty that medical care often leaves little room to explore.

Counselling offers space for what you’re actually feeling, without pressure to move quickly toward acceptance or resolution.

Life Transitions & Uncertainty

A career change, a loss, new commitments, becoming a parent, the end of something — transitions often come with pressure to have it all figured out before you feel ready. This work isn’t about rushing you to the other side of uncertainty. It’s about learning to stay steady while you’re still in it.

My Counselling Approach

Whatever brings you here, here’s how we’ll actually work together. I draw primarily on AEDP, IFS, and CBT, held within an intersectional feminist lens. At the center of it, we’ll explore a felt sense of safety, and find a pace your nervous system can actually settle into.

Together, we slow down. We build small rituals that tell your body it’s safe to land. We practice standing in your boundaries. We make room for joy, not just survival.

Part of this work is learning the difference between what’s actually yours — your own beliefs, values, and expectations — and what you picked up from someone else, or from a world that asked you to be a certain way to belong. This work is slow, and it’s real: releasing what systemic oppression has taught the body to hold, learning to trust what it already knows, and finding your way back to parts of yourself you may have set aside just to get through.

I don’t believe healing happens because of a technique alone. I believe it happens inside a relationship — one built on safety, consent, and real trust that you won’t be judged for what you bring into the room.

A Bit About Me

I spent over a decade in direct patient care in BC’s public healthcare system as a Rehabilitation Assistant, long before I had any clinical language for what I was witnessing. That work taught me about dignity, pacing, and what it means to simply be with someone instead of trying to fix them.

My long-standing yoga practice — training in Varkala, Rishikesh, and Mysore — continues to shape how I understand presence and the body’s own wisdom. Outside of sessions, you’ll usually find me on my mat, meditating, walking the seawall, or sharing a meal with friends.

Getting Started

I offer virtual and in-person counselling for adults across BC, Monday through Thursday:

Monday & Tuesday: 3–8pm
Wednesday: 8am–12pm
Thursday: 4–8pm (virtual)

I currently offer a limited number of accessible-rate spots for clients. Please reach out to learn more about availability.

I offer a complimentary 15-minute consultation if you’d like to connect before booking your first session.

Email Carmen directly at: CdsouzaCounselling@gmail.com

Carmen’s informed consent form can be found here.

Approaches Used

Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Oppressive, Attachment Informed / Attachment Based Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Creative and Strength Based, Critical Race Theory / Culturally Informed / Culturally Competent, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Existential Positive Psychology (EPP), Existential Therapy, Experiential Approach, Family Systems Therapy (FST), Feminist Intersectional Therapy (FIT), Group Therapy, Harm Reduction Based, Humanistic / Person-Centred Therapy / Rogerian, Humanistic Approach, Internal Family Systems (IFS) – Parts Work, Mindful Self Compassion (MSC), Mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Nature Based Therapy, Neuroscience Informed, Non-Pathologising Approach, Relational / Relationship Therapy, Sex and Kink Positive, Sex Worker Positive, Solutions Focused Therapy (SFT), Somatic and Body-Centred Approaches, Strengths Based Therapy, Trauma Informed Therapy, Weight-Inclusive Therapy

Specialties and Areas of Practice

Accessible Counselling, Accountability, Addiction, ADHD, Anxiety, BIPOC and Cultural Issues, Body Image, Boundary Setting, Break-Ups, Burnout, Career Counselling / Work Issues, Childhood Trauma, Communication Skills, Creative Blocks, Dating, Depersonalization, Depression, Derealization, Disability, Dissociation, Eating Disorders, Emotional Abuse, Emotional Regulation and Anger, Family Conflict, Fears and Phobias, Goal Setting, Grief and Loss, Harm Reduction, Health Care Workers/First Responders, Identity, Immigrant Experience, Incest Histories, Interpersonal Challenges, Kink and Sex Positive, Leadership Development, LGBTQIA2S+, Life Meaning and Purpose, Life Transitions, Menopause, Minority Issues, Motivation, Neglect, Nervous System Regulation, Neurodivergence, New Parents, OCD, Pain Management, Panic Attacks, Parenting, Perfectionism, Postpartum, Pregnancy, PTSD / Complex PTSD, Queer Relationships, Relational Trauma, Relationship Issues, Reproductive Struggles, Self Worth and Personal Growth, Self-Development and Coaching, Self-Esteem, Sex Worker Allied, Sexual Trauma, Sexual Violence, Shame, Spirituality / Faith Based, Stress Management and Stress Reduction, Student Support, Substance Use Issues, Trauma

Carmen D’Souza is accepting new clients.

How Much Counselling Will I Need?

It depends on what you want. Most clients fall into one of three categories:

One (or two) and done – I just want some advice to move forward on a problem. Cool, just let me know that so I can make sure the session will be focused.
Acute issue – I need some support to resolve an issue, but I don’t want to be in counselling forever. This usually takes 8-12 sessions but could be shorter or longer based on your needs (time, financial, issue complexity). We create the ideal structure together.
Long-term therapeutic relationship – I need a safe space to process life events. Sessions are often booked up to a year in advance so you can count on the structure and support. The topic often changes session to session, but relates back to an overarching theme of self-development, relationship management, or something of that nature.

I can’t tell you which issues fall into which bucket, or guarantee results, because each client is unique. It’s best to let me know which category you think you might fall into, we can check and adjust as needed.

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Last Updated: October 5, 2026 Created: January 17, 2025

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