In-Person & Virtual Counseling for individuals, couples, and families (18+)

Counseling in Vancouver

 

What would it feel like to be truly seen and heard by a fellow human?

Being witnessed and validated are the most powerful therapeutic interactions that we humans crave. I prioritize this aspect of our working relationship above everything else.

Together we will find a middle way through the uncertainty while cultivating a relationship of trust, connection, curiosity and compassion to your unique experience. 

You are the “specialist” of your own life. After all, you have a lifetime of experience living it.

That being said, my role as a therapist is of a reflective mirror— noticing and reflecting back to my clients recurring themes, stories they tell themselves, and behavioral patterns for their own review. Together, we will pay special attention to body-mind connection by bringing awareness to our ability to tolerate distress in our bodies.

From this starting place we can explore your life experiences, your strengths, and existing resources that already work well for you. We will also reflect on existing challenges and additional coping skills that you may want to develop. Throughout our work together we will review the goals that you would like to achieve, adjusting our work as the process unfolds. 

My Values

  • Open-mindedness

    Open minded as I have lived in different countries, cultures, and through different life experiences that have taught me that we as humans have endless self expressions and they are all valid.

  • Curiosity & Integrity

    Curiosity is a core value I adopted while practicing mindfulness as an essential vital part of human experience and growth. Certain directness comes from my two cultural backgrounds where I was encouraged to say what I mean and do what I say.

  • Kindness

    That being said, Kindness is at the heart of my life experience, practice and guides all my interactions with people in life.

I celebrate humans of all identities and abilities. I believe and affirm the lived experiences of all sexual orientations, genders, sexualities, and preferences.  I acknowledge that we live in systems of oppression and advocate for the liberation of all people. I am committed to anti-discrimination, anti-oppression, anti-stigma, anti-racism & anti-ableism.

 

Professional Experience

Ira Yakubovitz, MSW, RSW

I have a Master’s Degree in Social Work and I am registered in good standing with the British Columbia College of Social Work.

I’m an experienced counselor with more than 20 years in the clinical field. I’ve worked in a variety of settings: cancer care, adult and adolescent mental health, sexual and domestic violence, and more.  

I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Haifa University of Israel specializing in Domestic Violence services. I am trained in group facilitation as part of the post graduate program in Haifa University. I have a Master’s Degree in Social Work from New York University, specializing in Mental Health in a diverse adult population.

After settling in Vancouver, I worked at the Adolescent Psychiatry Inpatient Unit, Surrey Memorial Hospital as a social worker, working with youth and their families in urgent intense psychiatric care. Over the following years, I also worked at the Outpatient Mental Health Urgent Assessment clinic at the Children’s Hospital, supporting a multidisciplinary team in psychiatric assessment and developing initial intervention care plan, while triaging referrals to multiple care providers.

Over the past ten years, I worked as a social worker at the Patient and Family Counseling services at the BC Cancer Agency, working with cancer patients and their families through and post treatment. In this position I had an opportunity to work with individuals, couples, families and groups. Cancer diagnosis and treatment is a complex profound life changing experience that affects many areas of person’s life.

The common themes of my therapeutic work (however not limited to) were:

  • Adjustment to serious/chronic illness, disability

  • Managing symptoms of anxiety and depression

  • Loss and grief, bereavement

  • Shifting sense of identity, relationships, and sense of meaning and existential questions of life and death

In the past few years I took on a supervisor's role, while performing as a clinical supervisor to our team of counselors and Masters of Social Work students. This an area that I am continuing to develop as part of my clinical private practice.

  • My work combines a few therapeutic approaches and interventions from the following modalities:

    • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

    • Dialectic Behavioural Therapy (DBT)

    • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

    • Narrative Approach

    • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

    • Somatic Interventions

    • Mindfulness

    I am a trained and certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) facilitator and have years of experience facilitating MBSR groups and other support groups.

    I’ve found mindfulness to be the most profound and universal practice that is applicable for many people in a variety of situations. It resonates deeply with my own life experiences and with my core values. It is incredibly rewarding to see people’s lives transform as they cultivate awareness and adopt kindness and compassion as a way of being.

    • Bachelor of Social Work: Haifa University, Haifa, Israel

    • Masters of Social Work: New York University, New York, USA

    • Registered with British Columbia College of Social Work

    • Member of British Columbia Association of Social Work

    • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction facilitator certification: The Centre for Mindfulness Studies, Toronto, Canada