Therapy in the language you think in.

Why the language matters more than it sounds like it should

Plenty of people who speak excellent English still find that the words for what is actually wrong live somewhere else. Describing grief, shame or fear in a second language adds a step. You feel it, translate it, then say it, and that step is exactly where the meaning gets rounded off.

It also removes the interpreter problem. In a lot of Filipino families the person with the strongest English becomes the one who explains everybody else to a doctor. That works for a prescription. It works badly for therapy, where the person doing the interpreting is frequently part of what is being discussed.

And it means the context does not have to be taught first. Utang na loob, hiya, and the weight of what relatives will say are not exotic details to be explained at the start of a session. They are the ordinary furniture of the conversation.

Who you would be working with

Sessions in Tagalog are with Camille Granda, RCC, CCC, registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors and certified with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Both numbers are on her profile, and both registers are public.

Therapy in English or Tagalog, for people who have been holding it together for a long time.