Andressa Taverna

You may feel that there’s something off, yet you can’t pinpoint precisely what. Perhaps you feel disconnected from the world and from your truth.

“Am I doing enough? Am I doing life the right way?”

The trouble is that overwhelming feelings can make it even harder to open up and trust friends, loved ones and even therapists—right when we need connection most.

Being human can get complicated sometimes, and there is nothing wrong with how you feel. What’s more important is you know that you’re tired of feeling like this and deep down, you trust that there is a better way and that you are worthy of that.

Hi, I am Andressa Taverna.

Being a trauma survivor has moulded me and impacted my life in many obvious and also many mysterious ways. Numbing out and dissociating has helped me bear the trauma, but burying it deep and pretending it didn’t exist never really worked.

It was only when I started looking at it and inviting my demons to come forward, to speak up, to scream out their rage, that what I saw behind it was pain. Eventually, I saw that they were not demons after all, but my inner child.

It has taken me lots of therapy, many different medicines, so much pain and many many crashes and falls for me to turn down the numbing, the denial, the self-blaming and the huge shaming, and put all that into my forgiving journey, which can only start with self-forgiving.

When I connected with my inner child and received adequate support, I could then understand and separate who I really was and what was just the effects of the trauma. When I started feeling like my true self, I could also begin dreaming and choosing how I wanted to move forward. Today, I feel honoured to hold space for people that have hurt, too, even if it’s not the same pain (no pain is the same, after all).

As a Registered Wellness and Therapeutic Counsellor with the ACCT—Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada—I support clients like yourself towards deep acceptance and the radical inclusion of all the parts of who you are. I offer to help you explore your inner world and to move towards spaciousness, integration and joy.

I work with many people who are struggling with anxiety, depression, childhood trauma/PTSD through the use of trauma-informed, somatic based IFS (Internal Family Systems). I abide by a non-judgmental and compassionate framework, and I can assist you individually or in a couples/relationship setting. I also have a background as a Doula and Life Coach and I draw on these aspects in my clinical work.

If you are ready to step out of the pain, I would be honoured to hold your story and help you to find peace and safety with your truth as a person.