Hi, I’m Kelsi Winter.

RTCc · Langley, BC

My curiosity about the human experience began long before I ever imagined becoming a counsellor. I’ve always been drawn to understanding why we are the way we are. Why we think, feel, and respond the way we do. How our experiences shape us, and what allows us to grow beyond the patterns we’ve learned along the way.

But that curiosity was deeply personal, too.

My own journey with therapy began when I was around 13 years old. I was introduced to trauma therapy and EMDR at an age when I didn’t yet have the language to fully understand what I’d experienced or how it had shaped me. Looking back, I recognize this as the beginning of my own trauma recovery.

What I did experience, though, was something incredibly important: hope.

For the first time, I began to understand that what I was experiencing wasn’t simply who I was. There were reasons my mind and body responded the way they did, and more importantly, there was a path toward healing.

Over the past two decades, therapy has remained a meaningful part of my life. Through different seasons of growth, recovery, and motherhood, I’ve continued to deepen my understanding of myself and develop the tools that support me in navigating life’s challenges.

That early experience shaped something I still carry with me today: a deep appreciation for what becomes possible when we’re given the space, support, and safety to explore and understand ourselves.

My recovery from CPTSD has been anything but linear. There have been layers of healing, periods of growth, and moments when I found myself revisiting things I thought I’d already worked through. But through it all, I’ve come to understand healing as an ongoing process of building a different relationship with ourselves, rather than reaching some final destination.

One of the most meaningful shifts in my own journey came when I began incorporating somatic approaches into my therapeutic work.

I had spent years developing an intellectual understanding of my experiences. I could recognize patterns, make connections, and understand where certain responses came from. But learning to include my body in that process opened up something different. I began to experience changes that went beyond understanding, reconnecting with parts of myself that had been shaped by years of protection and survival.

Alongside this personal journey, movement and the body had always been central to my life. My path took me through massage therapy, yoga, martial arts, and a longstanding career as a professional stunt performer in film and television. Through these experiences, I developed a deep appreciation for the relationship between our physical bodies, our emotions, and the ways we express and experience ourselves.

When an injury brought my performing career to a turning point, it created an opportunity to pursue work that had already become such a meaningful part of my life.

What began as a personal journey of healing and self-discovery gradually became a professional calling.

Today, I bring together my lived experience, professional training, and ongoing curiosity about the human experience in my work as a counsellor. My approach is informed by somatic practices, attachment, and an understanding of how our nervous systems adapt to the experiences we’ve lived through.

I know firsthand how meaningful it can be to have someone hold space for you when you’re still learning how to understand and trust yourself. Some of the most important changes in my own life began in therapeutic relationships where I felt safe enough to explore parts of myself I’d spent years protecting.

It’s those experiences that continue to shape the kind of space I hope to offer others.

I hold the designation of Registered Therapeutic Counsellor (Candidate) through the Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada (ACCT), registered under Kelsi Chartrand, and practise under regular clinical supervision.