Virtual and In-Person Narrative Therapy Counselling in Calgary
Your First Step Towards Change
"I'm always anxious." "I push people away." "I'm not good enough." "I'm too much." Thoughts like these can start out sounding like an opinion and slowly turn into something you stop questioning. You just believe them.
Our sense of who we are develops over time, shaped by our relationships, experiences, and the messages we've absorbed along the way. Sometimes those messages are encouraging. More often, they sound like a running critique. Instead of asking why you keep doing this, we'll ask when you first started believing it. The shift from judgment to curiosity opens up more than years of self-criticism ever could.
Whether you're starting therapy for the first time or returning after time away, we'll move at a pace that feels right for you. You don't need to have everything figured out before you begin. At Calm Harbour Counselling, we take the time to get to know your history - what you've lived through, what's carried you through hard moments, and who you're hoping to become.
Start with a Free Meet & Greet
Is This How You Feel?
You may have spent years trying to change the way you think or feel, only to find yourself ending up in the same place. Maybe you second-guess your decisions, even when you've made thoughtful choices. Perhaps you carry guilt for things that weren't yours to hold. You might compare yourself to everyone around you and wonder why life seems easier for them. Or maybe you've become so used to criticizing yourself that you hardly notice you're doing it anymore.
These patterns can show up in all kinds of ways.
- You replay conversations long after they've ended.
- You assume you've disappointed people, even when there's little evidence that's true.
- You find it hard to recognize your own strengths.
- You avoid opportunities because you're afraid you'll fail.
- You feel responsible for other people's emotions.
- You keep finding yourself in relationships that leave you feeling unseen or unworthy.
- You wonder why the same struggles keep appearing, even though you're trying your best.
Many of these beliefs begin for understandable reasons earlier in life.
Children naturally make sense of the world by making sense of themselves. If your needs weren't met, if you experienced criticism, bullying, trauma, or rejection, it can be easy to conclude that the problem must somehow be you. Those conclusions often stay with us long after the circumstances have changed.
The same can happen after difficult relationships, discrimination, chronic stress, or living with anxiety or ADHD without understanding why life feels harder than it seems to for everyone else.
Gradually, those expectations and outlooks can become the lens through which you interpret new experiences. Narrative Therapy creates space to slow down and examine that lens.
What Is Narrative Therapy?
Narrative Therapy is based on the understanding that the way we see ourselves isn't something we're born with. Our sense of who we are develops over time through our relationships, experiences, culture, and the messages we receive from the people and environments around us. We don't make sense of our lives in isolation. Our interactions with other people, and the meaning we make from those interactions, can become part of how we understand ourselves and what we come to expect from the world.
Some of those beliefs help us move through life with confidence and connection. Others develop during difficult periods and become rooted in pain, criticism, rejection, loss, trauma, or chronic stress. Over time, those beliefs can begin to feel less like conclusions we've reached and more like facts about who we are.
Narrative Therapy creates some distance between you and the problem so you can look at it rather than feeling like you are it. Instead of "I'm an anxious person," for example, we might become curious about how anxiety shows up in your life: when it becomes louder, what seems to strengthen it, what it convinces you to believe, and when you've been able to respond differently. This process can make a problem feel less like a permanent part of your identity and more like something you can understand and respond to.
We may also slow down beliefs that have become broad conclusions about who you are. A thought such as "I always disappoint people" can feel unquestionable when you've carried it for years. Together, we can look more closely at the experiences that contributed to that belief, the circumstances surrounding them, and the moments that don't fit it quite so neatly.
Those exceptions matter. Your life contains more than the experiences that support your harshest beliefs about yourself. There may also be moments when you spoke up, persisted through something difficult, acted according to your values, accepted support, or responded differently than you once would have. Narrative Therapy makes room for these parts of your experience too, helping you develop a fuller understanding of yourself rather than allowing one painful story to define the whole picture.
Therapy Goals for Narrative Therapy Clients
Separating Yourself from the Problem
Narrative Therapy begins with the understanding that you are more than the challenges you're facing. Anxiety, grief, trauma, self-doubt, or perfectionism may influence your life, but they don't define you. As we begin viewing the problem as something you have a relationship with, instead of something you are, it often becomes easier to respond to it with greater choice and flexibility.
Understanding the Story Behind the Problem
Problems don't appear in isolation. Together, we'll explore how your experiences, relationships, culture, and life circumstances have shaped the way the problem operates in your life. We might become curious about where certain expectations came from, how particular ways of describing yourself became familiar, and whether there have been times when your experience didn't fit the story you've come to believe. Looking at the bigger picture can make room for more compassion and less self-blame.
Discovering Your Preferred Story
Even when a problem feels overwhelming, it never tells the whole story. Throughout therapy, we'll pay attention to the moments that reflect your values, strengths, relationships, hopes, and abilities. Those experiences often point toward the kind of person you want to be and the life you want to build.
Living More Intentionally
As your understanding of yourself expands, you might find you're able to make decisions that feel more aligned with your values instead of automatically responding to fear, self-criticism, or old expectations. Therapy helps strengthen the story you want to carry forward.
Discover Narrative Therapy Counselling in Calgary
Many people come to their first Narrative Therapy session expecting the focus to be on the problem. They expect the therapist to figure them out or tell them why they think and feel the way they do. Instead, these conversations will be guided by curiosity. We might explore a single moment, a relationship, or a belief that's been shaping your life in ways you hadn't noticed before.
As the conversation unfolds, people often begin making connections that weren't obvious before. You might recognize a strength you've overlooked, a value that's been quietly influencing your decisions, or realize a problem has been taking up more space in your life than it deserves.
The goal isn't to leave each session with the "right" answer. Instead, it might be a question that stays with your for days. You might have a different perspective that continues to shape how you respond to yourself, your relationships, and the challenges you face between sessions. A familiar situation may suddenly feel different. Gradually, new ways of understanding yourself begin influencing the choices you make every day.
Narrative Therapy for Neurodivergent Adults
People who discover they're neurodivergent later in life often describe a mix of relief and grief. Relief because there is finally an explanation for why certain things have always felt harder. Grief for the years spent believing they were lazy, disorganized, too sensitive, or simply not trying hard enough.
Messages like these can come from many places, and become deeply rooted. Even after receiving a diagnosis, many people find those old messages are still there, shaping the way they see themselves.
Narrative Therapy encourages us to untangle those experiences. Looking at those ideas with curiosity can reveal how they've influenced your life while bringing overlooked strengths and values into focus.
As those conversations unfold, many people begin seeing themselves through a different lens - one that makes room for their strengths, creativity, persistence, and the ways they've adapted throughout their lives.
Narrative Therapy for Self-Esteem and Identity
Our confidence and self-worth are shaped by many influences. Our relationships, experiences, and the messages we receive from others all influence how we understand who we are.
When those experiences have been painful, it's easy to carry beliefs that no longer serve us. You might find yourself doubting your abilities, putting everyone else's needs first, or feeling like you're never quite enough, even when there's little evidence to support those thoughts.
Through thoughtful conversation we’ll examine where those assumptions and expectations came from and how they've shaped your life. Attention is given to the relationships, experiences, and messages that shaped your sense of self, while also highlighting the strengths, values, and qualities that may have been overlooked along the way.
As your understanding grows, many people find they relate to themselves with more compassion and confidence. The goal isn't to become someone different. It's to develop a fuller, more balanced understanding of who you are and grow in ways that feel more aligned with your values.
Our Guiding Values in Stress Counselling
Curiosity
We believe understanding begins with curiosity. Rather than making assumptions or searching for quick answers, we'll explore your journey, the ideas you've developed about yourself, and how those experiences have shaped your life
Respect
You are the expert on your own life. Our role is to walk alongside you, ask thoughtful questions, and help you make sense of your experiences. We don't assume we know your story better than you do.
Social Justice
Our lives are shaped by more than individual experiences. Family, culture, relationships, systems, and community all influence how we see ourselves. We recognize these influences and strive to create a space where every part of your identity is welcomed and respected.
Hope
Even when people have carried the same beliefs for years, change is possible. Therapy offers an opportunity to see yourself through a wider lens and discover possibilities that may have felt out of reach.
Stress Therapy: Our 5-Step Process
Our Simple Steps to Getting Started.
Step One:
Book a free consultation. If that feels like a lot, you can also reach out through our contact form.
Step Two:
Step Three:
Book your first session if it feels like a fit.
Step Four:
We'll ask you for feedback along the way so we can tailor therapy to what is meaningful to you.
Step Five:
Progress looks different for everyone, but we'll celebrate it each step of the way as you notice what's shifting.
Meet Our Narrative Therapists
We focus on building a real connection, because feeling supported makes it easier to make meaningful changes.
Angela Dore (she/her)
Specializing in neurodivergence (ADHD/ASD), couples & relationship challenges, 2SLGBTQ+/queer folks & identity, trauma, anxiety & stress, and self-esteem.
Stacey Squires (they/them)
Specializing in neurodivergence (ADHD/ASD), couples & relationship challenges, 2SLGBTQ+/queer folks & identity, anxiety & stress, burnout, depression, self-esteem, and substance use.
Booking a Narrative Therapy Counselling Meet & Greet
Your journey starts with your choice of a phone or video consultation, giving you an opportunity to share more about your story, your hopes, and what brought you here, and explore what meaningful change could look like for you in narrative therapy.
We encourage you to share as much of your experience and expectations as you're comfortable with. Our therapists will meet you where you're at and help you begin separating yourself from the problem you're facing. You'll finish with a clear picture of your tailored narrative therapy journey, whether in-person or remotely.
The fit between the therapist and the client is the most important part of success on your narrative therapy journey. There's no risk to a consultation — if by the end of our call you decide you'd like a different therapeutic approach or if your therapist thinks you may be better matched with someone else, even a trusted colleague outside of our practice, our priority is finding you the best possible fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Most People Want to Know Before Starting Counselling.
Start Narrative Therapy Counselling in Calgary
People often arrive believing they need to become someone different. More often, the work involves discovering there's always been more to them than the problem they've been carrying.
You don't need to have everything figured out before reaching out. Whether you're feeling stuck, questioning long-held beliefs about yourself, or simply looking for a space to better understand your life in context, we're here to help.
We won't rush to interpret your experiences or tell you what your story means. Our role is to ask thoughtful questions, notice themes you may not have seen before, and help you make sense of your life in a way that feels true to you.
Book your free consultation online or get in touch through our contact form. We'd be honoured to support you as you take the next step.