Jill Townsend – Intern Counsellor
Intern Counsellor
She/Her/Hers
Jill Townsend is a Master of Counselling intern with a strong passion for supporting youth, adults, couples, parents, and families. Her clinical interests include acute stress and coping, communication and connection, conflict resolution, emotional expression, and mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, loss, and significant life transitions.
She brings over 1,500 hours of volunteer experience in mental health, including work on a crisis helpline and as a facilitator of DBT skills groups for families. With over two years of graduate-level education in counselling, she is especially drawn to supporting intergenerational and collective healing—working with individuals, couples, and families, particularly those impacted by significant mental health challenges. She recognizes that family members often serve as unofficial first responders and believes they deserve support, tools, and compassion in their roles.
Her approach to counselling is person-centred, collaborative, holistic, systemic, and trauma- and resilience-informed. She strives to meet clients where they are, offering warmth, curiosity, and cultural humility while fostering a strong therapeutic alliance. She integrates evidence-based practices and works alongside clients to identify their values, strengths, and goals in a supportive and empowering way.
Jill is committed to tailoring mental health care to the unique needs of each individual and family. She believes in the power of trusting relationships, the importance of self-awareness and communication, and the healing roles of family, culture, and nature. Clients often describe her as non-judgmental, genuine, and deeply compassionate.
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer” – Albert Camus
Services
- Individual Counselling (In-Person, North Vancouver)
- Individual Counselling (Virtual)
- Individual Counselling (Telephone)
- Child/Youth Counselling (In-Person, North Vancouver)
- Child/Youth Counselling (Virtual)
- Couples/Relationship Counselling (In-Person, North Vancouver)
- Couples/Relationship Counselling (Virtual)
- Co-Parenting/Parenting Counselling (In-Person, North Vancouver)
- Co-Parenting/Parenting Counselling (Virtual)
- Family Counselling (In-Person, North Vancouver)
- Family Counselling (Virtual)
- Walk & Talk/Outdoor Counselling (from our North Shore Office)
Ages Served
- Ages 12 +
Languages Offered
- English
Support Topics
- Abuse (childhood abuse, domestic abuse, sexual abuse)
- Adapting to lifestyle changes and aging
- Adoption
- Addressing loneliness and isolation
- Addictions (drug and/or alcohol)
- Anger management
- Anxiety
- Authentic Self-Discovery: Unmasking Who You Truly Are
- Bereavement
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image issues
- Body positivity
- Borderline personality disorder
- Building resilience in later life
- Career guidance
- Child Mental Health
- Chronic illness management
- Chronic pain management
- Climate anxiety
- Co-dependency
- Complex Trauma / C-PTSD
- Coping skills
- Coping with health changes
- De-colonizing life and practice
- Depression
- Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Life
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Dual diagnosis
- Eating disorders / Maladaptive eating
- Emotional disturbances
- Emotional turmoil
- Facing end-of-life issues
- Family conflict
- Family dynamics
- Family of origin issues
- First responders’ mental health
- Gambling
- Gender identity
- Grief
- Infidelity
- Intergenerational Trauma
- Internet addiction
- Life coaching
- Life management issues
- Life transitions
- Loss
- Managing grief and bereavement
- Marital discord
- Meditation
- Mood disorders
- Navigating family and caregiver relationships
- Non-ordinary experience integration (e.g., spiritual, extraordinary experiences)
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Overcoming phobias, such as fear of death
- Parenting children with special needs
- Parenting education
- Parenting issues (including child-rearing and education)
- Parent-teen mediation
- Peer relationships
- Personality disorders (narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder)
- Rehabilitation from trauma
- Relationship and marriage conflict
- School issues
- Self-esteem issues
- Sexual abuse
- Sexualized violence
- Sexuality (2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive)
- Sleep issues or insomnia
- Spirituality (non-emergency spiritual issues)
- Stress management
- Suicidal ideation
- Trauma and PTSD
- Transitioning into retirement
- Video game addiction
- Youth Mental Health
- 2SLGBTQIA+ challenges
Therapeutic Approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment Theory
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS)
- Complex Trauma Therapy
- Continuing Bonds Theory
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Dual Process Model
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Expressive Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
- Intersectional Feminist Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Nature Therapy
- Person-Centered Therapy (PCT)
- Polyvagal Theory
- Self-Compassion Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)