Mia Maarika (Goodall) – RPC
Senior Counsellor
She/Her/Hers
Mia Maarika is a counsellor with over 30 years of experience supporting individuals on their journey toward healing and self-discovery. She holds a degree in Psychiatric/Medical Nursing and a Diploma in Counselling, and has trained extensively under the mentorship of a Registered Clinical Counsellor with over three decades of expertise in family systems therapy, childhood trauma, attachment theory, and relationship counselling.
Mia’s goal is to create a safe, supportive environment where clients can explore and better understand themselves—even when that exploration feels challenging. She believes growth often requires stepping outside of one’s comfort zone, and that feeling safe and supported makes meaningful change possible. Her approach focuses on strengthening inner resources, developing healthy boundaries, addressing anxiety and depression, building self-esteem, practicing assertiveness, and exploring parts of the self that may have been hidden or neglected.
With a deep interest in how early experiences and core beliefs shape the way we move through the world, Mia helps clients increase self-awareness, interrupt unhelpful patterns, and shift from survival mode to living with empowerment and choice. She brings a rich personal and professional background to her work, including her early career in nursing, her own journey of recovery from eating disorders and codependency, and her decades of service in community mental health—most notably as a volunteer coordinator at Nanaimo Family Life Association and later as a counsellor at NARSF, supporting families and neurodivergent youth in the Eating Disorder and Sexual Assault Intervention Programs.
Mia is deeply passionate about providing compassionate, trauma-informed support that honours each client’s unique path toward a more fulfilling and authentic life.
Services
- Individual Counselling (In-Person, Nanaimo)
- Individual Counselling (Virtual)
- Individual Counselling (Telephone)
- Child/Youth Counselling (In-Person, Nanaimo)
- Child/Youth Counselling (Virtual)
- Couples/Relationship Counselling (In-Person, Nanaimo)
- Couples/Relationship Counselling (Virtual)
- Co-Parenting/Parenting Counselling (In-Person, Nanaimo)
- Co-Parenting/Parenting Counselling (Virtual)
Ages Served
- Ages 12 +
Languages Offered
- English
Support Topics
- Abuse (childhood abuse, domestic abuse, sexual abuse)
- Adapting to lifestyle changes and aging
- Addressing loneliness and isolation
- Addictions (drug and/or alcohol)
- Anger management
- Anxiety
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Authentic Self-Discovery: Unmasking Who You Truly Are
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Bereavement
- Body image issues
- Body positivity
- Building resilience in later life
- Chronic impulsivity
- Co-dependency
- Complex Trauma / C-PTSD
- Coping skills
- Coping with health changes
- Depression
- Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Life
- Dissociative disorders
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- 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
- Impulse control disorders
- Infidelity
- Intergenerational Trauma
- Internet addiction
- 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)
- Obesity
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Parenting children with special needs
- Parenting education
- Parenting issues (including child-rearing and education)
- Parent-teen mediation
- Peer relationships
- Rehabilitation from trauma
- Relationship and marriage conflict
- School issues
- Self-esteem issues
- Sexual abuse
- Sexual behaviours
- Sexuality (2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive)
- Sleep issues or insomnia
- Spirituality (non-emergency spiritual issues)
- Stress management
- Suicidal ideation
- Trauma and PTSD
- Transgender transition issues
- Transitioning into retirement
- Video game addiction
- Youth Mental Health
- 2SLGBTQIA+ challenges
Therapeutic Approaches
- Attachment Theory
- Complex Trauma Therapy
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
- Narrative Therapy
- Person-Centered Therapy (PCT)
- Self-Compassion Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)