You Don't Have to Walk This Road Alone.
Life has a way of bringing us to places we didn't expect. Stretches of road that feel harder than they should be, or seasons where the weight of things starts to outpace our ability to carry them. Whether you're moving through grief, struggling with anxiety, or simply feeling lost in the middle of a transition, individual counselling offers a space to slow down, make sense of what's happening, and find your way forward.
I work with adults in Abbotsford and across BC (via telehealth) who are ready to do the meaningful work of healing, not just coping, but moving toward something better.
How I Work with Individuals
Support for Finding Your Way
My approach to individual counselling is compassionate, person-centred, and grounded in Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT); a model rooted in attachment theory that understands healing as something that happens within relationship, including the relationship you have with yourself.
The underlying belief is this: we develop our sense of identity and our ways of coping within the context of our early relationships. The patterns we formed growing up were adaptive then. They helped us survive. But those same patterns can become limiting as adults, keeping us stuck in ways of relating that no longer serve us.
The goal of our work together is to move from rigid, protective ways of coping toward something more flexible and open, a way of being that allows you to respond to people and circumstances more freely. Secure attachment, in my view, doesn't come at the expense of a robust sense of self. The two belong together.
This approach is also non-pathologizing. I don't see your symptoms; anxiety, low mood, emotional shutdown, as problems to be eradicated. They're often ways of coping that make complete sense given your history. We look at them with curiosity and self-compassion rather than judgment, and we work toward integration rather than suppression.
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
e. e. Cummings
What We Can Work on Together
Anxiety, Depression, and Panic
Life Transitions
Burnout and Emotional Regulation
Relationship Challenges
Grief and Loss
Identity
Personal Growth
Faith Integration
About Your Counsellor
I'm Mark Walters, a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MA MFT). I've been in practice for seven years, working with individuals, couples, and families in Abbotsford and across British Columbia.
My training in Emotionally Focused Therapy comes from the Susan Johnson model. I also draw on acceptance-based approaches and elements of CBT, integrating them within an attachment framework. I believe that emotion carries important information, about who we are and what we need, and that learning to listen to it, rather than fight it, is central to healing.
I'm also a person who has walked his own road through hardship. That lived experience isn't something I set aside. It's part of what makes this work real for me, and I hope it makes me someone you can trust with yours.
Where and How We Meet
I see clients in-person at my Abbotsford office at 34334 Forrest Terrace, Suite 252, and virtually via secure telehealth for individuals anywhere in British Columbia.
Taking The First Step Toward Counselling is Often The Hardest Part.
If you're not sure whether individual counselling is right for you, or whether we'd be a good fit, the free 20-minute consult is a good place to start. There's no pressure and no commitment, just a conversation to see if working together feels right.
If you're ready to book, I'd be glad to meet you wherever you are. Whether you're in the middle of a crisis, working through something that's been quietly weighing on you for years, or simply ready to invest in your own growth, this is a space for that.
