Ready for Change? Meet Penny Smith, Counsellor for Leaders & professionals in Victoria & Online BC
Penny knows what it's like to look successful but feel empty. She spent more than 15 years in corporate leadership in Toronto, stacking up promotions and approval, before admitting that the whole cycle had left her disconnected from herself.
So she changed course. She moved to the Kootenays, worked at a healing retreat centre, and trained as a counsellor. She now holds a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University, is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC), and is welcoming new clients at Strength in Heart Counselling in Victoria, BC and online.
Therapy for people who are used to holding it together
If you run a team, a business, or a household that depends on you, you probably have a well-developed habit of pushing through. Penny understands that pattern from the inside. Her sessions start with questions that high performers rarely get asked: What do you value? Where in your week do those values show up, and where have they gone missing?
Her approach is warm, curious, and strengths-based. Nobody is asked to fall apart or overhaul their life in a single session. Penny's view is that small, deliberate changes, made once you feel safe enough to be honest, are what hold up over time.
Areas of specialty
Penny's clients come to her for anxiety, depression, grief, relationship strain, family patterns that keep repeating, and the kind of restlessness that shows up when a career or life stage stops fitting. She has a particular focus on trauma, and her work includes somatic therapy, which pays attention to what the body is holding alongside what the mind can explain.
Psychedelic integration support
Penny's own healing included a transformative experience with traditional Amazonian plant medicine, and she has more than a decade of experience supporting people through integration. If you've had an expanded-state experience and are trying to make sense of it and bring it into ordinary life, she offers a respectful, non-judgmental place to do that.
Getting started
In-person sessions at 1183 Fort Street, Victoria
A free consultation to see whether it feels like a fit
Individual sessions at $150 for 50 minutes (insurance direct billing available)
Ready for change? If the answer is even a tentative yes, the free consultation is a no pressure first step.
Book with Penny here or read more on her profile page.
