Accepting new clients virtually. If you would like to see Dr. Jennifer Yip, please indicate so when you complete our online referral form here https://hushforms.com/wisemindcentre-referralform.

Jennifer Yip has completed her Master’s (2015) and Ph.D. (2023) degrees from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her dissertation focused on the cognitive and affective dimensions of inattentional states.

She completed her clinical psychology doctoral residency (2021) at the Stony Brook University Consortium Internship Program in Long Island, New York. At Stony Brook Hospital, she has worked in several inpatient rotations: the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, where she provided psychiatric evaluations and one-time or brief psychotherapy interventions for patients requiring urgent care, especially those with potential harm to self or others; Consultation & Liaison Psychiatry Services, where she provided brief therapy to acute care patients in medical and surgical units; and the Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit, where she provided individual and group therapy for patients with a variety of psychiatric and behavioural problems. In outpatient settings at Mind-Body Clinical Research Center and Krasner Psychological Center, she provided individual therapy for clients with symptoms of depression, stress, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder, and she led traditional dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) groups, radically open DBT groups, and CBT for insomnia groups.

During her PhD, she has worked at Vancouver Coastal Health (Mood Disorders Inpatient Unit, BC Psychosis Program), Cornerstone Child & Family Psychology Clinic, BC Children’s Hospital, Mental Health & Substance Use Department at Burnaby General Hospital, and UBC Psychology Clinic.

Jennifer primarily integrates treatment approaches of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). She has helped clients struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, emotion regulation difficulties, interpersonal difficulties, chronic pain, and insomnia. She welcomes diversity, including but not limited to individuals who identify as belonging to racialized, faith/religion, and/or LGBTQ+ communities. Above all, Jennifer strives to cultivate a genuine, compassionate, and trusting therapeutic relationship that facilitates self-acceptance and growth. Her goal is to enable clients to discover, pursue, and live a fulfilling life, despite pain and adversity.

If you are interested in seeing if Pauline Song-Choi is a good fit, please complete our online referral form here: https://hushforms.com/wisemindcentre-referralform.

She looks forward to meeting you!

Accepting new clients virtually. If you would like to see Dr. Jennifer Yip, please indicate so wh... Read More

Please note that Wise Mind Centre is not a vendor of ICBC and WorkSafe BC. Dr. Michael Sobocinski does not accept ICBC or WorkSafe BC referrals.

Dr. Sobocinski received his Doctorate in Counselling Psychology in 1992 from the University of Denver, an American Psychological Association accredited program. He is a registered Psychologist in British Columbia, a member of the Canadian Psychological Association, British Columbia Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, and the National Register of Health Service Psychologists.

Dr. Sobocinski has been helping people of all ages respond to life’s challenges and grow in healthy ways for nearly thirty years in his role as a counselling psychologist. Early in his early career, he worked in multi-disciplinary treatment teams serving traumatized children, adolescents, young adults, and their families in residential psychiatric treatment and psychiatric inpatient settings.

In addition to extensive experience with children, youth, and families, Dr. Sobocinski has treated adult clients in community mental health and residential treatment programs for co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, and in private practice.

His clients have overcome a wide range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, trauma, self-esteem and self-worth challenges, relationship difficulties, attachment wounds, moral injury, compassion fatigue, grief and loss, life transitions, existential and spiritual issues, substance abuse, and sleep disorders.

Underlying most of the presenting issues in Dr. Sobocinski’s clients is a history of complex relational trauma, and it is frequently the pain of such trauma that leads to substance abuse, self-injurious behaviors such as cutting, suicidality, binge and purge eating, chronic anxiety and depression, and relational difficulties. When we recognize the pervasive nature of trauma in our society, many of the frequently confusing and difficult to treat conditions that bring people into therapy make more sense and respond to a therapeutic approach that helps to regulate a traumatized nervous system and bring a coherence to experience that is frequently chaotic and overwhelming. His clients have taught him much about the resilience of the human spirit, and how even the most traumatized individuals may heal and grow within a physically and psychologically safe environment.

Dr. Sobocinski also understands that a person’s most apparently self-defeating behaviors are an attempt at meeting basic human needs for acceptance, connection, influence, and individuality, and that once he understands the inherent wisdom behind these behaviors, his clients challenge themselves to find other, healthier behaviors to meet their needs.

Growth following trauma also requires a sense of purpose and meaning in life, and sustaining connections within a larger community where we can contribute according to our strengths, passions, and interests. For each of us, we need a compelling reason to swing our feet out of bed each morning, a reason that answers the question “What matters to you?”

Throughout his career Dr. Sobocinski has emphasized holistic care that integrates the biological, emotional, cognitive, social, cultural, and spiritual aspects of my clients. Dr. Sobocinski always strives to be attuned to the changing needs and goals of his clients, and takes a collaborative, “walking-alongside” approach where each client’s motivations and goals dictate the focus of counselling. In many ways, he understands the work of therapy as helping his clients increase their capability to “live, work and love.”

Dr. Sobocinski works from within a therapeutic model that draws from cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and trauma-informed perspectives, and includes mindfulness, behavioral strategies, and the principles of Motivational Interviewing and the Stages of Change models. He will ask for and incorporate feedback from his clients on whether counselling is addressing goals that are important, whether his clients feel heard, respected, and understood in counselling, and whether his approach works for his clients. Dr. Sobocinski adjusts what he does according to the feedback that he receives.

Fundamentally, we are meaning-making beings, and oftentimes the work of therapy involves re-discovering or creating meaning from experiences that have defied attempts at weaving them into our personal narratives. We are also social creatures, our brains wired from birth to seek out safe and sustaining relationships. All too often, people who experience mental illness and substance use disorders find themselves out of community, alone and isolated, and to be effective counselling must help re-engage people in meaningful roles in their community.

While Dr. Sobocinski has considerable knowledge and experience with facilitating complex behavior change, his clients are the experts on their own life story, and he sees himself as a fellow traveler on their journey of change and growth. This collaborative approach results in an individualized approach that focuses on how interpretations of situations contribute to anxiety for some clients, while for others their lack of selfcare and ability to regulate themselves emotionally when stressed may be a more prominent clinical focus.

Our individual development is strongly influenced by our social, cultural, historical, and family context. Dr. Sobocinski’s education and training emphasized the importance of understanding normal human growth. In many respects he views counselling as a deliberate attempt to nurture the processes underlying human development, especially those of forming attachments to others. Our relationships with others are critical to achieving mental health and wellbeing, just as they often contribute to the onset of mental health problems. Within this overall context Dr. Sobocinski works with clients to establish healthy and fulfilling relationships that are consistent with their values.

Having move south from Anchorage, Alaska in search of adventure and milder winters, Dr. Sobocinski enjoys touring British Columbia in his 1988 Volkswagen Westfalia (“Honu,” Hawaiian for Green Sea Turtle) with his wife, June, and his spirit animal Clyde, a bouncy, fun-loving Goldendoodle whose new best friend is the next person he meets. Dr. Sobocinski’s favorite activity is snorkeling a coral reef and being one with the marine life. He is also a gardener, enjoys hiking, running, and biking, and occasionally taking nature pictures.

Please note that Wise Mind Centre is not a vendor of ICBC and WorkSafe BC. Dr. Michael Sobocinski... Read More

Dr. Brooke Seal is a Registered Psychologist in BC (#2564) with training from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Coastal Health, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Centre of Vancouver. Brooke works primarily with people experiencing 1) depression and other mood disorders, 2) anxiety disorders and trauma-related disorders (e.g., panic attacks, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, specific phobia, PTSD), 3) adults experiencing difficulty with work stress and life transitions, and 4) family members and loved ones of persons with mental health difficulties who are trying to better understand psychological conditions and support options.

Brooke is an active, solution-oriented therapist focused on helping clients work on their goals by building skills and exploring ways to move forward. She is also a compassionate listener who uses validation along with a push for change. She aims to instill hope in her clients, and believes that in many cases, recovery is expected. Brooke primarily uses two kinds of therapy that have been shown to be especially effective: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). She is available for short-term psychoeducational therapy sessions as well as for longer-term therapy and support.

Brooke is sensitive to the fact that it can be difficult to open up to someone, and she can assure you that the information you share will be treated confidentially (the required exceptions will be discussed in the first session). She knows that some clients want to get started quickly. If you are ready to talk and are feeling motivated to change, she is ready to help. You can schedule an initial consultation appointment with Brooke in as little as one day.

Education: Brooke received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia (2002), and her MA (2005) and PhD (2009) in clinical psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. She completed her clinical residency through Vancouver Coastal Health in 2009 and a post doctoral program with the DBT Centre of Vancouver in 2010. Her education focused on research, teaching and mentoring, psychological assessment, group therapy, and individual therapy for a range of difficulties and disorders (including panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, OCD, PTSD, depression, interpersonal difficulties, female sexual difficulties, borderline personality disorder, suicide, self harm, eating disorders, difficulties with emotions, adjustment difficulties).

Experience: Brooke has conducted psychological assessments and therapy in a number of clinical settings throughout Texas (Psychology Department Training Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin, the Counselling Center at Texas State University, the Seton Medical Center in Austin, the Austin Behavioral Clinic, and juvenile detention centers) and Vancouver (the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at UBC Hospital, Emergency Psychiatric Services at Vancouver General Hospital, the Concurrent Disorders Unit at UBC Hospital, the BC Centre for Sexual Medicine at VGH, the Eating Disorders Program at Saint Paul’s Hospital, and the DBT Centre of Vancouver).

She has taught clinical assessment skills to graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin, sexual health training skills to medical students at UBC, and several undergraduate courses at SFU (2009-2013) and UFV (2010-present). She is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of the Fraser Valley where she teaches a range of courses (Introduction to Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Psychological Interventions, History of Psychology). She has also been involved in research at UBC, SFU, UT Austin, and UFV. She has received several scholarships and awards, presented her research at conferences worldwide, and published several research articles about women’s health.

*Please note: While Dr. Seal offers DBT-informed therapy, she is not currently seeing clients in the comprehensive DBT program. Dr. Seal does not provide services to students from the Department of Psychology at UFV due to conflict of interest.

Dr. Brooke Seal is a Registered Psychologist in BC (#2564) with training from the University of B... Read More