Hi! My name is Kendra, and I am a practicum student with the Enhanced Learning Division at Aspire Too. I am currently completing my Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology through Yorkville University. I am excited to have reached the point in my program where I get to begin connecting with clients and putting everything I have learned into practice.
Before starting my journey into counselling, I completed my education in Human Resources and spent several years working in the field. While HR and counselling may seem like two very different paths, I have always been drawn to work that allows me to connect with people, hear their stories, and understand what matters to them. Eventually, I realized that I wanted those connections to be a bigger part of the work I was doing, which led me to pursue counselling.
Like everyone, though, my life has also included periods of change, uncertainty, stress, and figuring out what comes next. Returning to school while still working in order to pursue an entirely new career has certainly been one of them. It has been incredibly rewarding, but that does not mean every part of the process has been easy. I’ve experienced self-doubt, stress, and overwhelming feelings that affected all parts of my life. What helps ground me in those moments is reminding myself that an experience can be expected, positive, or simply part of life and still be difficult to navigate.
Many of the experiences that challenge us are also simply part of being human. Relationships change, we lose people we love, careers do not always go according to plan, unexpected things happen, and sometimes we go through periods where we simply don’t feel like ourselves. When this happens, it can be easy to dismiss what we are feeling. We might tell ourselves, “I should be able to handle this,” “It’s not that big of a deal,” or “Other people have it worse.” But an experience does not have to be life-altering to be difficult. Whether something has shaken up your entire world or you are simply finding life a little bit harder to manage lately, you do not have to navigate it alone.
My hope as a counsellor is to meet you wherever you are. I take a collaborative and strengths-based approach and believe that you know your own life better than anyone else. I hope to offer a space where you can be honest about what is going on, even when it feels messy, confusing, or difficult to put into words. Together, we can slow things down, make sense of what you’re experiencing, recognize the strengths you already carry, and explore what might be helpful moving forward.
Just because we can carry something on our own, it does not mean we have to.
As a Master’s-level counselling student, I am currently offering reduced-rate individual and couples counselling for clients aged 16+ through Aspire Too in Saskatoon. Sessions are available in person, virtually, or by phone and are offered on a sliding scale from $0-$40. To make an appointment, please call the office at (306) 382-2391.