Attachment-Based Trauma Therapist in Vancouver
Accepting new patients
Compassionate Therapy in Vancouver & Online with Paula
Sometimes you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure how to make sense of what you are experiencing. You may be navigating a major life transition, relationship challenges, or experiences that continue to affect how you see yourself and the world around you. If you are a parent or caregiver, you may also be noticing changes in your child or teenager that feel difficult to understand. Whatever brings you to therapy, I offer a warm and collaborative space where children, youth, caregivers, families, and adults can feel seen, heard, and supported. Together, we can slow things down, explore what may be happening beneath the surface, and develop a greater sense of understanding and connection.
For adults, I provide a space to explore your inner world with curiosity and compassion. Whether you are navigating anxiety, stress, relationship challenges, or a major life transition, we can explore the patterns and experiences shaping how you move through the world. I see therapy as a collaborative process where you remain the expert in your own life. My role is to walk alongside you with curiosity, support, and perspective, helping you reconnect with your strengths, agency, and sense of choice.
I believe that the way we show up in the therapy room matters. I bring a grounded, warm, and empathetic presence to my work, creating a space where you can feel safe and steady. As an attachment-based therapist working with individuals and families, my approach is relational, person-centred, and trauma-informed, drawing from attachment theory, non-directive play therapy, mindfulness-informed practices, and somatic approaches. As a bilingual counsellor, I offer counselling in English and Spanish, with particular interests in attachment disruptions, adoption, identity and belonging, grief, and experiences of trauma and adversity.
Approach to Child Therapy
Children and teenagers don’t always have the words for what they are experiencing, but their emotions often find other ways of being expressed. I enjoy getting curious about what might be underneath those behaviours and finding ways for young clients to explore and express what is happening for them—whether through conversation, play, creativity, or simply having space to be themselves. I also work alongside caregivers, helping them see their child’s or teenager’s behaviour through an attachment and trauma-informed lens and find ways to respond that strengthen connection and safety.
Therapy Specializations
I welcome working with diverse clients of all ages, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities. I work with children ages 5+, youth, adults, and families. Over the past 13 years, I’ve had the privilege of supporting children, adolescents, adults, and families across Mexico and Canada, and I bring a culturally responsive perspective to my work. I provide counselling in English and Spanish and have particular experience supporting children, adolescents, and caregivers, and adults navigating trauma, attachment, family transitions, and emotional challenges.
- Anger and Stress management
- Anxiety
- Attachment Disruptions and Developmental Trauma
- Adoption and Adoptive Family Support (including international and intercultural adoption experiences)
- Caregiver Support and Parenting
- Childhood Abuse and Adverse Experiences
- Children and Youth
- Cross-Cultural Experiences and Cultural Adjustment
- Emotional Regulation and Coping Skills
- Grief and Loss
- Family Relationships, Challenges and Transitions
- Family violence and trauma
- Life Transitions (career changes, relocation, immigration, identity development)
- Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion
- Spanish-Speaking Clients
- Trauma & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Education & Counselling Credentials
- Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the BCACC
- Master of Counselling Psychology, Adler University
- Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, Universidad Intercontinental
- Diploma in Multidimensional Family Therapy (Family Violence & Addictions)
Therapeutic Approaches & Training
- Autism Essentials
- Trauma-Informed Child and Youth Counselling
- Working with Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse
- Multidimensional Family Therapy (Family Violence & Addictions)
- Educational-Therapeutic Care for Children and Families Affected by Violence
- Play Therapy and Childhood Trauma
- Child Development
- Ongoing training and professional development in trauma-informed care, attachment theory, child development, emotional regulation, mindfulness-informed practices, and somatic approaches.
Outside of Therapy Sessions
Outside of counselling, I enjoy exploring the beauty of Vancouver, discovering new places to eat, and learning more about the city I now call home. As a Mexican immigrant, staying connected to my family and culture remains an important part of my life, and I appreciate the ways technology helps me maintain those relationships across borders. I love spending time with friends, connecting with other communities, dancing, and finding balance through mindfulness and movement.
