Black Mental Wellness Project

We are excited to announce the Black Wellness Project is back! Black counsellors from within the community have collaborated with UBC Black Caucus once again to provide two FREE virtual and/or in-person counselling sessions on a limited, first-come, first-served basis. This is open to all black Student, Staff and Faculty on both campuses. Bookings can be made by contacting the counsellors directly. Please see below for the list of participating counsellors and their contact information.

Time to Thrive: UBC Black Caucus brings back Black mental wellness initiative

Counsellor Bios and Contacts

Renee Wishart

(she/her/hers)

This counselor is now fully booked through this program.

Wishart therapy is centered around the empowerment and healing of People of Color and marginalized communities in a safe and respectful manner. Renee brings more than fifteen years of experience and expertise working with people from around the world ranging from children through to elders, as well as families and groups. Her work is rooted in social justice with a strengths-based perspective and is inclusive of supporting People of Color and the LGBTQ+ community. Counselling services include working with racial trauma, intersectionality, anxiety, and depression.

Email: renee@wisharttherapy.com
Phone: 604-341-5640
Website

Monday - Friday 5:00pm - 8:00pm


Theresa L Thomas

(she/her)

Theresa is committed to helping people achieve freedom from systemic and societal oppression in every capacity. Since moving to Vancouver in 2012 Theresa has been focused on learning the origins and impacts of trauma. Theresa’s therapeutic focus is on trauma intervention, freedom from abuse, substance misuse, and achieving empowerment using largely narrative therapeutic techniques. Theresa has an MCP in Counselling Psychology and has an RCC through the BCACC. Theresa was born and raised in Houston, Texas.

My therapeutic focus is on seeking safety, trauma intervention, freedom from abuse, substance misuse, and achieving empowerment in every aspect of your life. We work as a team. Together, we understand the elements in your life or relationships that are causing you distress and how this distress affects you on a day-to-day basis. We identify what your goals are and how we work together to get you there. Once we understand the dynamics at work in your life, I support you in removing the obstacles to achieving your goals and building the tools to maintaining success in your life on your own! I understand the idea of counselling can be really scary in the beginning. And I want to help you navigate this counselling journey as painlessly as possible.

Email: theresa@inpowercounselling.com
Website

Monday - Friday 11:00am - 7:00pm


Bernard Piprah

(he/him)

Bernard Piprah is an experienced Registered Clinical Counsellor (R.C.C.) with the B.C. Association of Clinical Counsellors. Over the last 12 years Bernard has worked in Health Authority, Non-profit, Halfway house, community outpatient treatment or school district programs around B.C. 

Bernard aims to walk alongside you to problem-solve, generate insight, reframe challenges, promote identity, teach coping strategies and help clients find ways to manage traumas. His therapeutic modalities include: Brainspotting, CBT, and DBT.

He is believer in the transformative power of holding space with a therapist trained in using a variety of empirically proven counselling approaches to support clients in-person & virtually.

He invites clients of all ages, sexual orientations and cultural backgrounds to promote strength-based, trauma informed therapy despite acute mental health struggles, grief, family conflict, depressive symptoms and much more.

virtually Monday - Friday 10:00am-6.30pm


Thoko Moyo

(she/they)

Hello, I am an uninvited immigrant settler from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe who has called so called Canada, home for over 30 years. I have a masters degree in Counselling Psychology and am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the B.C Association of Clinical Counsellors. I offer individual counselling, relationship counselling, and family counselling therapy sessions to all folks in need, prioritizing my work with Queer Trans Black Indigenous People of Colour (QTBIPOC).

The foundation of my practice is centered around Anti-Oppressive Practice and Intersectionality. That means, that as a Black-Bi-racial, Queer, gender fluid, person that manages my own issues with mental health and struggles with chronic pain, I practice entirely through a world view that understands the value of empowerment and radical self-love for those of us navigating current oppressive societal systems. I research and implement counselling techniques that include Narrative theory, the cultural adaptation of CBT techniques, Trauma-Informed practice, and operate on a daily basis from an anti-oppressive and anti-racist lens in the work that I do with the people that come to me. I work from a collaborative stance that invites curiosity and transparency from everyone participating. I would be honoured to walk alongside you and your path of self-exploration. 


Christina Fenton

(she/her)

This counselor is now fully booked through this program. If you are interested in contacting them for counselling not covered by this project, please see below for their contact information.

I am a Jamaican living in Vancouver. As a recent immigrant, I am aware of how the process and experience of forging a new life can bring both satisfaction and distress especially in intimate relationships. Life transitions can cause emotional stress and often, we need help to tap into our own inherent strengths. Sexuality and sexual behaviours can also be challenging for some but, I am passionate about working with individuals and couples of all genders, orientations, races and ethnicities. I also specialize in addictions which I view as a maladaptive coping skill for traumatic situations.

Coming from a culture that reveres our elders, I am interested in issues facing seniors. Mobility concerns, diminishing sexual capacity, physical and mental decline and end of life concerns are generally not addressed by our youth-obsessed societies. My role is to help you learn to cope with change.

As a former teacher for over a decade, I am a believer in the power of people to learn, grow and change. Therapy is the privilege of walking beside someone in their journey from the dark into the light. I am very eager to accompany you to mental well-being.

Online: (Clients will have to register in order to access booking)

Varies based on booking schedule


Makita Wiggins

(she/her/hers)

This counselor is now fully booked through this program. If you are interested in contacting them for counselling not covered by this project, please see below for their contact information.

Hi, my name is Makita and I’m happy to see you chose to read my Bio. I work with youth, adults, seniors, and couples, who are interested in learning to cope with life’s challenges. This includes anxiety, stress, depression, relationship issues, anger, feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. My clients are looking for and need a supportive therapist who can sit with them during their lowest points, be bold and honest with them during their denials and can offer practical tools they can utilize outside of the therapy room. Their goal is to feel better because they want better for themselves and their situations. I currently offer virtual and phone sessions due to the COVID-19 protocols.

Email: makitawigginscounselling@gmail.com

Monday 11am-5pm, Tuesday- Thursday 11am-7pm


Maedean Y. Myers

(she/her/hers)

I am skilled at supporting folks coping with stress, anxiety, self affirmation, relationship issues, gender identity, and big life changes. My approach integrates effective Solution Focused, Mindfulness Cognitive Behavioral, Narrative, Psycho-education, and Humanistic approaches to help you create the vibrant life you were meant to have. I am feedback oriented, meaning I will collaborate with you to find out how to best use our sessions based on your highest aspirations for your Self. In my personal life I practice meditation, dance, yoga, and martial arts. These practices influence how I approach my therapeutic work with clients. Sessions are available in person, phone, and video.

Website

Email: yourstory@yourstoryevolved.com
Phone: 778-788-2105
Website

Varies based on booking schedule


Nadine Tilma

(she/her)

My name is Nadine (she/her) and I specialize in queer, feminist, anti-oppressive and trauma-informed approaches. At the core of my work is a passion for healing wounds of intergenerational trauma for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), holistic approaches to mental wellness, and the decolonization of eurocentric healing practices. I take pride in approaching therapy from a creative lens and lean on somatic, art and movement therapies, as well as feminist, narrative, mindfulness, transpersonal, and family systems theories.

I value collaboration, safety in all forms, the embracing of our whole selves, creativity, individual differences, honesty, empowerment, playfulness, connection and the healing of the collective. My guiding belief is that each person is an expert in their own life, and my role is to support you in building on the strengths, resources and resiliency that inevitably exist within you. I look forward to supporting you.

Email: nadine@liveonpointcounselling.com

Varies based on booking schedule


Operine Banton

(she/her/hers)

This counselor is now fully booked through this program. If you are interested in contacting them for counselling not covered by this project, please see below for their contact information.

I am Operine, Registered Clinical Counsellor taking to the counselling space over 30 years of counselling, education and life experiences. Space will be created where it is safe to explore those areas of your life where you may feel stuck, unwanted, unloved and unheard. My integrated counselling draws from several theoretical approaches and is personalized to your race, culture, identity, values and customs. I will walk with you while you discover that life is not fair, and at times life SUCKS, but there are always opportunities to discover your needs, wants and frustrations behind your emotions and actions, make choices while moving through life allowing increasing confidence in all areas of your life.

Email: mandalacounselling@shaw.ca

Varies based on booking schedule


Additional Wellbeing Resources

For additional information or support, please refer to the link below for a list of even more wellbeing resources.

Resources | UBC Black Caucus

Health and Wellbeing Resources

AMS/GSS Student Health Benefits

A guide to accessing mental health services through the AMS/GSS Health & Dental Plan