Ann Richards, BFA
Ann Richards is a clinical counselling student intern completing her Masters of Counselling psychology at City University of Seattle in Canada. Ann’s approach is relational and considers us all to have inherent dignity in our stories. She believes that each individual is the expert of themselves and active in shaping their change process. Offering support and therapeutic collaboration, individuals can discover and reconnect to personal strengths and inner resources that can sometimes feel disconnected.
Ann seeks to build a safe, supportive and nonjudgmental environment where individuals can explore themselves and discover what they aspire to accomplish. Ann believes that it is possible to step out of survival and into into a rhythm of life more aligned with personal values.
Working from an integrated framework, Ann uses techniques from narrative therapy, mindfulness, somatic therapies, acceptance and commitment therapy and more. She offers an approach informed by research and grounded in the goodness of human connection. Ann welcomes folks in all stages and considers it an honour to be a part of the journey.
Highlights:
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Ann has completed her Narrative Therapy training level 1. She is currently pursuing training in Internal Family Systems. Ann has completed crisis intervention training. She has experience in mindfulness and somatic approaches and hopes to take more specific training in the near future.
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Ann has been working with older adults through the health authority to offer recreational therapy. Ann has experience working with aging folks living with a diagnoses of dementia, parkinson’s disease, and more.
With a background in professional sport, Ann has a unique perspective and appreciation in the field of performance. She understands specific mental as well as physical demands and pressures of performance. Ann has future aspirations to one day pursue training in mental performance consulting.
Ann draws on her background as a professional artist and artist assistant to creatively collaborate with others. She believes that warm, committed compassion are key tools that can be creatively adapted to fit each client’s unique life and circumstances.
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Ann’s research focuses on team cohesion in high performance sport and the role of the autonomic nervous system. Traditional team building literature focuses on cognitive, top-down aspects, but here Ann explores a bottom-up, physiological approach to team cohesion informed by Polyvagal theory. Interested in the felt experience of a cohesive unit, Ann explains elements outside of athlete’s conscious awareness that inform emotional and behavioural responses within a group. Ann’s research advocates that the uniqueness of each team member can be used as a resources for larger team functioning and success.