Injury AND Recovery
Counselling for the mental and emotional side of healing
Counselling for anyone overcoming injury, focusing on the mental and emotional side of physical recovery.
Your body is healing. What about the rest of you?
A serious injury changes more than your body. It can change how you see yourself, your work, your relationships, and your future.
Your rehab team focuses on your body, and it should. But fear, frustration, grief, and low mood don’t show up on an X-ray, and they shape how you heal.
That’s where I come in, so you’re not carrying it alone.
Does this sound familiar?
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I’m doing the physical work, but mentally and emotionally, I feel stuck.
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I’m scared to move the way I used to, or afraid I’ll get hurt again.
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I keep asking myself: who am I if I can’t show up the way I used to, at work, at home, or in my sport?
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I’m angry, anxious, or grieving the life I had before.
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My mood has dropped, and the things that used to lift me up, don’t anymore.
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I can’t switch off. My sleep is off and I’m on edge most of the time
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My progress has stalled and my motivation is fading.
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The people closest to me are struggling too, and we don’t know how to talk about it.
FROM SURVIVAL MODE TO HEALING MODE
When you get hurt, your body needs every resource it has to repair.
But fear, grief, and constant worry keep your nervous system on high alert. That is survival mode. In survival mode, your body puts its energy into protecting you instead of repairing you, and research has shown for decades that ongoing stress can slow healing.
Counselling won’t heal a torn ligament or a broken bone. What it can do is calm your nervous system, ease the fear and grief, and put you back in the driver’s seat of your recovery — giving your body, and your rehab, the best possible conditions to do their work.
Everyone treats the injury. I help with what the injury did to the rest of you.
WHO I WORK WITH
Recovery is never one-size-fits-all. I support people navigating:
Spinal cord injuries and other life-altering injuries
Sport injuries and return to sport
Workplace injuries and return to work
Motor vehicle accidents
Concussion and post-concussion symptoms
Chronic pain after an injury
Surgery and long rehab
Partners and family members supporting someone through recovery
I also support people navigating serious illness, new diagnoses, and stress-related neurological conditions.
How can Mike help?
Counselling works alongside your medical and rehab team, not in place of it. While they focus on your body, we focus on what you’re carrying mentally and emotionally:
Calm your nervous system. Practical tools to shift out of survival mode, so your body and your rehab have the best conditions to work.
Process what you’re feeling. Make room for the shock, grief, anger, and loss that often come with injury, using a trauma-informed approach.
Face the fear. Proven CBT strategies for fear of movement, fear of re-injury, and the anxious thoughts that hold your recovery back.
Lift a low mood. Depression is one of the most common and least talked about parts of recovery. We’ll break the cycle and rebuild energy and momentum.
Support concussion recovery. CBT for the worry, irritability, low mood, and symptom focus that can keep post-concussion symptoms going.
Rebuild your identity. Answer the question “who am I now?” and reconnect with who you are beyond your injury, your sport, or your job.
Set goals that fit where you are. Values-based goals that keep you moving when progress is slow or uneven.
Use gratitude as a tool. This isn’t about pretending things are fine. Gratitude is one of the most practical ways I know to settle a stressed nervous system and train your attention toward what’s still possible.
Plan for setbacks. Because recovery is rarely a straight line.
Work as one team. With your consent, I’ll coordinate with your physiotherapist, doctor, or rehab team so everyone is working in the same direction.
I’ve Been Where You Are
In 2013, a ski crash left me paralyzed from the neck down. Through the long road of recovery, I learned that the physical work was only half of it. The fear, the grief, the loss of identity, and the dark days were just as real.
When I learned to shift out of despair and toward gratitude, I noticed it in my body. I felt calmer and steadier, and my recovery seemed to gain momentum. Gratitude didn’t heal my spinal cord. It helped create the conditions for my body to do its work.
Today I bring that lived experience together with my clinical training as a Registered Clinical Counsellor. Your path won’t look like mine. But I understand what it’s like to be in it.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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No. You can book directly. If you’re working with a physiotherapist, doctor, or rehab team, I’m happy to coordinate with them with your consent.
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Counselling doesn’t replace physiotherapy or medical care, and it can’t heal tissue. But stress, fear, and low mood affect your sleep, your motivation, how consistently you do your rehab, and how your body copes. Working on them gives your physical recovery a better chance.
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Yes. In the first 12 weeks after a crash in BC, ICBC pre-approves up to 12 counselling sessions. I’m a registered ICBC health care provider and bill ICBC directly. If it’s been longer than 12 weeks, counselling may still be covered with ICBC’s approval. Bring your claim number to your free consultation and we’ll go over the next steps.
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If it’s affecting your mood, your sleep, your relationships, or your motivation, it’s worth talking about.
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Yes. Watching someone you love go through a major injury is hard, and you deserve support too.
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Many extended health plans cover Registered Clinical Counsellors. I bill directly through Telus Health (including Canada Life, Manulife, and other providers in its network), Pacific Blue Cross, GreenShield, and Sun Life.
ways to work together
Gratus Health offers virtual counselling across BC, in-person sessions in downtown Victoria, and walk-and-talk sessions in Greater Victoria.
Direct billing is available through Telus Health (including Canada Life, Manulife, and other providers on its network), Pacific Blue Cross, GreenShield, and Sun Life.
Book a Free 20-min CONSULTATION
Let’s talk about how we can help you move forward. Schedule your free consultation with Mike to see if it’s a fit.