I specialize in working with individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, people-pleasing tendencies, difficulties with assertiveness, and challenges around setting healthy boundaries in relationships. My approach is rooted in creating a compassionate, honest, and nonjudgmental space where clients feel safe to explore their inner worlds. In today’s fast-paced world, therapy offers a rare and valuable opportunity to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with yourself in a meaningful way.
My name is Allie Huggins, and I’m a Registered Clinical Counsellor.
I have over 13 years of experience as a mental health professional for various non-profit organizations.
I support clients who have experienced abandonment, attachment challenges, emotional neglect, family enmeshment, or domestic violence—especially those navigating anxiety, low mood, or trauma-related symptoms. My work is grounded in a trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, feminist perspective that honors all of your intersecting identities and lived experiences.
I bring extensive training in trauma, anxiety, depression, and major life transitions. My background includes Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy. While my approach is eclectic, it is primarily informed by relational and attachment theories, helping clients understand emotional regulation, core beliefs, and patterns linked to insecure attachment. I also integrate narrative, somatic, and emotion-focused methods where helpful.
These approaches support clients in reconnecting with their bodies, processing unexpressed emotions, and exploring unconscious biases and cognitive distortions that may be hindering their progress. My approach is both gentle and direct. I provide honest feedback and ask challenging questions.
A therapy approach that focuses on personal freedom, self-awareness, and finding meaning in life through authentic choices.
A therapy approach that helps people identify, understand, and transform their emotions to improve well-being and relationships.
A therapy approach that emphasizes awareness of the present moment and understanding thoughts, feelings, and actions as a whole.
An approach that focuses on noticing and understanding physical sensations in the body to support emotional and mental well-being.
People-pleasing often looks like kindness, but underneath, it’s usually a fear of conflict, rejection, or not being enough. It’s the habit of putting others’ needs ahead of your own to feel safe, valued, or in control. Over time, constantly ignoring your own needs can leave you feeling anxious, resentful, or numb. When your sense of worth depends on keeping others happy, it becomes both exhausting and isolating. Chronic tension and hypervigilance can show up as anxiety. The disconnect from your wants and boundaries can deepen into depression. Healing isn’t about becoming selfish. It’s about becoming more honest with yourself and others. In therapy, we begin by exploring the origins of our people-pleasing patterns. Often, they started as strategies to stay connected, avoid conflict, feel safe in a chaotic or abusive environment, or earn love and approval. Together, we explore the roots of these patterns and how they show up in your current relationships. We examine the cost of always prioritizing others—emotionally, physically, and mentally—and how to develop assertiveness and establish boundaries.
I blend different modalities with a humanistic and existential approach built on trust and understanding as our relationship develops. My framework incorporates depth psychology, emotion-focused therapy, Gestalt therapy, and somatic experiencing. A strong therapeutic alliance creates an environment that encourages you to be yourself, tell the truth, laugh, cry, and explore a full range of human emotions in a safe, supportive, confidential space. Therapy provides a space to establish boundaries, cultivate self-trust, and reconnect with your desires and limits without guilt. My ultimate aim is to guide you in reconnecting with your truest, highest self and clearing the way for you to move forward.
I offer video or phone sessions via JaneApp, which are PIPEDA compliant. We will talk about how you can find a space to talk in your home where you feel safe, comfortable, and are free from distractions. You will be texted your link/password the morning you’re scheduled for your session. After that, you can click on the button in your email or text at your scheduled time and wait for me to enter the session. Once I have joined, you can begin your session.
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I offer video or phone counselling sessions. I see clients Canada-wide, and am covered by most extended health benefits. I do not offer direct billing. You will be reimbursed if you have coverage.
info@hugginscounselling.com
1462 Saint Paul Street, Kelowna, BC v1y 2e6
604-561-3611