About Mariana
I’m Mariana (she/ella/elle), an Argentine-Canadian living in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, since 2003. My work is shaped by my professional journey, my lived experiences, and my connections across cultures, communities, and systems of care.
I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor. Over the years, I have developed an integrative approach that brings together somatic and neurobiology-based therapeutic modalities, mindfulness as a guiding principle, and reflective dialogue. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR, Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) are integrated in my work.
I bring attention to both the individual and the broader stories of exclusion, oppression, migration, resilience, and survival that shape our lived and living experiences. I believe therapy can be deeply personal while also connecting us to something larger: a space to reconnect with ourselves, be witnessed without judgment, discover new possibilities, and nurture belonging, solidarity, and agency.
Professional background
I hold a master’s in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia and a degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. My background includes non-profit and community work in Latin America and in Canada. I also draw on a solution-focused framework, informed by my experience in Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) settings. I have a trauma-informed private practice in downtown Vancouver, offering both in-person and online sessions.
My background includes extensive experience preparing clinical assessment reports for legal proceedings, including Canadian immigration and refugee matters.
Professional roles and affiliations:
- BC Provincial Refugee Mental Health Coordinator since 2015; consultant and trainer on refugee mental health at regional and national levels.
- Member, CAMH National Advisory Committee for Refugee Mental Health.
- Former Chair, BC Multi-Agency Partnership (MAP) for Refugee Claimants.
- Executive Member, Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), Inland Protection Working Group.
- Registered Clinical Counsellor and Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) Candidate with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC).
- Member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA).
How I work
I believe deeply in each person’s inherent capacity to heal and in psychotherapy as a space where meaningful change, reconnection, and reclamation are possible. In many ways, I see therapy as an agent of transformation and a practice of justice-doing.
Over the years, I have cultivated a trauma-informed, body-oriented, neurobiologically grounded and cross-culturally responsive clinical practice.