Our Team
meet the selkies…
Alexandra Shewan, MC, RCC
(she/they)
Founder, Counsellor, Supervisor, & Consultant
Areas of practice
Fat liberation, developmental trauma, emotional neglect, disordered eating
Fees
Sliding scale, $100 - $250+ per 50min session
Availability
Ali is not currently accepting new clients or a waitlist.
Lauren Budd, MACP
(she/her)
Associate Counsellor
Areas of practice
Body image & eating concerns, people pleasing, attachment, self-esteem, burnout
Fees
Sliding scale, $100 - $250+ per 50min session
Availability
Wednesdays, 2 - 7pm
Thursdays, 10am - 2pm
Carina Morton
(they/them)
Administrative Assistant
Carina is a fat liberationist, and a loving dog mom, residing on the stolen lands of the Snuneymuxw people, colonially known as Nanaimo.
At Selkie, Carina’s role is to help make sure the counsellors spend time with their clients, not their administrative tasks. When you reach out to Selkie, you may receive a reply from Carina. They are eager to answer your questions and connect you with support!
Alexandra (Ali) Shewan
Founder, Counsellor, Supervisor, & Consultant
MC, RCC #19099 | (she/they)
Areas of practice
Developmental trauma
Emotional neglect
Disordered eating
Identity-based violence
Supporting other helping professionals (or students in those fields)
Boundaries
Fees
Sliding scale, $100 - $250+
per 50min session
Approaches to Counselling
Fat liberation
Response-Based Practice
Feminist Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Anti-Oppressive Practice
Somatics
Availability
Ali is not currently accepting new clients or a waitlist.
Through counselling I can support you in feeling safer in your body, divesting from diet culture, improving your relationship with food and exercise, managing stress/anxiety, understanding and shifting patterns of behaviour rooted in childhood trauma, implement boundaries, and compassionately explore trauma response/adaptation.
I am a white settler of Scottish, German, and English descent, living on on unceded lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ traditional territories in Victoria, B.C. While I’ve been a pseudo-counsellor since childhood (parentified children, iykyk), I officially became one in 2021 when I graduated from City University with my Master’s of Counselling degree.
I continue to take trainings and workshops in my areas of passion around fat liberation, trauma, and anti-oppressive approaches to counselling. If you’re interested in seeing my credentials and list of training, you can find that here.
When not sitting with clients or running Selkie Counselling, you can find me weaving at my loom, walking by the ocean, playing DnD with friends, reading a romance novel, watching Lord of the Rings (for the 50th+ time), listening to Hozier or Carly Rae Jepsen, drawing tarot cards, tending to my container garden, or figuring out which bakery in town has the best croissant.
Lauren Budd
Areas of practice
Identity Work
Body Image & Eating Concerns
People-pleasing
Attachment
Self-Esteem
Burnout
Fees
Sliding scale, $100 - $250+
per 50min session
Approaches to Counselling
Person-Centered Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Availability
Wednesdays, 2 - 7pm
Thursdays, 10am - 2pm
I believe that therapeutic work is fundamentally relational. Grounded in compassion and relational care, I approach counselling as a collaborative process. I believe you are the expert in your own life and that you bring wisdom about your experiences, relationships, and circumstances into our sessions. At the same time, so much of what impacts us comes from social pressures and contexts beyond our control, and therapy offers a safe, grounded space to unpack all of that.
I am a white settler of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry, raised and living on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. My background in social work and frontline community spaces deeply informs my practice.
Outside of counselling, I enjoy jumping between new hobbies, visiting local coffee shops, spending time with loved ones, and finding new trinkets and knick-knacks.
Associate Counsellor
MACP | (she/her)