Wai Mei Kwok, Wai Mei KWOK

Marriage and Family Therapist
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, R3T 2J9
Phone: 204-813-7046
Send A Message To Wai Mei.
Session Fees: CAD120.00 per 50 minutes session.
This member is also available for online counseling.
Online-counseling methods: Phone, Webcam

About Me
My name is Wai Mei; sounds like "Why me?". I am Chinese and originally from Hong Kong. I completed my master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2019 from the University of Winnipeg. I was an experienced educator for nearly two decades and a school counsellor. I have lots of experience in working with youth and adolescents and their parents. As a Marriage and Family Therapist, I provide individuals, couples, and families therapy in English and Chinese (Cantonese). Along with my master's degree, in 2018, I also completed my training as a registered Circle of Security Parenting program facilitator. I integrate play and art therapy to help parents to restore emotional security to their kids.

At the beginning of therapy
"Why me? Why do I need to feel the pain?" Most of my clients ask similar questions when they start their healing journey. They may be disconnected from others and being isolated. Some may struggle with mental health wellness, loss of self-focus, and lack of healthy boundaries and coping skills. Therapy can offer them opportunities to understand their experiences, realize more about how things happened, and rebuild relationships among themselves and others.

During the process of therapy
Therapy seems like a discovery, re-discovery, and uncovering healing journey for my clients. We may talk about their families' backgrounds, cultures, family rules and regulations, and how the community and society norms impact their growth and development in their family contest. My clients may take different perspectives to understand their experiences and learn new life skills to cope with their distress in the therapeutic journey.

Emotions and feelings, like visitors in our lives, always come and go. Sometimes, it is difficult for us to articulate our feelings. I assist my clients in being grounded and bringing their awareness back to the present to acknowledge their feelings. I always use the following question to ask my clients, "how much do they feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable?" The more they can bear the uncomfortable, the further they are moving forward in their healing journey.

My philosophy of therapy
My therapeutic work is based on the Satir Model, which states that "changes are always possible," and it will never be too late to make a change. It all depends on how much my clients are ready to make a change. During the therapy, I help my clients rebuild their self-esteem and assist them to be their choice-makers to bring changes in their own lives.

My approach in therapy is client-centred, trauma-informed, and attachment-based. I value self-compassion, awareness, acceptance, and authenticity. I love to use short stories, metaphors, and analogies to help my clients understand their situations. By being with my clients, we may rediscover our inner strengths and beauties. My clients often exclaim, "This is me."

Relational Therapy
Besides individual therapy, I offer EFT and Gottman method relational therapy to help couples understand their interactive dynamic. Sometimes it could be very challenging for couples to go through their transitional stages, from pre-marriage to marriage, from partnership to parenthood. As a therapist, I aim to provide a safe space for relational clients to discuss their childhood and family histories of attachment wounds. I help my couples' clients understand how it impacts their way of acting, assist them in having mutual understanding, and enhance acceptance and relational commitment.

Family Therapy
I use the attachment-focused family therapy approach in helping my family's clients understand the thinking and feelings around their issues. I can balance the interactive dynamic within a family and help each family member claim their voice and feel understood by other family members.

From a systemic point of view, children could be the most sensitive ones affected by their families' dynamics. Sometimes, children's misbehaviours could challenge parents to think they are not good enough parents. As a Circle of Security Parenting program-trained therapist, I assist my parental clients in understanding the hidden reason for their fear of parenting. I can help my clients to reconnect with their children and establish a more secure attachment among them.

"Change is always possible; it will never be too late to have a change."
I am a professional member of AAMFT (#174302) and an associate member of CAMFT (#2017856) since 2018. You are welcome to call me and ask questions about the therapy process. I will do what I can to assist your healing journey whenever you are ready.

Wai Mei Kwok Reaches

Winnipeg MB

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