Rhianna Williams is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (BCACC #19779) holding a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology and an undergraduate degree in Child and Youth Care.
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Originally from the West Kootenay region of B.C., Rhianna grew up in a family shaped by significant adversity, which instilled in her a deep sense of community and empathy for others. Rhianna’s career journey began with a desire to find meaningful, values-based life’s work and to gain the tools and insights needed to make sense of the people, places, and experiences that shaped her early life.
Before becoming a RCC, Rhianna worked for over a decade as a Youth and Family Outreach Counsellor and Youth Care Worker in both the public health and nonprofit sectors. During that time, she held numerous roles, including adventure therapist; outreach worker for youth facing mental health, addiction, and homelessness challenges; restorative justice facilitator; youth care worker at Lionsgate Hospital’s inpatient youth mental health and addictions unit; support worker for youth in ministry care; and women’s Stopping the Violence counsellor. Today, her clinical practice focuses on supporting individuals, couples, and parents.
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Work with Individuals: Rhianna’s work with individuals focuses on meeting clients where they are at, helping them thrive and become their most authentic, connected selves while building emotional capacity and resilience.
Common areas of focus include addressing the impacts and origin of anxiety, depression, neurodivergence (including ADHD, PMDD and sensory sensitivities), addiction issues, interpersonal conflict, attachment issues, life transitions, reparenting and processing childhood trauma, grief, loss and relationship challenges. Rhianna offers in-person and virtual sessions. Her practice is grounded in a biopsychosocial, attachment-based, and trauma-informed approach. She utilizes various modalities, including Somatic Attachment, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Solution-Focused Therapy, the Gottman Method, and Structural Family Therapy. She is also trained in Nature-Based Therapy and is a Positive Discipline Parenting coach.
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Work with Couples/Families: Rhianna’s interest in working with couples stems from both personal and professional experiences. During her career as a Youth Care Worker she was faced with the hard reality that individuals can undergo extensive therapy but meaningful and lasting change is not likely if the social systems around them remain unchanged. Supporting parents and couples became a natural more upstream way to promote child and youth well-being.
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Secondly, after experiencing several so-called “failed” relationships in early adulthood, Rhianna took time to self-reflect, asking herself, “What is my part in this?” and “What does a healthy relationship look like?” This journey of self-discovery, combined with her master’s studies, inspired her to focus her clinical practice in part on working with couples and parents. Her couples work incorporates Emotion-Focused Therapy and the Gottman Method, providing concrete tools and process-oriented approaches that help couples feel more heard, understood, and connected, while reducing conflict and fostering peaceful, nurturing homes and relationships where all can thrive.
Although not a parent herself, Rhianna understands that becoming a parent is one of life’s most pivotal and impactful experiences. Parenting is hard—especially in an age of information overload, social media comparisons, high cost of living and reduced access to extended family or close-knit communities. Many parents feel on the edge of a breakdown, juggling life stressors. Rhianna approaches parent coaching with a family systems, developmental, and attachment-oriented perspective, drawing on her years of experience with youth and families. She incorporates practical tools from Positive Discipline Parenting to help reduce power struggles and help children grow into responsible, respectful, and resourceful individuals.
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​Accessibility: Rhianna is committed to making mental health care accessible and partner with various counselling assistance funds and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), including Whistler and Sea to Sky Community Services, Pearls Place, CVAP, and the Vail Employee Assistance Program.​Thank you for your interest and she looks forward to supporting you on your health and wellness journey.
Education & Training
Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology, Yorkville University
Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria
Dual Diploma in Child and Youth Care & Social Service Work, Selkirk College
Bringing the Body into Practice: Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy, BBP
Gottman Method Couples Therapy Clinical Training, The Gottman Institute
Occupational Awareness Training: Fire Fighter Culture and Trauma, Emergency Workers Trauma, First Responders Health
San'yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training, First Nations Health Authority
Positive Discipline Parenting Certificate, Positive Discipline Parenting Institution
Emotion-Focused Family Therapy Certificate, Foundry BC
Nature-Based Therapy Certificate, Human-Nature Counselling Society
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Certificate, Foundry BC