About Lana

“My entire professional life has been founded in the care and wellness of others. From nurse, to occupational therapy assistant, to recreation therapist in acute psychiatry, the health care profession provided me with a broad foundation of experience and knowledge. I retired from this thirty-five year career in health care and my passionate belief in human nature continues to grow as a counsellor. “

Lana Gowler, Registered and Master Therapeutic Counsellor

The Path to a Fourth Career Post Retirement

I have always been curious about human nature and throughout my years in health care this curiosity and intrigue about how people recover from illness never diminished. My speciality was in Recreation Therapy and Fitness Leadership, both of which hold strong beliefs that leisure pursuits and physical fitness are important components to health. My years of working with clients in psychiatry, where psychological and emotional concerns were the predominant barrier to health, fuelled my desire to know more about this part of the human condition.

As much as I was helping my clients, this part of being human, if I was truly honest with myself, was foreign to me. I was consistently good at keeping my body fit but being healthy in mind and spirit was something I struggled with. My rules were rigid: my spirit and my emotions were held captive with my belief it was not okay to feel.

I appeared “to have it all” but I needed to control everything and everyone around me in order to hold onto this picture. Expecting perfection in myself left me operating like a robot with little room for empathy and compassion. I was exhausted, angry, anxious and depressed. Desperate, feeling alone, and not knowing how to “figure it all out”, I finally had to let go of control and surrender to this wake up call.

My Journey to Fulfillment

In order to let go of control and start this journey of self-discovery, I needed to let others into my world. With help, I began to connect my head to my heart and tap into the truth about myself: that my control was protecting a big, generous heart and no one could take that away from me. How freeing that was not to control or protect, I actually did ‘have it all’ and it was inside me to give. In turn, I began to give back to the world by sharing my passion for personal growth: helping others become ‘unstuck’, discovering their purpose and passion, and leading them to a life filled with joy and integrity.

My personal struggle furthered my desire for knowledge. As such, I graduated from Clearmind International Institute’s Transpersonal Counselling Psychology three year diploma program and then obtained an additional BA in Transpersonal Counselling Psychology. I am now a Personal Growth Workshop Facilitator, Counsellor in my own private practice, open hearted speaker and a woman of integrity, passion, and heart.

Education, Knowledge and Skill

• Master Therapeutic Counsellor (MTC#2020)  ~ Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada
• Facilitator Training ~ Clearmind International Institute (online) (2020 ~ 2021)
• Trauma Training Workshop ~ AEDP (2020)
• Supervision for the Supervisor (2019)
• Reiki Level 1 Training (2018)
• Edge Workshop participant (2018)
• Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy Workshop ~ AEDP (Dec 2014)
• Certified Hypnotist Training (Oct 2014)
• Many Selves In One Person, Experiential Workshop Training (Jul 2014)
• Assistant’s Training for a ClearMind Workshop: A Creative Awakening (Jul 2013)
• Externship in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) (Jun 2013)
• Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy for Couples (AEDP) Finding Love That is Hidden  (May 2013)
• “The Sailor Cannot See the North”: The Pyscho-Spiritual Dilemma of Our Times ~ Dr. James Hollis (Nov 2012)
• Emotional Regulation in Couples Therapy and Treating Couples with Infidelity ~ Dr. Douglas Snyder (Mar 2010)
• Taming the Hungry Ghost (Treatment of Addiction) ~ Dr. Gabor Mate (Nov 2008)
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ~ Dr. Randy Paterson (Dec. 2007) with 12 week Supervision Training with Dr. David Erickson (Jan-Apr 2008)
• Counsellor Training Diploma in Applied Transpersonal Psychology ~ Clearmind International Institute (Graduate 2006)
• Nonviolent Communication Workshop ~ Dr. Marshall Rosenberg (2007)

About Associate James Motherwell

I am an associate counsellor with Rainforest Counselling located in the hills of Mission, BC. My approach is both gentle and challenging as I know growth does not happen in keeping a comfort zone alive. I bring my genuine care, creativity, intuition, and counselling tool kit to support individuals, couples, and youth through many obstacles such as grief, trauma, depression, anxiety, and life transitions.

I have faced challenges in my life where asking for help was not in my vocabulary. But that is exactly what I had to do to get out of a pattern that left me continually dismissing my own worth. It was in connection that I found healing and now I am passionate to share my knowledge and heart.

In creating a safe space where you are met with deep understanding, my hope is to guide you through your stuck places, explore and uncover aspects of self that may have been shut down in fight, flight, and freeze responses to life’s adverse events. All parts of you are worth bringing to the light to integrate a YOU that is alive, inspired, and authentic.

Education, Knowledge and Skill

• Registered Therapeutic Counsellor (RTC#2630) ~ Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada
• Counsellor Training Diploma in Applied Transpersonal Psychology ~ Clearmind International Institute (Graduate 2019)
• Suicide Intervention Training (2021)
• Setting the Goal ~ Clearmind International Institute (2021)
• Assistant and Facilitator ~ Clearmind Counsellor Training Program (2019 – 2021)
• Emotional Focus Therapy Workshop ~ AEDP Institute (2020)
• Solution Focused Brief Therapy (2020)
• Reiki Level 1 Practitioner
• Positive Parenting Solutions
• Individuals Couples Family Youth