Kate Bonnell, Alignment Counselling

About Kate

Kate is a Canadian Certified Counsellor candidate, and has completed her master’s degree in counselling psychology. She has worked in helping professions both clinically and in the community for the past ten years supporting people through mental health struggles and chronic health conditions.

Now, working as a counsellor, Kate focuses on building collaborative relationships with her clients that empower them to make shifts in their lives. Her undergraduate degree is in kinesiology, which grants a unique mind-body lens when considering wellness. This whole-person approach extends to acknowledging a person’s experience in society, their upbringing, and any other cultural identities including race, religion, spirituality, sexual orientation, and gender.

Kate is passionate about self-acceptance and allowing people to feel comfortable in their own skin. During her practicum at New Bloom Counselling, she gained experience and knowledge about neurodiversity affirming care, and especially enjoys working with late-diagnosed adults with ADHD and autism as they uncover what it might mean to them. She incorporates those skills when working with all types of clients, whether they are seeking counselling for support with anxiety, depression, seeking purpose and direction, wanting to develop communication skills, work through trauma, recover from burn out, or deepen their personal relationships.

The formats of counselling Kate uses depends on the client and presenting topic, but typically are narrative therapy, emotion-focused therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), and parts work or internal family systems. Her orientation is a foundation of attachment theory, informed by a somatic framework. She does her best to tailor to a client’s learning style, and background knowledge in a topic, so no two treatment plans are identical.