Gillian Goheen-Smith is a Registered Provisional Psychologist with a background spanning more than 20 years in education and community based counselling, supporting children, adolescents, adults, and families. She earned her Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan and later completed her Master of Counselling Psychology through Athabasca University.
This experience gave her a unique developmental perspective on mental health and an understanding of how early experiences, unmet needs, trauma, and challenges within family and larger systems can influence people throughout their lives. She continues to draw on this background when working with children and teenagers, as well as adults who are beginning to recognize how earlier experiences may be contributing to challenges in their lives today.
Gillian works with clients experiencing anxiety, chronic pain, trauma and PTSD, relationship challenges, parenting stress, body image concerns, anger and emotional regulation difficulties, ADHD and executive functioning challenges, and the lasting effects of difficult or unmet childhood experiences. She also has a special interest in supporting individuals affected by domestic violence and relationship trauma, as well as veterans, first responders, and professionals working in high-stress or high-responsibility environments. Gillian also provides psycho-educational and ADHD assessments.
Her approach to therapy is practical, collaborative, and individualized. Gillian draws from EMDR, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Solution-Focused Therapy. Rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach, she considers each client’s experiences, strengths, relationships, environment, and goals when determining how therapy can best support them.
Gillian believes that understanding why certain patterns developed is an important part of changing them. Her work helps clients make sense of their experiences, recognize patterns that may no longer be serving them, develop practical strategies, and move toward greater confidence, connection, and steadiness in their lives.
Education
Master of Counselling Psychology – Athabasca University
Bachelor of Education – University of Saskatchewan
Therapeutic Approaches:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT)
Trauma-Informed & Developmentally Informed Therapy
Areas of Focus:
ADHD & Executive Functioning
Anger Management
Anxiety, Stress & Burnout
Attachment & Relationship Patterns
Assessments (Psycho-educational, ADHD, general functioning)
Body Image & Self-Worth
Co-dependency
Chronic Pain
Domestic Violence & Relationship Trauma
Emotional Regulation
Parenting & Family Challenges
Trauma & PTSD
Veterans & Military Counselling
First Responders
Workplace & Organizational Stress
