Meet Irene Yakovleva:
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Meet Irene Yakovleva, RCC
About Me
Hi, I’m Irene. I support people who are undergoing life changes, stress, loss, and difficult experiences. These experiences can sometimes disconnect us from ourselves and others. Through counselling, I will help you to reconnect with yourself and others who matter to you.
I believe in the power of counselling. Through my own life events and challenges, rooted in overwhelm and disconnection, I have come to deeply appreciate how integral self-acceptance, inner connection, and emotional balance are for our sense of well-being. My own road to recovery and connection has made me passionate about being a therapist and helping others restore their inner balance while creating greater harmony in their lives.
As a mother, partner, daughter, friend, Eastern European immigrant, and caregiver to someone with a chronic illness, I also understand how deeply our relationships shape the way we see ourselves and inform our experience of the world around us, including our sense of identity, emotional safety, self-worth, and ability to connect with others.
Because I know the impact our relationships have on our well-being, I’m passionate about supporting people who are struggling with depression, grief, family and parental wounds, intergenerational trauma, and the effects of narcissistic, manipulative, or abusive relationships. I help you heal from these relationships and move into more positive ones – relationships that allow you to be your most authentic and joyful self.
My Approach
I believe that self-care is an essential part of daily life and critical for emotional balance. Understanding yourself, your needs, and your relationships is the pathway to reconnecting with yourself, creating more positive and nourishing relationships, and finding more joy in your daily life.
I focus on helping you reconnect with your authentic self through self-awareness, self-development, self-acceptance, and self-respect. As part of this process, together, we’ll explore your early life experiences, your relationship patterns, and the ways your past and present experiences continue to influence your emotional wellbeing, your self-perception, and your daily life. We will work together so that you create new, more positive and more relational experiences that allow you to establish a more connected foundation for your life.
I work gently and at your own pace, guided by your individual goals and needs. Naturally curious and open, I welcome the exploration of your beliefs, including spiritual perspectives, in a non-judgmental and respectful space.
I use an integrative approach, drawing on evidence-based modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), as well as less conventional but equally meaningful tools such as dream work and metaphorical associative cards. These approaches can serve as a doorway into the deeper layers of your inner experience.
Each session is designed to offer clarity, insight, and a sense of emotional grounding, along with practical tools you can apply in your daily life at a pace that feels supportive and natural for you.
Credentials
Education
- M.C. – Master of Counselling, City University
- B.A. – Bachelor of Arts (English, Psychology & Counselling), Kwantlen Polytechnic University
- Teacher Training, Pedagogical College
- Linguistics and Behaviour, Minsk Innovative University (MIU)
Training Completed
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Sexuality
- Narcissistic Relationships, Emotional Abuse & Gaslighting: Treating and Empowering Survivors of Relational Trauma
- Shame Certification Training: Integrative Somatic, Sensorimotor, Mindfulness, & Neurobiological Strategies to Transform Self-Loathing
Certifications
- Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) – Level 1, Sue Johnson
- Emotionally Focused Therapy for Traumatized Individuals: Shaping a New Sense of Self, Sue Johnson
- Narcissistic and Psychopathic Abuse: The Clinician’s Guide to the New Field of Traumatic Pathological Love Relationships, Mindsight Institute
- Shame and the Disowned Self: Overcoming Internal Attachment Disorder, Janina Fisher
- Treating Adult Clients of Emotionally Immature Parents: How Clients Can Reclaim Their Lives from the Toxic Legacy of Controlling, Rejecting or Self-Involved Parents, Mindsight Institute
- Working with Somatic Components to Overcome Trauma Related Fears of Feeling Good, Janina Fisher
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I know if my partner (or my parent) is narcissistic or emotionally abusive?
While labels can help clarify things, it’s often more helpful to understand the patterns and the emotional impact a relationship has on you. In our work, we’ll explore how you feel in your relationship and whether you feel seen, respected, emotionally safe, and able to be yourself. We’ll look at recurring dynamics such as manipulation, control, invalidation, guilt, or chronic self-doubt. The goal isn’t to diagnose others. Instead, it’s to help you gain clarity, understand your experience, and reconnect with your own perception of reality.
Q: Can you help me with self-esteem, guilt, or feeling stuck even if I don’t have a clear trauma history?
Yes. You don’t need to have a complex trauma history to experience emotional distress, low self-worth, or feel stuck. Often, these experiences develop gradually through our relationships, life stresses, or repeated emotional patterns. Together, we’ll explore what’s contributing to these feelings and gently work toward strengthening your self-understanding and emotional regulation while helping you develop a more stable sense of self.
Q: Can spirituality be incorporated into counselling?
Yes, spirituality can be part of the therapeutic process if it is meaningful for you. I approach spirituality in a very open, grounded, and respectful way. I don’t see spirituality as a belief system that needs to be interpreted or predicted. Instead, I view it as a personal inner language that sometimes helps us better understand ourselves.
In our work, we may explore spiritual themes through creative and reflective methods such as metaphorical associative cards, mental imagery, dreams, music, or personal symbolic meanings. For some people, this also includes connection to concepts such as God, universal energy, or an inner sense of higher guidance. All of these are understood as expressions of inner experience, ways your psyche and “soul” may communicate.
At the same time, these tools are not used for prediction, fortune-telling, or “answers from outside.” They are not an oracle. They are simply supportive instruments that can help you more deeply access your emotions, patterns, and inner processes. Our focus will always remain on helping you understand yourself, strengthening your self-awareness, and supporting your emotional integration in a safe and grounded way.
Q: How do dreamwork or metaphorical cards actually help, and are they evidence-based?
These tools are not used as literal interpretations, but as symbolic ways to access deeper emotional processes that may be difficult for you to express directly. Dreams and metaphorical images often reflect unconscious themes, emotions, or internal conflicts. In therapy, they can help bring clarity, emotional insight, and new perspectives. I use them as part of an integrative approach, combining them with evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), depending on what best supports you.
Q: How can therapy help with anger issues?
Therapy can help you understand what’s driving your anger, identify triggers, develop healthier coping strategies, and improve communication in your relationships. For many men, anger is not the primary problem but a response to underlying feelings such as stress, hurt, fear, shame, loneliness, or feeling misunderstood. Working together, we help you recognize these patterns, respond more effectively in difficult situations, and strengthen your relationships at home and at work.
nother FAQ that could perform very well:
Q: Why am I so angry all the time?
Persistent anger can stem from chronic stress, unresolved past experiences, relationship conflict, anxiety, depression, burnout, or difficulty expressing vulnerable emotions. Working together, we’ll help you to identify the root causes of your anger and develop practical tools for managing it more effectively.
“Irene has assisted me in unpacking my past, helped me to understand how those situations impacted my decisions and guided me towards trusting and embracing my authentic self.”
N.A.
“Irene has been a wonderful support through my divorce, health concerns, and many life challenges. She helped me understand what is truly important to me and always left me feeling stronger, more hopeful and ready to keep going.”
Y.C.
“I’ve been seeing Irene for over a year, and I truly appreciate her support. Her calm and gentle approach always puts me at ease, and I never feel judged. Whether I’m dealing with something difficult or just a small everyday issue, she gives it the same care and attention. I’m very grateful to have found her.”
A.K.
Imagine a Life Where You Feel Empowered and Confident
Picture yourself overcoming challenges, building stronger relationships, and feeling more at peace.
At Quoin Counselling, we believe in your potential to achieve this and more.
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Tanya Schecter's book is out and available for purchase
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