Counselling in the Comox Valley · In person, virtual & phone
Life’s hills feel a little less steep when we don’t climb them alone.
I’m Carly Wintschel (MACP), a counsellor at Comox Valley Counselling in Courtenay, BC. I work with individuals aged 10 and up who are navigating anxiety, burnout, relationship struggles, infertility, grief, and the seasons of life that are hard to name.
Welcome
Life can become heavy.
Sometimes it’s anxiety that won’t quiet down. Sometimes it’s grief, relationship struggles, burnout, or the exhaustion of trying to hold everything together. Sometimes it’s harder to name—you just know that life feels different than it used to, and you’re ready for something to change.
I don’t believe counselling is about fixing people. I believe healing happens when we no longer have to carry life’s burdens alone.
My role isn’t to tell you who you should become or to have all the answers. Instead, I hope to create a relationship where you feel deeply understood, emotionally safe, and free to explore whatever brings you here. Together, we’ll make sense of your experiences, discover the patterns that have shaped your life, and work toward the kind of change that feels meaningful and lasting—at a pace that feels right for you.
How I can help
Whatever season you’re in, you don’t have to walk it alone.
Anxiety, Stress & Burnout
When your mind won’t quiet down and holding it all together has become its own full-time job.
Learn more →Depression & Low Mood
When the colour has drained out of things and even small tasks feel heavy.
Learn more →Relationships & Attachment
Making sense of the patterns that shape how you love, argue, connect, and drift.
Learn more →Reproductive Mental Health
Fertility, IVF, pregnancy loss, perimenopause, and menopause—tended with lived understanding.
Learn more →Adoption & Transracial Adoption
Identity, belonging, and family—from a counsellor whose own family story includes adoption.
Learn more →ADHD & Executive Functioning
Support that starts from how your brain actually works, not how it “should.”
Learn more →Caregiver & Parent Support
For parents, caregivers, and siblings of neurodivergent loved ones who are running on empty.
Learn more →Grief & Loss
Room to carry what you’ve lost without being told to hurry up or move on.
Learn more →Teen & Youth Counselling (10+)
A steady, non-judgmental space for young people finding their footing.
Learn more →Women in Business
From someone who owned and ran a bakery for over a decade—she gets it.
Learn more →Life Transitions & Identity
New roles, endings, beginnings, and the question of who you are now.
Learn more →All Services
Family estrangement, self-compassion, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and more.
See everything →
About Carly
A few lives lived before this one.
Before becoming a counsellor, I spent five years teaching elementary school in Singapore and Canada, then followed a very different path—training in pastry arts in France and co-founding a wholesale bakery that I owned and operated for more than a decade. Those experiences taught me about leadership, creativity, stress, uncertainty, and the courage it takes to begin again.
My husband and I are parents to two incredible boys, and our family’s story has been shaped by both adoption and in vitro fertilization. These experiences have given me a deep appreciation for the complexity of family life, identity, belonging, resilience, and hope.
My approach
Grounded in attachment. Shaped around you.
My work is grounded in attachment theory and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) because I believe our relationships—with others and with ourselves—have a profound impact on how we experience the world. At the same time, every client is unique, so I thoughtfully integrate person-centred, strength-based, cognitive behavioural, and solution-focused approaches to meet your individual needs.
- Individuals aged 10+ — teens, adults, and everyone finding their way between
- In person at Comox Valley Counselling in Courtenay, or virtually and by phone across BC
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT/EFIT), attachment-based, person-centred, CBT, solution-focused, and strengths-based
“Life’s hills often feel a little less steep when we don’t have to climb them alone.”
The idea that anchors my life and my work
Ready when you are
If you’re carrying something heavy, I’d be honoured to walk alongside you.
A free consultation is a chance to meet, ask questions, and see whether we’re a good fit—no pressure, no obligation.
Book your free consultationBooking is handled securely through Comox Valley Counselling’s online system.