Carmen Okhmatovski
Owner-Director, Individual and Relational Therapist (MMFT)
Reaching for help is a brave step. Whatever has brought you to this point, has likely taken a toll. Life stresses build up. Unresolved conflicts and traumas keep showing up and cause recurring issues. You notice patterns: the same argument, or same worry, the same relationship dynamics. Previous efforts to fix the problem have only brought temporary relief. You are tired of feeling this way, of fighting, of feeling alone... You want someone to help you get to the root of the issue and bring some lasting change and resolution. It's my honor to walk alongside you.
My work is heavily influenced by Dr. Brene Brown, Dr. John Gottman, Gabor Mate, and Esther Perel.
My clients are amazing people. They come in with their struggles, their hurts, their fears, their insecurities, their difficult stories, their trembling hands, their breaking hearts, and they lay it on the table. They bravely take a look at their lives, and inside themselves, and take steps to grow and shift so they can finally experience the changes that they have wanted to see in their lives.
So often my clients come into session feeling defeated, broken, isolated, anxious, or hurt, but I also see their courage, their resilience, their tenacity, their strength, their joy, and their unwavering desire to connect in meaningful ways with people in their lives.
I am so deeply honored that my clients trust me to see and walk alongside them.
In therapy jargon, I would say my specializations are trauma and systems. This sounds a little vague—like if someone asks, “Where do you live?” and you say, “I live on Earth.”
I could break that down to say that I work with clients to establish their goals for moving toward better personal or relational health and growth. And then while working toward those goals, we develop a deeper understanding of the broader picture of how many past experiences and relationships are affecting current relationships, patterns, and mental health. We integrate that broader understanding of self and background into our path moving forward. We move forward by removing the barriers to connection or health—old patterns, communication, empathy, beliefs, etc., and creating new patterns and understandings.
My passion for therapy grew out of the observation that when people are in personal or relational distress, not only is human support the best medicine, but they often need someone to walk with them or guide them back toward finding their connection, place of centre, or sense of wholeness.
To my mind there is no greater work. I really care about people and find it very fulfilling to watch people step back into their power, enjoy better relational health, or more personal wholeness.
I am the proud mother of four amazing teens, 2 doodles, and 2 cats who avoid us. I like to tinker with a guitar, and am a persistent but unsuccessful gardener. You can often find me having coffee with a friend or walking on the nature trail close to my house.
"Reconnection to self and others."