Alayna Fender
Student Counsellor
(she/her/hers)
In-Person and Virtual Sessions
Alayna is currently accepting new clients to her waitlist!
Please email us at connect@collective-healing.ca to connect with Alayna for counselling services.
Alayna (she/her) is a queer student counsellor with over five years of experience working with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and as a Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher. Alayna is currently completing her Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia, with her research focusing on mindfulness, self-compassion, and sexual shame in queer women.
With warmth, curiosity, and compassion, Alayna works alongside folks navigating various concerns, including identity exploration, relationship issues, grief, and trauma. She believes that folks seek counselling due to a combination of unmet relational needs, emotional discord, and the reality of navigating oppressive societal structures, and is therefore deeply committed to social justice and advocacy within her practice.
Alayna uses a holistic, person-centered approach that draws on mindfulness- and compassion-based approaches, somatic therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS; parts work). Through her anti-oppressive, sex-positive, and trauma-informed lens, she aims to create a therapeutic relationship that supports you in exploring, discovering, and celebrating your most authentic self.
Alayna is happiest when climbing, camping, or spending time with her cat, dog, and loved ones. She is a settler, currently living and practicing on the stolen, ancestral, and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.
Alayna’s Availability
Location: Venables, Virtual
Days and Hours:
Monday 9:00am - 2:00pm (Venables or Virtual)
Wednesday 9:00am - 3:00pm (Venables or Virtual)
Thursday 1:00pm - 7:00pm (Virtual)
Alayna Fender
Student Counsellor
Image Description: Souz is angled in the image. She is wearing a yellow jacket and a black tuque. She has shoulder length brown hair and is smiling. The background is filled with tree branches covered in moss.