Jesse Ray-Contreras (they/them)
Co-Founder, Executive Director, Registered Clinical Counsellor
Providing Services in English
Works with Individuals and Relationships
My Approach
When explaining my approach, I often ask the question, “Who are you”? It’s a tricky one, isn’t it? No matter how hard we try, our stories rarely can sum it all up. Inevitably, something is discounted, left out, or neglected. In my experience, folks coming to therapy often tell stories of feeling stuck, struggling to move through their pain or the challenges they face, sometimes wishing life didn't feel like a passive event, out of their control. While there is no doubt moving through life is hard and uncertain, we are all deserving of peace and clarity. With support and a safe space, a different reality is possible. One where your strengths are just as clear as your challenges.
At the core, my work is strengths-based, aiming to uncover and highlight your skills and resources that have been diminished or lost to the shadows of your challenges. By doing so, may you feel capable of making change and finding fulfillment and healing within yourself. As a therapist, I offer you my compassionate support in this collaborative process. One filled with clarity and intention as you process and assign meaning to the influential events and relationships that have led to this moment. With time, your pain can begin to feel less sharp as your strengths, purpose, and sense of self come into focus.
Recognizing that therapy is relational, trust and connection are vital to our progress. In working together, I show up and bring who I am. You deserve to know the person sitting across from you. I aim to be both curious and candid and, at times, hold you accountable and challenge patterns that hold you back. I also hope to make space for humour and exploration. From time to time, I may check with you about our work together, giving both of us an opportunity to provide a temperature check on how things are going. While I am trained and educated in this work, I do not claim to be an expert in life and will sometimes get it wrong. I hope that working together, you can voice these moments, if and when they do happen.
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Hi there, I'm Jesse, a therapist residing as an uninvited settler on the stolen lands of the Coast Salish People, frequently referred to as Vancouver, BC. My identities check a few different boxes, but I find myself most frequently acknowledging my queerness and the privilege that comes with my white and American background. Originally from rural Wyoming, I spent my younger years navigating shame and questions of identity while grappling with self-worth and what it means to be enough. Through these experiences, I came to my work as a counsellor with a personal appreciation for the stories we tell about ourselves and who we are—acknowledging that the most important relationship in our lives is the one we have with ourselves. In addition to my work with IGC, I also work to support folks suffering from eating disorders and survivors of conversion “therapy”/change efforts in public health/non-profit settings. When not wearing my therapist hat, I can often be found digging into the history of a wide variety of topics, playing with my two pups, or spending time with close friends for dinner and board games.
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Anxiety
Body Image & Dysmorphia
Boundaries & Communication
Conversion “Therapy” & Change Efforts Survivorship
Cross-Cultural Issues
Depression
Eating Disorders
Gender Identity & Transitions
Health & Medical Anxiety
HIV Support
Kink & Non-Monogamy
Life Transitions
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Purpose & Meaning
Polyamory
Queer & 2SLGBTQIA+
Religious Trauma
Self Worth & Compassion
Sex & Sexuality
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Registered Clinical Counsellor – British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors
Master of Counselling Psychology – Adler University
B.S. Business Administration & Finance – Johnson & Wales University
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Narrative Therapy Practice Foundations - Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy
Gottman Method Couples Therapy: Level 1 Clinical Training
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) Fundamentals - ICEEFT
Lifespan Integration - Level I
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) - Cognitive Behavior Institute
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
Emotion-focused Family Therapy (EFFT)
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotion Focused Couples Therapy Externship (VCEFT)
Contact Jesse
Jesse Ray-Contreras (they/them)
Co-Founder, Executive Director, Registered Clinical Counsellor
Providing Services in English
Works with Individuals and Relationships
My Approach
When explaining my approach, I often ask the question, “Who are you”? It’s a tricky one, isn’t it? No matter how hard we try, our stories rarely can sum it all up. Inevitably, something is discounted, left out, or neglected. In my experience, folks coming to therapy often tell stories of feeling stuck, struggling to move through their pain or the challenges they face, sometimes wishing life didn't feel like a passive event, out of their control. While there is no doubt moving through life is hard and uncertain, we are all deserving of peace and clarity. With support and a safe space, a different reality is possible. One where your strengths are just as clear as your challenges.
At the core, my work is strengths-based, aiming to uncover and highlight your skills and resources that have been diminished or lost to the shadows of your challenges. By doing so, may you feel capable of making change and finding fulfillment and healing within yourself. As a therapist, I offer you my compassionate support in this collaborative process. One filled with clarity and intention as you process and assign meaning to the influential events and relationships that have led to this moment. With time, your pain can begin to feel less sharp as your strengths, purpose, and sense of self come into focus.
Recognizing that therapy is relational, trust and connection are vital to our progress. In working together, I show up and bring who I am. You deserve to know the person sitting across from you. I aim to be both curious and candid and, at times, hold you accountable and challenge patterns that hold you back. I also hope to make space for humour and exploration. From time to time, I may check with you about our work together, giving both of us an opportunity to provide a temperature check on how things are going. While I am trained and educated in this work, I do not claim to be an expert in life and will sometimes get it wrong. I hope that working together, you can voice these moments, if and when they do happen.
-
Hi there, I'm Jesse, a therapist residing as an uninvited settler on the stolen lands of the Coast Salish People, frequently referred to as Vancouver, BC. My identities check a few different boxes, but I find myself most frequently acknowledging my queerness and the privilege that comes with my white and American background. Originally from rural Wyoming, I spent my younger years navigating shame and questions of identity while grappling with self-worth and what it means to be enough. Through these experiences, I came to my work as a counsellor with a personal appreciation for the stories we tell about ourselves and who we are—acknowledging that the most important relationship in our lives is the one we have with ourselves. In addition to my work with IGC, I also work to support folks suffering from eating disorders and survivors of conversion “therapy”/change efforts in public health/non-profit settings. When not wearing my therapist hat, I can often be found digging into the history of a wide variety of topics, playing with my two pups, or spending time with close friends for dinner and board games.
-
Anxiety
Body Dysmorphia
Body Image
Boundaries & Communication
Conversion “Therapy” & Change Efforts Survivorship
Cross-Cultural Issues
Depression
Eating Disorders
Gender Identity & Transitions
Health & Medical Anxiety
HIV Support
Kink & Non-monogamy
Life Transitions
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Purpose & Meaning
Queer & 2SLGBTQIA+
Religious Trauma
Self Worth & Compassion
Sex & Sexuality
-
Registered Clinical Counsellor – British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors
Master of Counselling Psychology – Adler University
B.S. Business Administration & Finance – Johnson & Wales University
-
Narrative Therapy Practice Foundations - Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy
Gottman Method Couples Therapy: Level 1 Clinical Training
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) Fundamentals - ICEEFT
Lifespan Integration - Level I
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) - Cognitive Behavior Institute
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
Emotion-focused Family Therapy (EFFT)
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotion Focused Couples Therapy Externship (VCEFT)
Contact Jesse
Contact Us
In Good Company Counselling
110-744 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC
get directions
236-471-6680
connect@igccounselling.ca
Land Acknowledgement
We respectfully acknowledge that our healing work takes place on the traditional unceded homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) & Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Nations. We are committed to understanding the lasting impacts of colonization and working to actively decolonize ourselves and our practices.