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Understanding your story. Discovering how to live it well.

With nearly two decades of clinical experience, I provide a warm, safe, and supportive environment to help you navigate life’s challenges and create meaningful change.
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Two Decades of Clinical Practice

Neil Mercer - Registered Clinical Counsellor

As a registered clinical counsellor for nearly two decades, I have worked in multiple settings, including outpatient community mental health, university campus counselling, and private practice. My passion is to provide excellent professional psychotherapeutic services tailored to the unique needs of each of my clients. My approach is one of genuine connection and warm acceptance, while also gently guiding clients through their challenges towards inner peace, clarity and wholeness.
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A Thoughtful, Personalized Approach

A Thoughtful, Personalized Approach

For many people, the decision to come to therapy can be a daunting and vulnerable decision. Initially when I meet with someone, I want to get to know your story, understand who you are and what is bringing you to this place in your life where you are seeking help. Together we clarify what your goals are for therapy, and drawing from my years of clinical experience, training, and your unique needs we create a plan together on how to support you towards healing.
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“Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies growth and our freedom”

- Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Support for Your Personal Growth and Healing

Services Provided

I provide compassionate psychotherapy services tailored to each individual’s unique experiences, challenges, and goals. Services are available for individuals, couples, and families, with support for a wide range of emotional, relational, and life challenges.

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Services Provided:

  • Individual Therapy
  • Couples Therapy
  • Family Therapy
  • Trauma & PTSD
  • Anxiety, Depression and Other Mental Health Concerns
  • Grief & Loss
  • Relationship Challenges
  • Life Transitions
  • Addictions (Including drug, Alcohol, Sex and Gambling Addictions)
  • Spiritual Healing & Growth
  • Adolescent and Family Therapy
  • Professional and Leadership Development and Personal Growth

Modalities:

  • Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
  • Emotionally Focused Family Therapy
  • Gottman Couples Therapy
  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
  • Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
  • Existential and Meaning Centered Therapy
  • Other Integrated Therapeutic Approaches

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Client Testimonials

All names of clients have been changed to protect privacy and confidentiality.

“Choosing to work with Neil, my trusted counselor, and starting EMDR therapy marked a pivotal turning point in my life. This journey allowed me to gather the fragmented pieces of my life, which had been scattered by sexual abuse and trauma. With Neil’s clear and compassionate guidance, those pieces slowly came together, leading to healing, hope, and a renewed sense of purpose. My journey has taught me that healing is possible, hope can be restored, and God can redeem even the deepest wounds. It’s never too late for new beginnings!”

- Claire

“My wife and I have been seeing Neil on and off for nearly the last decade. He has helped us navigate many complex and difficult family situations, mental health challenges, and work-related issues. We are so thankful for his help, wisdom, patience, and thoughtful dialogue. Today, we have a happy marriage, are doing well with our mental health, and in a good place with our careers. Thank you Neil for all your help through the years”

- Jane & Joe

“I chose to start working with my counselor Neil to help me manage my stress in my work life. I am thankful we built a trustful and meaningful relationship where I could feel safe, heard and helped. As life does, circumstances happened to me and I realized I had been holding on to past sexual abuse trauma from my childhood and didn’t know what to do with it. Through EMDR therapy and consistent, solid guidance from Neil I was able to work through this trauma. He has enabled me to be a stronger, more consistent person. He has helped change my life for the better, always took the time to listen and provide solid feedback that allowed me to make the choices I needed to move forward in my life.”

- Mike

“When I met Neil I was at my worst. I was suffering from OCD, riddled with anxiety and suffering with depression. I was very scared, ashamed and embarrassed. Neil helped me face my past head on. A past full of mental, physical and spiritual abuse. Through counselling, EMDR and CBT Neil equipped me with the ability to process my trauma, manage my thoughts and emotions and forgive my abuser.”

- Jake

“I came to Neil carrying the effects of sexual abuse from my childhood and sexual addiction in my adult life. He has helped me understand how those experiences affected me, why they mattered, and how to separate them from who I am. Through EMDR and honest, straightforward conversations, Neil has created a space where I feel comfortable being open without judgment. Our work together has helped me process things I had carried for years and regain a stronger sense of identity. I am grateful for the understanding, guidance, and support Neil has given me as I continue to move forward.”

- Jeff

“Neil has helped me and my marriage so tremendously for the past 4-5 years. He is an empathetic listener, and a keen observer who can untangle complex dynamics and pinpoint key problems. He is respectful and mindful of my past history, background and values. His approach is gentle and advice sound. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful Christian counsellor and would highly recommend him to everyone.”

- Sylvie

“I can’t thank Neil enough for all the help that he has given me. Working with Neil gave me a different perspective from previous counsellors and helped me recover from functional neurological disorder (formerly called conversion disorder). The way he helped me reframe things and build tools and skills to be able to handle difficulties without support has been invaluable.”

- Carol

“I started seeing Neil in my later years of high school in hopes of helping me battle addiction. For over five years now, he has helped me navigate life as a young adult aspiring to reach sobriety. He has been able to help uncover places of deep shame and remind me of the identity I hold as one of God’s children made in His image and likeness. A deep sense of hope is what I walk away with after every session with Neil, as he gently helps redirect that shame towards the mercy Christ has to offer.”

Dylan

“After over a year of counselling sessions with Neil, I have begun the journey of deep healing. I am a Pastor and for much of my life I have struggled with anxiety, fear and deep shame. Subconsciously, I was following Jesus as if I were in a behavioural modification program. Now I am learning that Jesus is intentionally pursuing deep healing of my heart over a lifetime of relationship with him. I am learning to embrace with compassion the highly sensitive person that God has made me to be. I have grown in understanding my story and specifically how the cycle of shame has kept me in hiding before God and others. Through counselling, I have begun to lower the mask I hide behind before God and others in attempt to be fully known and fully loved. This is where my deepest moments of healing have occurred and I am forever grateful.”

George

“I first came to Neil for counselling at a time of crisis with my mental health. Neil’s approach was gentle but intentional, and it helped me get back to a place where I felt healthy enough to face many of my fears that I thought I would never face. Working with Neil has helped me feel a sense of freedom that I haven’t experienced before in my entire life!”

- A testimony from a local pastor

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Frequently Asked Questions

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What to expect in the first session
After meeting and greeting each other, the first thing we do is review informed consent and confidentiality. The is an important part of this process, where we discussed my approach, risks and benefits of therapy, limits of confidentiality and other important information. Any questions are welcome. Then we spend some time with me getting to know you and your unique situation, strengths and struggles and potential goals for therapy.
Therapy is strictly confidential and your privacy is very important to me. There are some limits to confidentiality which we discuss at the beginning of working together. These include immediate physical risk to self or others (thoughts of suicide or homicide), abuse or threat of abuse to minors (under age 19) or other vulnerable adults, or due to legal requirement (court subpoena).
The cancellation policy is 48 hours. Exception may be given due to sudden illness, and certainly in the case of an emergency.
Most people choose to have a standard 50 min session; however longer sessions are possible. Neil will sometimes do 75 min (1.5 hr session) or 100 min (2 hr sessions). Longer sessions can especially be helpful for couples and families, and for doing trauma treatment, especially using EMDR. Please enquire with further questions if necessary.
Currently therapy is not included in general MSP medical coverage. If you have extended benefits through employment, please check these benefits to see what coverage you have – most benefit plans do offer some coverage for counselling. Registered Clinical Counsellors are generally included in most employment plans in BC. Neil is also currently covered by the following third party payers: First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and Crime Victim Assistance. Neil is also an approved counsellor for PAOC ministry credential holders.
Payment can be made by e transfer, credit card or cash. Please discuss in the first session if a direct billing option is available. Neil also works closely with other third party referral sources, including local churches.

I have an office in Abbotsford and welcome all clients to see me in person if possible. The office is located on the ground floor and is wheelchair accessible. I does also provide services online to clients from all over Canada. These services are provided through a secure online platform.

EMDR is one of the therapeutic modalities that Neil has extensive training, experience and supervision providing this modality. He completed his basic training in 2012, has attended numerous advanced trainings, and has successfully used this modality to help many clients. It is a therapy that is approved and highly researched for treating trauma, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociation, phobias, addictions, anxiety disorders and complicated grief and loss.

For further information, please feel free to read more about EMDR through this link: https://emdrcanada.ca/about-emdr/

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Whether you’re facing life’s challenges, navigating change, or simply looking for support, reaching out today is the first step toward a healthier, more balanced future.
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