Providing compassionate, evidence-based mental health care throughout BC’s Lower Mainland since 2009
We are group of mental health providers who believe that psychological treatments are most effective when they are provided by teams of professionals who are committed to compassionate and scientifically supported care.
In 2009, Drs Korman and Burns started to provide Dialectical Behavior Therapy to families in Vancouver. They were joined by Dr. Wiebe in 2010 and the practice has expanded. All three of the founding directors believe that evidence based treatments should be readily available to anyone suffering from mental health problems. While Canada's public health care system provides access to costly and cutting edge treatments for other health problems, sadly, effective psychotherapy is not available for many individuals in the public health system.
Our goal is to address this gap by providing effective psychotherapy through a blended fee for service model. We also advocate and support the public system to provide effective treatments that have been demonstrated to work.
Areas of Practice
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DBT is a structured psychotherapy designed to help people with multiple problems including impulsivity and problems with emotional and behavioural regulation. It has been researched in people with Borderline Personality Disorder, Substance use problems and Eating Disorders. DBT is an intensive treatment that involves both group and individual therapy. We provide DBT to inviduals and families. Our DBT therapists meet weekly to maintain their skills and enthusiasm for doing the therapy.
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CBT is probably the most researched mental health intervention. CBT is a time limited treatment that focuses on the thoughts and behaviors that drive a range of mental health problems. Typically clients in CBT will focus on a particular problem for 10 - 20 weeks before finishing with the therapy. CBT is often diluted and clients actually often do not receive the treatment as originally designed. Our team is committed to providing CBT as intended. Drs. Burns and Wiebe teach CBT to all psychiatric trainnees at UBC.
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Humanistic psychotherapies such as EFT or Client Centred Therapy focus on the client's experience and the therapeutic relationship rather than new information or skills. In EFT clients are provided with a place to explore their emotional experience. Dr. Korman completed his PhD with Dr. Les Greenberg the founder of EFT. A core assumption in EFT is that all people have the capacity to flourish given the right circumstances. This is a belief we share at VanPsych.
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Dr. Lorne Korman and Dr. Karen Choi have developed a unique approach to the treatment of problem anger. There are a number of different problems that can arise with anger and this treatment helps each individual identify their particular problems. This approach differs from a one size fits all approach to Anger Management. Individuals participating in this group will learn a number of skills and solutions to anger based on concepts from DBT, CBT and EFT.
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We provide training opportunities to senior psychiatry and psychology trainees. Our students our valuable members of our team. Their enthusiasm and diligence make them excellent therapists and many of our clients have benefited from working with trainees. We regularly lecture and provide workshops on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavior therapy and are available to present on a range of issues related to mental health or substance use.
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We have consulted and provided training to organizations to improve the delivery of psychotherapy services and can provide evaluation and recommendations on program improvement. This can be combined with our training workshops that are informative and entertaining.
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”