Virginia Thurston

Virginia (Ginny) was born and raised in Ottawa ON. Since leaving home in 1987 at age 22, she has followed her life labyrinth to Guelph ON, Hamilton ON, Boston MA, New York City NY, Reykjavik Iceland, Nelson BC and Winnipeg MB. Her journey has included several professions and creative/spiritual explorations, culminating in her decision to train as an Art Psychotherapist in 2016. She returned to Ottawa for the third time in 2022, when she was ready to cease wandering and gathering elsewhere, and find peaceful ground back home.

She is the proud mother of a son and a daughter, whom she has parented solo. She is a visual artist; poet and essayist; professional classical pianist and Registered Music Teacher; martial artist and T'ai Chi instructor; yoga practitioner; lifelong amateur naturalist and bird nerd; shamanism practitioner; non-car-driver; archivist and collector; crystal healer and Tarot reader; lifelong walker, trespasser and inhabitant of borderlands everywhere. She loves to laugh, observe and create. She is passionate about healing and helping others to heal themselves.

How she can help in your wellness journey

Ginny specializes in four areas: trauma, especially early childhood trauma and incest; grief counselling, especially complex grief issues; chronic pain and illness, especially autoimmune disorders; and musicians' issues, especially concerning identity and performance.

She accepts adult (18+) individuals, online only at this time; and she facilitates and co-facilitates online and in-person groups. She's a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with CRPO, and therefore her services are covered by most major insurance companies.

She is also a Registered Canadian Art Therapist and a Registered Music Teacher. Her therapeutic skills and approaches include but are not restricted to: Internal Family Systems; Mindfulness/CBT; strength-based, person-centred, relational; and trauma-informed therapy. She provides empathic witnessing, psycho-education and resources, behavioural strategies, mindfulness techniques, guidance with the creative healing process, and a "walking with you" mindset.

Services:

• Art therapy
• Psychotherapy
• Counselling
• Life coaching

Services offered online

Wellness dimensions

• Mental
• Emotional
• Spiritual
• Social