Our Directors
Jessica Cowan Royle
B.Sc, M.Ed, CCC, ND, Co-Founder & Director (she/her)
Not currently accepting new clients.
Jessica is a Certified Canadian Counsellor and holds a master's degree in Counselling Psychology. She is a member in good standing with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, Canadian Association of Child and Play Therapy, Perinatal Support International (PSI), and EMDR International Association.
In her work with clients, Jessica prioritizes creating a warm and accepting therapeutic environment. She values building an authentic connection with her clients, where they feel unconditionally accepted. Jessica believes wholeheartedly in each person's inherent strength and resiliency and supports folks to acknowledge patterns that are holding them back in life. Her work with clients often focuses on developing new resources, moving through unhealed trauma or distress and developing a deeper understanding of themselves. The goal of this work for most folks, is the ability to live a meaningful and purposeful life.
Jessica's post-graduate training makes her best suited to support adults, children, and families who have past or current experiences with anxiety, depression, relational or attachment concerns and trauma. She integrates EMDR when supporting folks who have experienced single incident and complex trauma. Jessica is passionate about supporting folks in the perinatal period. Her commitment to this work is informed by her journey toward and her lived experience within motherhood.
As a clinician, Jessica acknowledges her role in prioritizing safety, trust and the creation of collaborative therapeutic goals so that her client's can focus on moving toward change. She looks forward to connecting with you to see if she is the right fit to support you, your child, youth, or your family in making meaningful and adaptive life changes.
Laura Parsons
B.Sc, M.Ed, CCC, ND, PMH-C
Co-Founder & Director (she/her)
Not currently accepting clients
Laura is a Canadian Certified Counsellor and holds a master degree in Counselling Psychology from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is a member of the Canadian Association of Child and Play Therapy (CAPT) and a member of the Postpartum Support Institute International (PSI) as a Perinatal Mental Health Certified Clinician (PMH-C). She works with children, teens, adults, and couples in-person and virtually. Laura is trauma informed with training in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and practices through a neuro-affirming lens.
Laura has extensive experience working with children and their families and offers counselling services to children (age 12 years and under), teens, parents, and young adults. She is passionate about supporting children and family members who are struggling with anxiety, depression, emotional regulation, and challenging behaviours. She places emphasis on providing a warm and inviting, non-judgemental space to explore these worries, stressors, and support her clients through life events and transitions. Her goal is to help guide your journey toward healing and growth by developing a therapeutic relationship built on the foundation of trust, acceptance, and hope.
When working with children, Laura takes a play-based approach. She has completed extensive post-graduate certificate training in the area of Play Therapy. She believes that play is a child’s natural form of communication and children use play to process their experiences and problems. She has training in Sandtray Therapy and her counselling space includes a professional sandtray, puppets, and art materials.
In her work with teens and adults, Laura uses an eclectic and integrative approach to counselling. She is grounded in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), while drawing from Dialectical Behavoural Therapy (DBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Strengths-Based Therapy, and the Creative Arts based on individual client needs. Laura believes creative art therapy exercises can be incorporated as a modality to complement traditional approaches, such as CBT and DBT, as an effective way for managing anxiety, depression, stress, anger, and PTSD. Laura offers hands-on experiential techniques as well.
Laura is also drawn (personally and professionally) to the area of perinatal mental health, infertility, and parenting. She holds deep compassion for individuals and couples who find themselves faced with fertility challenges. She recognizes there are challenges unique to this province which are difficult for the individual and couple to navigate during an already incredibly stressful time.
Finally, Laura is trained in The Gottman Method for working with relationships and couples and is accepting couples clients. The fee for a 50-minute session with Laura is $165+ HST for individual therapy and $185+ HST for couples/marriage therapy. Receipts are provided for insurance reimbursement/tax purposes. Your session may be covered by insurance under clinical counselling and/or naturopath provider categories.
Jaclyn Browne
Director of Psychological Assessment
(she/her)
Jaclyn Browne (she/her) is a Registered Psychologist in Newfoundland and Labrador. She holds undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Education (Intermediate/Secondary) and a masters degree in Counselling Psychology, all from Memorial University, paired alongside two years of postgraduate supervision.
Since receiving her academic training, she has worked as a Psychologist with Western Health, a School Psychologist within the school system and in private practice. Jaclyn is equipped to combine her academic training alongside her hands-on experience working with individuals across the lifespan which enables her to deliver assessments and supportive interventions with competency and a client-centered approach.
In her work, Jaclyn’s particular focus and interest has been attuned to understanding and supporting individuals with ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Specific Learning Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities and other Neurodevelopmental and behaviour based concerns. She is committed to practicing with a neuro-affirming lens, recognizing and valuing the unique strengths and needs of each individual. In doing so, she acknowledges and respects the diverse profiles of her clients, ensuring that her assessments and interventions are tailored to their specific needs and strengths.
Despite her broad academic background and work experience, Jaclyn continues to remain current and active with developments in their field. She actively pursues post-graduate training in various areas related to her assessment practice and her interest in neurodevelopmental work. To name a couple recent examples, she recently attended the CADDRA ADHD Conference and has been selected to attend National training in Toronto through Hexagon Psychology focused on administering Virtual Assessments. Jaclyn is trained in the ADOS-2 (toddler-adult), MIGDAS, and is currently accepting referrals for Autism Evaluation and diagnosis.
Outside of her work, she is an active member of her profession. She is a member of the Association of Psychologists of NL and serves as an executive member (co-communications) on the newly formed Psychologists in Education Special Interest Council.
Jaclyn’s ultimate goal is to provide clients, individuals and families with exceptional care and support while instilling hope and joy- and occasional humour!- into the assessment process. She enjoys developing a rapport with each client to create a comfortable and supportive environment for those navigating the assessment process and lending a hand in navigating the steps beyond.