Daphne Gelbart

Daphne Gelbart, MA, RCC, is a Vancouver registered clinical counsellor (Registration Number 3290), a graduate of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology and Special Education. Daphne has a scientific background at the masters level. An experienced practitioner, she supervises case consultation at the Oak Counselling Services Society.

Daphne provides evidence-based counselling to individuals, couples and families who experience stress, anxiety, depression, disrupted sleep, relationship difficulties, trauma or grief. Daphne has undergone extensive training in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and applies methods derived from cognitive behaviior therapy for insomnia (CBTi). Daphne has earned level 2 accreditation in dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) with special training in DBT skills. In Couple Therapy she was trained in the Gottman method, Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy and DBT.

Daphne is only available for virtual (online, remote) counselling via zoom, phone, email, text, and other secure video-conferencing applications.

Daphne volunteers with the Oak Counselling Services Society. In 2010 she received a Counselling Services Award from the Jewish Family Service Agency of Vancouver. In 2019 she received an Exceptional Contribution Award from Oak Counselling Services Society.

Daphne listens intently to clients' words and body language. Therapy starts with the "here and now" but may go into past experiences. Therapist and client jointly discover patterns of fearful, sad, lonely, angry or stuck feelings and learn to make sense and accept their feelings without reverting to impulsive actions. Clients are encouraged to examine unhelpful assumptions, consider other ways of viewing the situation, and rediscovering strengths, motivation and causes for optimism. Clients are introduced to mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, improved emotional regulation and distress tolerance skills and their use in letting go of maladaptive behaviour and acquiring healthy coping skills. Communication skills are reviewed and practiced, helping clients overcome barriers, and take action towards achieving life goals, building and maintaining relationships, and feeling good.

Couples (straight and same-sex) who are prone to conflict, feel distanced from each other, stuck, or in crisis, are helped to accept and embrace their differences, moderate overheated emotions, tolerate distress and see the “whole person”. In sessions, as clients shed rigid patterns and open up, they often rediscover their softer emotions to reconnect with partners. As communication opens, the parties tend to feel less conflict or distance and come to terms with past sources of distress. This helps to rebuild trust, nourish intimacy and sexual feelings, communicate with greater warmth and caring and solve problems, thus building a deeper connection and a sense of well-being.

Families are helped to communicate effectively, improve interpersonal skills and engage in behaviours that reduce conflict, focus on commonality rather than differences, and increase understanding and harmony.

Daphne's therapy sessions balance acceptance and change. She emphasizes acceptance of self, others, and reality, letting go of self-blame and adopting self-compassion as means to change and goal achievement. She values working with women and men from a variety of cultural and ethnic groups, sexual orientations and age groups, and takes into account affordability in establishing clients' fees.