Hi my name is Yogita!

I was born in India and immigrated to Canada with my family at the age of four. Being new immigrants, my family moved often from one location to another to find a place that we could call home. In the process I had to leave old friends, and work on establishing new ones. Sometimes I was successful, and other times not so much. As a result, I struggled with my sense of self and belonging, and therefore, growing up made decisions in life based solely on what was expected from me rather than what I truly wanted.

I attended Simon Fraser University and completed my degree in Kinesiology with an Active Rehab Concentration in pursuit of entering the field of healthcare and medicine. In September 2019, I was accepted into the Doctor of Pharmacy Program at UBC. The prestige and respect related to becoming a doctor fulfilled my need to feel valued. I soon, however, realized that I was not happy. I was doing something that I thought I should be doing rather than what I wanted to do. Instead, what made me feel happy and fulfilled during that course was helping other students in the cohort with course content and being there for them during their mental health struggles. Although I was always aware of my highly sensitive and empathetic nature, these experiences allowed me to become more cognizant of my passion for education and counselling. After a tremendous amount of contemplation and introspection, I made the most difficult, but also the best decision of my life – to leave Pharmacy school.

Since then, I completed my Bachelor of Education at Simon Fraser University, and I am currently working as a secondary teacher in the Surrey School District teaching in the areas of Science, Math, and Physical Education. I am also currently working towards my Master Degree in Counselling Psychology at City University of Seattle.

My purpose in pursuing counselling is to help children and adults find and understand their authentic self, and live a life based on their core values. In my practice I work with clients to understand what their goals are for therapy and will apply different types of therapeutic approaches (CBT, SBT, Solution-Focused, Narrative, etc.) based on the client and their needs. In my practice I use a relational approach as my intention with every student and client is to build a strong connection and to provide unconditional positive regard.

When I am not actively teaching or supporting others, I am working on improving my own physical and mental health by engaging in activities such as running, hiking, swimming, reading, painting, and spending quality time with friends, family, and dogs.