Trevor C. Warren - Clinical Director/Therapist
M.A. Counselling Psychology
Registered Clinical Counsellor
(BC Association of Clinical Counsellors)
Certified Relationship Specialist
(American Psychotherapy Association)
Click here to view Trevor's media interviews.
Bio | Treatment
Philosophy | Education
| Media
Biography
Trevor heads up this passionate team of counsellors as Clinical Director at CoreQuest and has been offering professional counselling services in the community since 1989. He has a Masters of Arts Degree in Counselling Psychology from City University. He is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and a Certified Relationship Specialist with the American Psychotherapy Association. Trevor has taught for three years as a university instructor in the Applied Transpersonal Psychology Program at Clearmind International Instititute where he is also a personal growth workshop facilitator. In addition to his graduate work in Counselling Psychology, Trevor has received specialized training in Bowen Family Systems, Gestalt, Group, Relationship, Cognitive/Behavioural, Conflict Resolution, Brief Solution Focus, Critical Incident Stress Management, and EMDR therapy. I highly encourage you to have a look at the some of the media interviews with Trevor to get a sense of his approach and personality. Trevor founded CoreQuest Counselling Group in North Vancouver in 1996 and now leads a team of registered counsellors all whom specialize in marriage and couples counselling. |
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Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Trevor moved to North Vancouver in 1995 and has worked for a number of social service agencies over the years including Cameray Counselling Centre, Family Services of Greater Vancouver, North Shore Family Services, Richmond Youth Service Agency, & W. J. Stemaschuk. His work In these positions involved supporting children, youth, parents, families, individuals and couples. Trevor has also been very active with Clearmind International Institute which is a personal development organization that offers experiential workshops combining the principles of 'A Course in Miracles'® with psychology and spirituality. He is a teacher, lecturer workshop facilitator there.
Trevor is 40 years old. He has a wife and is the father of a young boy, both of whom he is madly in love with. Trevor believes you can take someone only as far as you have been yourself, and so has taken seriously his own personal work. He has a strong interest in music and enjoys playing acoustic guitar. Also a strong outdoor enthusiast, Trevor hikes, snowboards and has run his own company called SpiritQuest Journeys that offered 3 and 7 days backpacking trips that combined spirituality and nature in an experiential journey.
Trevor also heads up the HugSquad.
HugSquad is an ever-expanding group of people in Vancouver's lower mainland (eventually the planet Earth) who are dedicated to extending love through the simple yet heartfelt act of offering free hugs to anyone who passes by at any one of our events. Visit the website www.HugSquad.com.
Treatment Philosophy
I can't help but get excited when somebody walks in my
door looking for help because I can see the incredible possibilities
for expansion and healing that lie ahead for anyone in
any given situation. It is this excitement that makes the
process of counselling so energizing, effective, and hopeful for
the people I work with and for myself.
My framework for understanding the root of most (if not all) psychological and emotional problems people face has to do with a idea that has been around for a very, very long time. In the first line of the Dhammapada , the best known of the Buddhist scriptures, Buddha says: "Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made."
Many other great spirits have embraced this notion as well:
"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them."
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Epictetus, 55?-135?: Greek Stoic philosopher
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
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William Shakespeare, Hamlet, II:2
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms...to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances."
- Victor E. Frankl, 1905-1997: Austrian psychiatrist,
in Man's Search for Meaning
"The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes."
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Marcel Proust
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
All of these great thinkers from different places around the globe and from across the ages have recognized the profound power of the mind and its ability to create our reality. I figure they can't all be wrong.
So "Change your mind...Change your life" really does sum up the approach I take with the people that I work with.
Simply put, I support my clients to identify their current perceptions of themselves, others, and the world; explore the origins of these beliefs, and support them in remembering and reclaiming the fundamental truth of who they really are, their authentic self. In doing so, they heal the roots of pain, anxiety, upset and can go on to live more vibrant and peaceful lives.
Although I have been trained in a number of different approaches in counselling, I primarily utilize a combination of three modalities. These include Cognitive/Behavioural, Bowen Family Systems, and Transpersonal psychology primarily from A Course In Miracles ACIM perspective
Cognitive Therapy
Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a popular variation of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed in 1955 by psychologist Albert Ellis. REBT is based on the belief that a person's past experiences shape their belief system and thinking patterns. People form illogical, irrational thinking patterns that become the cause of both their negative emotions and of further irrational ideas. REBT focuses on helping patients discover these irrational beliefs that guide their behavior and replace them with rational beliefs and thoughts in order to relieve their emotional distress. The theory, which now has much practical research to back it up, is that a "thought" always precedes an emotional response, so it is possible to learn how to reprogram our reactions.
Recent research has established that reorganization of thought patterns on the cognitive level can actually cause associated changes in brain physiology.
Bowen Family Systems
A person's past experiences are largely determined by their upbringing
in their family of origin. The life you experienced in your
family of origin (the family you grew up in) is an enormously
powerful experience for everyone in it. The impact of those
experiences travel with you throughout your life.
The way that we see ourselves, others, and the world are shaped
in the setting of our family of origin.
Although we generally leave our families at some point physically (move out, get married) we rarely leave them emotionally. Even if you are a transplant from back east now living on the west coast and you never return home, you will continue to re-enact the dynamics of your original family system in any new family you create. The content may very well be different but the underlying dynamics will likely be the same.
Sending a client back into his/her environment is usually not helpful unless that client has tools in which to avoid repeating the same behavioral patterns. A systems perspective does just this. By helping that person change the dynamic of the patterns and systems at work in their relationships they are empowered to make lasting changes for themselves.
Transpersonal Perspective
The transpersonal perspective on healing turns many of our more traditional ideas of how people move toward peace and happiness on their heads.
I believe that there is a larger story going on underneath each person’s current dilemma. There is a much deeper goal that we collectively share on this planet that underlies all things. So the process of healing from a transpersonal perspective seeks to understand struggles from this higher perspective.
Our instinctive first response, when we are in pain, is to try
to get away from it, by getting busy, turning to our addictions,
or medicating it…anything but feel it. This attitude
and approach is fully supported and reinforced in our Western
world. However, this can actually undermine the whole healing
process that is available in each moment of distress. For
it is these upsets that can actually be used for healing.
They are the very pieces that will direct us to look at what we
need to in order to heal in every aspect of life. So I see
all current struggles not as things to rid oneself of, but
rather an opportunity for healing. So not to ask "Why
is this happening to me again?" (the victim) but instead
to ask "What is this for?" (looking for the lesson)
So if you have sometimes sat there and thought to yourself "There must be more to life than this", well...you're right. There is always a calling, however dim, in everyone one of us to grow and expand. It is when this natural process is of growing and expanding is stunted that we experience anxiety and pain. So healing requires a realignment with this overriding goal and that's where we can help.
"Growth is a detox process, as our weakest, darkest places are sucked up to the surface in order to be released. Often, upon seeing the weakness in each other, we have a tendency to go "YUCK!" and walk away on some level. But often it is not a change in partners but rather a change in perception that delivers us to the love we seek. When we shift our view of the purpose of intimacy - from serving our own needs as we define them to serving a larger process of healing - then an entirely new opportunity presents itself. Our wounds have been brought forward, not to block the experience of love, but to serve it. It is in the forgiveness or our weaknesses that we are healed of them, and the tenderness of a forgiven heart is a tenderness that will ultimately heal the world."
Marianne Williamson - Enchanted Love
These are the three primary perspectives that I work from along
with the best of many others. They work well together and
form a comprehensive approach to healing. There are times,
depending on the client's situation and their goals for treatment,
when I will alter my approach and utilize other therapeutic interventions.
For example if someone is dealing with panic attacks or a simple
phobia, I may consider the use of Eye Movement Desensitization
and Reprocessing otherwise know as EMDR.
The above is meant to give you just the basics of my approach. If you have further questions or comments, please email me.
Education & Professional Registrations
- Bachelor or Arts degree (BA) Major in Psychology, Minor in Philosophy from York University
- Masters of Arts degree (MA) in Counselling Psychology from City University
- 3-Year Counsellor Training Program in Applied Transpersonal Psychology from Clearmind International Institute.
- Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the B.C. Association of Clinical Counsellors
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