Blackbird Holistic Counselling

09/05/2025

Good afternoon ☕️🐦‍⬛

It is September 5th, 2025 🍂

And there is still lots of time to register with Nancy at Blackbird Holistic Counselling for the FREE EMDR North Shore Evacuees and Volunteer Firefighter Group Disaster Response Service!

What this cutting edge mental health service will provide you in just ONE session:

1️⃣ TOOLS that are highly effective, easy to use and are designed to provide individuals with immediate mental, emotional and physical relaxation response.

2️⃣ OPPORTUNITY to process distressing experiences from the recent wildfire crisis and release the emotional/psychological impact, preventing further long-term traumatic impacts of natural disaster and boosting resilience during aftermath of crisis.

3️⃣ ACTION PLAN to take control of your mental and emotional health by using these tools in combination with receiving the benefits of processing distress from wildfire crisis.

🐦‍⬛ REMINDER: Sharing your experiences to the group is optional, NOT necessary with EMDR Group Processing. You do not have participate through sharing distressing details of your experience during the wildfire crisis to receive maximum benefits from EMDR Processing.🐦‍⬛

✨ HOW TO REGISTER:

Email: 📧

lieffnancy@gmail.com

Call or text:

709-683-1397

✨ For more information on LOCATION, DATES and TIMES please see posters in attached images below ⬇️

Please share and many thanks,

Nancy Lieff, M.Ed, C.C.C., N.D.
EMDR Certified Therapist (ECT)
Blackbird Holistic Counselling

☯️ In partnership with Balance Health & Wellness Centre

*Disclaimer: Blackbird Holistic Counselling Services receives no compensation or funding whatsoever from offering this service. This service is not intended to provide mental health crisis support. Please contact 811 or 911 if you are experiencing a mental health crisis. All aspects and facilitation of Group services are conducted by Nancy Lieff only, and all training required to conduct said services are in association with and up to professional and ethical standards of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) and the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA).

08/28/2025

🗣️NORTH SHORE WILDFIRE EVACUEES & VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS 🗣️

📍 The September dates for Disaster-Relief Group EMDR Trauma Processing sessions are NOW confirmed.

📍Evacuees session # 1 - September 13th, 2025, 10:00am-12:00pm

📍 Volunteer Firefighters session # 1 - September 20th, 2025, 10:00am-12:00pm

📍Location: Balance Wellness Centre, 22 Goff Ave., Carbonear, NL.

📣 All EMDR Group sessions are FREE of charge

📣 No referrals required

📣 Space is LIMITED

📍 TO REGISTER EMAIL 📧 :

lieffnancy@gmail.com

🗣️ For more information about this service and what to expect, please see pictures attached.

❓🧐 Want to know more about EMDR Therapy? Please see link in comments for more.

🤦‍♀️ Can’t attend the September sessions?!! DON’T WORRY! October and November sessions for both Evacuees and Firefighters are to be announced.

❓❓❓More questions? ❓❓❓

- Please reach out to Nancy via email 📧

lieffnancy@gmail.com

🙏 Please share & many thanks,

Nancy Lieff M.Ed, C.C.C., N.D.
EMDR Certified Therapist (ECT)
Blackbird Holistic Counselling 🐦‍⬛

Balance Health & Wellness Centre

✅ All of Nancy’s training is accredited through the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) ✅

08/26/2025

📍NORTH SHORE WILDFIRE EVACUEES & VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS:

🗣️ If you are experiencing psychological and emotional distress as a North Shore Wildfire Evacuee or Volunteer Fire Fighter and want to regain a sense of calm, self-control and comfort to help you cope through the aftermath of the North Shore Wildfires:

📍 Blackbird Holistic Counselling is partnering with Balance Health and Wellness Centre to offer a series of FREE EMDR disaster-relief trauma group counselling sessions.

🗣️ EMDR stands for Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing and is a highly effective, non-invasive, trauma processing model used to treat many mental health concerns such as anxiety disorders, depression, trauma and stress-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disorders, chronic pain and many more.

📍 EMDR sessions are highly specialized services designed specifically to provide individuals an opportunity to process distressing experiences, preventing them from developing into trauma and stress-related mental health symptoms and/or further complicating pre-existing mental health concerns.

➡️ For evacuees, there will be a series of 3 FREE sessions.

➡️ For volunteer firefighters, there will be a series of 3 FREE sessions.

📍Evacuees and firefighters will receive treatment separately. 

🗣️There is no referral required to access this service.

📍All sessions will take place in-person at Balance Health and Wellness Centre, 22 Goff Ave., Carbonear.

🗣️ Please know, EMDR is not like talk therapy. In a group setting individuals can be apprehensive to share. You DO NOT have to share the details of your experience to process your distressing experience and find relief in Group EMDR sessions.

📍STAY TUNED for the September session dates posted on Blackbird Holistic Counselling social media page and Balance Wellness Centre page.

🗣️ SPACE IS LIMITED. When dates are released, please email me to register:

lieffnancy@gmail.com

🐦‍⬛All sessions will be facilitated by Nancy Lieff, Canadian Certified Counsellor, EMDR Certified Therapist. Nancy has received specialized training in facilitating Group EMDR Therapy as well as EMDR therapy for Anxiety Disorders, Trauma and Stress-related Disorders, Chronic Pain Disorders, ADHD and is currently specializing in treating sleep disorders with EMDR.

Please share and many thanks 🙏

Nancy Lieff, M.Ed, C.C.C., N.D.
EMDR Certified Therapist (ECT)
Blackbird Holistic Counselling

⬇️ For more information on EMDR Therapy ⬇️

Learn about how EMDR therapy works, what it is like, and how widely it is recognized. EMDR therapists discuss how EMDR therapy works and the feedback they re...

08/13/2025

From the standpoint of a Clinical Counsellor and EMDR Certified Therapist (ECT), I emphasize deeply with all who are directly and indirectly impacted by the unprecedented devastating wildfires besieging our communities at this time.

I know these experiences are distressing for all who are involved, victims, first responders (who may also be victims) and all loved ones of those affected.

As a mother, my heart goes out to all children directly and indirectly impacted. We have children who may have seen or will see their homes and communities destroyed. Additionally, we live in an era of social media where exposure to inappropriate information and graphics is highly accesible shared at high volumes.

As parents and grandparents etc., we may face uncertainty in how best to support our children and I know this topic is top of mind. We want our children to feel as secure and protected as possible.

Stay tuned for more information on supporting children’s mental health in the context of wildfire disaster. For now, consider pairing back the sharing and exposure of devastating images online. Kids are on Facebook and social media. In fact, consider how much graphic material and media yourself as an adult consumes.

For now, here is an appropriate link to inform children about wildfires.

More to come.

Take good care of yourselfs and stay strong,

Nancy 🐦‍⬛

https://www.cbc.ca/kids/watch/video/9.6413873eeeormirme dh

Did you know that Canada has a forest fire season? And sometimes fires can be good for forests. Learn about an Indigenous practise using prescribed burns that fire officials use to fight out-of-control fires.

01/15/2025

Good morning! 🐦‍⬛ ☕️

Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) is one of the most common experiences shared in my therapy practice today. When clients gain an understanding of this experience and understand how it has played out in their lives, the result of this awareness can be life-changing. Now we have the knowledge to understand one of the most tricky interpersonal struggles. Now we can treat and bounce back from moments where we feel “stuck” in relationships and with ourselves.

The topic of RSD is gaining big traction in the field of mental health. It is a symptom that is associated with ADHD but can be a mental health symptom people live with who do not have ADHD.

RSD can look like melt downs and avoidance in children but it can also be experienced quietly, as some people do not show overt signs of the sharp emotional pain of this symptom.

In my experience, RSD is a hurdle for many. It affects the relationships the most close to them, gets in the way of friendships and relationships of many kinds such as workplace. But when treated, RSD is just a reaction based in anxiety, that we can contain and move on from, enjoying the rest of our day and feeling more confident in putting ourselves out into the world.

Have a read, this is a great article from People Magazine that focuses on RSD in children but is applicable and relatable to the adult experience of RSD as well.

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) is an emotional sensitivity and pain triggered by the perception of being rejected, teased, or criticized, often a symptom of ADHD. Here’s what parents need to know. Tap link in first comment to learn more. 👇️

01/10/2025

For all my fellow chronic pain clients and friends.

A Happy New Year post, indeed. 🎉

👩🏻‍⚕️🩺📈

10/18/2024

Good morning! ☕️🐦‍⬛

I rarely post on social media these days but I would like to come on this morning to express a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who has referred me and my counselling practice! Most of my referrals come from word of mouth, which is amazing. I love to think about friends, co-workers and family having conversations about mental health and my name coming up in regards to looking for support.

While I appreciate the support I am requesting all potential referrals to please make all initial inquiries for counselling to my business email:

lieffnancy@gmail.com

I do not often check this social media page and I prefer to not receive referrals or requests on my personal FB page.

I thank-you sincerely for your understanding and support!

Fall and Winter are times of the year when people reach out for mental health support the most. This makes sense because in a cold climate like Newfoundland and Labrador, our brains and bodies respond to seasonal shifts due to our location on the globe. I encourage everyone to listen to the needs of your body and mind and take action to respond to those changing needs whether that is signing up for an exercise class with friends, volunteering in your community or learning a new skill…these are all choices we can make to boost physical and mental health. For many people, the action they choose to take is to access counselling, therapy or some form of mental health support. I encourage everyone to devise a fall/winter wellness plan and take one step at a time to care for yourselves, you deserve it and…you can 🖤

Many blessings,

Nancy 🐦‍⬛

05/24/2024

⭐️ Proudly wearing my EMDR Certified Therapist Digital Badge ⭐️

Home of digital credentials

05/20/2024

What began as a side job has grown into a full-time dream job.

In 2014, I became a fully licensed Certified Canadian Counsellor (C.C.C.) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), established a business called Blackbird Holistic Counselling Services, rented out a little office space in downtown Lethbridge, and started my career as a therapist.

At the time, I had a few years under my belt in front-line human services. I was working as a Crisis Counsellor at the local Y.W.C.A., Instructing in the Health Sciences: Addiction Counselling program at the University of Lethbridge (U of L) and began my Masters in Education (Counselling Psychology) at the U of L.

During the next few years, I would gain incredible training, work and life-changing experiences along my career path. I worked in a Harm Reduction program with Residential School Survivors, as a Palliative Mental Health Therapist at the Chinook Regional Hospital, an Addiction Science instructor at a local college and continued my work at the U of L as an instructor and practicum supervisor. I also worked as a group co-facilitator in the area of domestic violence and supporting people living with fertility issues.

Blackbird Holistic Counselling Services grew with me through these early days of Graduate School and exploration in the field of Mental Health and Addiction.

It has grown with me through a move across the country, as I grew a family and through my own healing journey with Fibromyalgia in the midst of a worldwide Pandemic.

In fact, it was during the Pandemic when Blackbird Holistic Counselling Services expanded as I became an EMDR Therapist; now an EMDR Certified Therapist and EMDR Group Therapist.

Due to the nature of our work, Therapists are unseen. No one sees me do my work except the people I treat. No one would know about my services and what they include, lest I create a post on social media. As you can see, I don't post much. Most of my referrals come through word of mouth from my clients, and overtime, Healthcare Professionals I am blessed to know.

I am proud of my practice. I suppose you could say it has taken a lot of work to get to this point where there are not enough hours in a week for me to work. However, when your job is more like a vocation, it becomes more than work. A vocation is a calling fuelled by a strong sense of purpose. No one has me hired on, no one pushes me. I am lead by passion, purpose and a strong sense of Faith in the power of the human spirit to heal in a healing space. That energy gets me motivated to consistently learn and train, gets me excited to get into every session and keeps me up at night reading everything I can on EMDR Therapy.

I am so grateful to be a therapist, to make my passion my life's work, and to meet so many beautiful and strong people who grow into their strongest, most true selves right before my eyes. I love a come back story, they're the best stories of all.

Never give up on what truly makes your heart sing. Because what makes your heart sing just might be the key to your own happiness. In fact, it just might even help others become happy and healthy, too.

Happy 10 year Anniversary to Blackbird Holistic Counselling Services. Ages and various stages have come and gone, but Blackbird has remained. I am looking forward to what the next 10 years bring!

Thanks for all your support,

Nancy

05/11/2024

This past March and April I completed extensive EMDR in Group Training (G-TEP) and training to apply EMDR for the treatment of Recent Traumatic Events (R-TEP) to prevent the development of trauma and stress related disorders and other mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.

Today I am excited to attend EMDR training for Anxiety, Panic Disorder, OCD and Specific Phobias.

This is an area in which, I am working on as a particular specialization in my private practice as a trauma-informed EMDR Certified Therapist (ECT) who works in the treatment of mental health and addiction.

Social anxiety, panic, OCD are all issues I am seeing more in my practice these past couple of years than ever before. There is not a lot of EMDR training in OCD in particular, which is why I jumped at the opportunity to take this training.

I completed my EMDR Basic training (2021) and my EMDR Certification (2024) with Envision Training & Consulting (who are approved by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA)) as well as various other EMDR trainings like working with First Responders and Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.

One of my favourite parts of being in private practice is building my own areas of EMDR specialization, which is always based on my observations of clinical need. My practice is therefore, tailored and attuned to the real needs of the people I treat.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a highly effective and leading mental health and addiction treatment for a wide range of mental health and the distress and pain of chronic health illnesses. It is now gaining recognition here in Newfoundland & Labrador by the NL Health Authority. As a private EMDR Certified Therapist ( ECT) I am consistently receiving referrals from clients and government agencies seeking EMDR treatment.

For more information on EMDR therapy feel free to watch this video produced by the EMDRIA:

https://youtu.be/Pkfln-ZtWeY?feature=shared

04/29/2024

Hello!

It has been a very busy and incredible few months for me regarding my private counselling business, Blackbird Holistic Counselling. In short, my work as an individual, private Certified EMDR Therapist (ECT) has developed to include two new specialized EMDR services:

1. Group EMDR services. Ideal for staff at workplaces such as human services, education, medical and mental health services and facilities, emergency response services. This type of work can be offered on site (depending on location) and while conducted in group format, does not require the full sharing of difficult experiences or traumatic events. You do not have to share your story to find relief, EMDR does the heavy lifting. This protocol has been used globally for groups of people affected by many types of trauma. It is ideal for the treatment of working in crisis work, or dealing with vicarious trauma. Helpers need help too, for themselves and their families as well as the all the lives they set out to support.

2. EMDR services to treat recent traumatic events for the prevention of mental health issues or further complications and treatment of pre-existing mental health conditions. This type of work is individual based. In the wake of a recent traumatic event or period of time, EMDR is the type of immediate treatment to support your mental health needs to prevent mental illness such as trauma and stress related disorders, anxiety, depression, substance use disorders etc.

As a result of these changes to my services, I have made some updates to my website, posted below. There is still more information to come in the coming days so stay tuned!

For more information on EMDR, what it is and what it does please have a read on my website as well as check out this link to a video produced by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA), where I have completed all of my training.

https://youtu.be/Pkfln-ZtWeY?feature=shared

Website:

https://www.nancylieff.com/

For all inquiries regarding individual or group services, please email me at:

lieffnancy@gmail.com

Most insurance companies accept my services.

I am a registered provider with Newfoundland and Labrador Teacher’s Association.

With appreciation for your support,

Nancy

Welcome to Blackbird Holistic Counselling Now in its 10th year of business, Blackbird Holistic Counselling has become a mental health counselling service that I am not only proud of, but one I am confident in to help create profound, long-lasting wellness for clients who are ready to commit to their...

04/17/2024

So take a deep breath ☕️🖤