Venture Counselling & Therapy Inc.

08/19/2025

✨ Saying Goodbye & Good Luck ✨

Last week we said goodbye to our amazing students, Maggie and Sophie. It has been such a privilege to have you both with us at Venture Counselling. Your dedication, compassion, and fresh perspectives have made a lasting impact, and we are so grateful for the time you’ve shared with our team and community.

We wish you both the very best in your future endeavours — we know you’ll continue to do incredible things! 🌿💙

Stay tuned for our new Student placement starting soon!

08/18/2025

Today, our founder and clinical director, Rose Degenhardt, was featured as a guest on Theresa Fraser’s show, which highlights the skill sets of Registered Counselling Therapists across Nova Scotia.

Rose spoke about neurodiversity — a passion of hers and an area of specialization within our clinic. At Venture Counselling & Therapy, we are committed to creating spaces that honour every child’s and family’s unique strengths, and neurodiversity is at the heart of that vision.

We are deeply grateful to Theresa Fraser — a mentor, teacher, and supervisor to Rose since 2021 — for her expertise and support in shaping the growth of our clinic and inspiring the creation of our play therapy room.

It is always an honour to share the work we are doing here in Lower Sackville and to be part of the larger conversation about innovative, inclusive mental health care in Nova Scotia.

08/15/2025

Authenticity & Identity: Coming Home to Yourself

At Venture Counselling and Therapy, we often walk alongside people who are unlearning who they were told to be—so they can reconnect with who they truly are.

Authenticity is not about being perfect. It’s about being real. It’s the process of noticing where you’ve been shaped by fear, pressure, or past pain—and choosing, instead, to live in alignment with your values, needs, and truth.

Identity isn’t fixed—it evolves as we heal, grow, and reconnect with ourselves. Therapy can be a space to explore the parts of you that have been silenced, forgotten, or waiting to be seen.

You don’t have to be anyone else to belong. You just have to be you.

08/14/2025

Understanding the Window of Tolerance

The window of tolerance is the zone where we feel grounded, present, and able to cope with everyday stress.

When we’re within our window, we can think clearly, connect with others, and regulate emotions.
But when stress or trauma push us outside of that window, we may shift into:
🔺 Hyperarousal — anxiety, anger, panic, or feeling overwhelmed
🔻 Hypoarousal — numbness, shutdown, disconnection, or exhaustion

Stress shrinks our window over time. But with support, self-regulation tools, and trauma-informed care, we can gently widen it again.

This is how we build resilience—not by avoiding stress, but by learning how to come back to safety.

08/13/2025

Emotional Intelligence = Self-Leadership

Leading yourself well starts with knowing yourself deeply.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions—while also tuning in to the emotions of others.

It helps you:
✨ Pause instead of react
✨ Make decisions rooted in clarity, not impulse
✨ Communicate with honesty and empathy
✨ Stay grounded during stress or conflict

Self-leadership means taking responsibility for your emotional world—not controlling it, but understanding it. And that’s where real growth begins.

Lead yourself with awareness. Lead others with compassion.

08/11/2025

Reclaiming Safety After Unsafe Relationships

When you’ve experienced unsafe or harmful relationships, rebuilding a sense of safety—internally and with others—can feel overwhelming.

But healing begins with small, consistent steps:
• Listening to your body’s signals
• Setting boundaries without guilt
• Learning to trust your own instincts again
• Surrounding yourself with relationships that honor your worth

Reclaiming safety isn’t about forgetting what happened—it’s about choosing, moment by moment, to reconnect with yourself.

You are allowed to take up space. You are allowed to feel safe again.

08/08/2025

What Does Trauma-Informed Parenting Look Like?

Trauma-informed parenting is about understanding why a child behaves a certain way, not just how to respond.

It means recognizing that challenging behaviours may be rooted in fear, stress, or past experiences—not defiance. Instead of punishment, it offers connection, co-regulation, and safety.

A trauma-informed parent:
• Responds with curiosity instead of control
• Prioritizes emotional safety over obedience
• Validates feelings before correcting behaviour
• Builds trust through consistency and empathy

This approach doesn’t ignore boundaries—it strengthens them through compassion. Because when a child feels safe, seen, and supported, real healing and growth can begin.

08/07/2025

Take a look at this weeks blog post

By Rose Degenhardt, MA, RCT, CCCFounder of Venture Counselling & Therapy Inc.Summer in Nova Scotia is a time for longer days, sunny beaches, social gatherings, and ofcourse, camping and barbecues. It’s also a time when social drinking and substance use often spike—and with good reason. Alcohol i...

08/07/2025

What Brain Science Tells Us About Forgiveness

Forgiveness isn’t just a moral ideal — it’s a brain-based process with real emotional and physical benefits.

Neuroscience shows that when we hold onto anger or resentment, the brain stays in a state of threat. Stress hormones like cortisol rise, and areas tied to rumination and pain remain active.

But when we begin to practice forgiveness, even in small steps, brain regions linked to empathy, emotional regulation, and decision-making become more engaged. Over time, this shift reduces stress, improves mood, and supports better mental and physical health.

Forgiveness isn’t forgetting or excusing — it’s releasing ourselves from the hold of what hurt us. It’s a gift we give our own nervous system.

08/06/2025

At Venture Counselling and Therapy, we believe in the power of feeling.

Emotions aren’t something to be fixed or avoided—they’re meant to be understood. In therapy, exploring emotion creates space for healing, self-awareness, and lasting change.

When we gently turn toward our feelings, rather than away, we begin to understand what they’re asking of us. And that understanding is where growth begins.

Feel it. Explore it. Heal through it.

08/01/2025

📣 Emancipation Day – August 1st

At Venture Counselling & Therapy Inc., we pause today to recognize Emancipation Day—a day that acknowledges the history and enduring legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, and honours the strength, resilience, and contributions of people of African descent, including African Nova Scotians.

This year’s theme, “Harbouring Freedom: Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future,” invites us to reflect on the injustices of the past while actively working toward a future rooted in equity, dignity, and collective healing.

As a mental health practice, we believe in the power of storytelling, safe spaces, and trauma-informed care that respects cultural identity and lived experience. We remain committed to being allies in the journey toward freedom and justice.

🖤 Today, we honour the courage of those who came before us and commit to building a more inclusive and compassionate tomorrow.

07/31/2025

Check out this week’s blog post

By Rose Degenhardt, MA, RCT, CCCChild & Family Therapist | Founder, Venture Counselling & Therapy Inc.No Mother Wants to be a Yeller!We don’t hold our babies in our arms and imagine ourselves one day standing in the hallway shouting, “Put your shoes on for the 10th time!” or “GET OFF THE ROO...