Affirming care · 2SLGBTQIA+ adults · Nanaimo & virtual across BC
2SLGBTQIA+ Counselling in Nanaimo
Therapy where your identity is the starting point rather than the subject. No explaining your pronouns, no justifying your relationship structure, no clinical hour spent teaching your counsellor the vocabulary.
- ✓Jaime Baruta, MA, RCC · 15+ years
- ✓Non-pathologizing by default
- ✓Virtual anywhere in BC
In person in Nanaimo · virtual across British Columbia
Published by The Counselling HUB · Reviewed June 2026
2SLGBTQIA+ counselling at The Counselling HUB is affirming, non-pathologizing therapy for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual adults in Nanaimo and virtually across British Columbia. We use 2SLGBTQIA+ because 2S recognizes Two-Spirit people as the first sexually and gender-diverse communities on this land. Sessions are provided by Jaime Baruta, MA, RCC, who holds a Master of Counselling Psychology with Honours and brings more than 15 years of experience across private treatment centres, community counselling, and crisis support. To arrange a first session, email jaime@thecounsellinghub.ca directly.
Your Counsellor for 2SLGBTQIA+ Counselling
Qualified to provide 2SLGBTQIA+ counselling in Nanaimo and virtually across BC.
Clients usually reach out when
- You have screened three counsellors and each one needed the terminology explained first
- You are out, but the cost of other people’s reactions is still being paid daily
- You are questioning gender or sexuality and need somewhere the question can stay open
- A previous therapist treated your identity as the thing to be examined
- Coming out to family or at work is a decision you have been carrying alone for months
- Shame has attached itself to your body, your desire, or your worth, and it will not shift on logic
- The vigilance never fully switches off, even in rooms that are safe
- You are grieving, drinking, or falling apart for reasons that have nothing to do with being queer, and you want a counsellor who will not make it about that
Where affirming care ends and the clinical work begins
Affirming care is not a modality. It is the baseline condition that makes therapy possible: your orientation, gender identity, and gender expression are taken as fact from session one, and nothing you bring in gets reframed as a symptom of being queer or trans. The actual clinical work sits underneath that, and Jaime selects it based on what you are carrying rather than a protocol assigned to your identity.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Work with the part that hides, the part that monitors every room, and the part that had good reason to build both - plus the additional self-compassion training Jaime brings to internalized shame, the part that agreed with the people who rejected you.
How this worksDialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Concrete distress-tolerance and emotion-regulation skills for the days when a family message or a misgendering in public takes the whole afternoon.
How this worksSomatic practices
Chronic vigilance and body dysphoria live below language. Somatic work addresses what talking about it does not reach.
How this worksCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Practical structure for the anxiety, rumination, and anticipated-rejection loops that minority stress reliably produces.
How this worksHow sessions run
- 1
You set the language
Name, pronouns, and how you describe yourself are established at the start and used without correction or comment. You are never the teacher in the room.
- 2
Separate the identity from the problem
We get clear on what is actually the presenting concern and what is the accumulated cost of other people’s responses to you. Those need different work, and conflating them is why therapy stalls.
- 3
Do the work you came for
Shame, anxiety, grief, substance use, relationships, gender exploration - whatever brought you in gets treated on its own terms, with the tools matched to it.
- 4
Build what holds outside the room
Boundaries you can actually enforce, disclosure decisions made on your timeline, and a nervous system that no longer treats every room as a threat assessment.
Not sure if 2SLGBTQIA+ counselling is the right starting point?
To book with Jaime, email jaime@thecounsellinghub.ca and she will arrange your first session.
✓ A good fit for
- Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual adults
- People questioning gender or sexuality with no obligation to reach a conclusion
- Clients navigating coming out, selective outness, or family and workplace rejection
- Partners, chosen family, and non-monogamous relationship structures
- Anyone in a smaller BC community where affirming counsellors are scarce and anonymity is not
! When another path fits better
- Immediate safety risk - contact 9-8-8 or the Trans Lifeline first, then book
- Assessment letters for hormones or gender-affirming surgery, which have separate requirements - email first to confirm the right pathway, including Trans Care BC
- Any request framed as changing a client’s orientation or gender identity. Conversion practices are illegal in Canada and clinically indefensible
- Clients under 19 - Jaime works with adults; contact the practice about youth and teen counselling instead
"You should not have to spend the first three sessions of paid therapy teaching your counsellor the basics. Here that part is already done, and the hour belongs to what you actually came in with.
If you are not sure where to start, you can also explore individual counselling or anxiety counselling. You can always email to arrange a first session to talk it through first.
2SLGBTQIA+ Counselling - Common Questions
2SLGBTQIA+ is the convention used across Canada because it places 2S, for Two-Spirit, at the front to recognize Indigenous Two-Spirit people as the first sexually and gender-diverse communities on this land. The Government of Canada uses 2SLGBTQI+, and community and clinical organizations commonly add the A for asexual and aromantic identities. LGBTQ+ and LGBTQIA+ are not wrong, and we will use whatever language you use for yourself. We lead with 2SLGBTQIA+ because it reflects the Canadian context this practice operates in.
Tolerance means your identity is accepted as a topic. Affirming care means it is not a topic at all unless you make it one. Your orientation and gender are taken as fact from the first session, no clinical justification is required, and nothing you are working on gets reframed as a symptom of being queer or trans. You will also not be asked to explain what non-binary means, what a chosen name is, or why a pronoun matters.
No. Questioning is a legitimate reason to book, and counselling does not require you to arrive at a label or a decision. Some clients use sessions to explore gender or sexuality without any pressure toward a conclusion, and staying uncertain for as long as you need is a valid outcome.
Assessment letters for hormones or gender-affirming surgery are a specific clinical service with its own requirements, and they are not part of standard counselling sessions. Email jaime@thecounsellinghub.ca before booking to confirm whether this can be supported or to be pointed toward the appropriate BC pathway, including Trans Care BC.
Yes. Clinical confidentiality is legally and ethically binding, and nothing about your identity reaches family, employers, or anyone else without your explicit written consent. Virtual sessions add a further layer for clients in smaller Vancouver Island communities who do not want to be seen walking into a counselling office.
Yes. Relationship work is not limited to two cisgender partners or to monogamous structures. Chosen family, polyamorous and open relationships, and partners at different stages of transition or outness can all be part of the work. Contact the practice first so the right format and counsellor can be confirmed.
Yes. Jaime offers virtual sessions anywhere in British Columbia, which matters for clients in Duncan, Ladysmith, Parksville, Victoria, and smaller communities where affirming counsellors are scarce and anonymity is limited.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8.
You Do Not Have to Figure This Out Alone
To book with Jaime, email jaime@thecounsellinghub.ca and she will arrange your first session.