Dr. Brenda Yaari Dyer
Registered Psychologist (R. Psych) #2094
About Brenda Yaari
Hello! I am a Registered Psychologist (#2094) and see individual clients and couples in my peaceful Kitsilano office. I assist adults at every life stage who are grappling with issues interfering with their daily life functioning and happiness. I particularly enjoy working with clients in transition - young adults with identity, career and dating issues; those in midlife transition and crises; and later-life clients with existential concerns around aging and life meaning. I have a long-standing interest in treating depression, particularly situational depression triggered by relationship break-up and loss.
Another strong focus of mine is helping couples with communication, trust & intimacy issues. I have trained extensively in Emotionally Focused Therapy, at the Vancouver Couple & Family Institute. EFT is a short-term, structured approach, which boasts the highest success rate of any evidence-based model for couples counselling. It is a privilege to support couples in learning new ways of tuning into each other's hearts and minds so that they can have a more satisfying relationship and happier life.
I have post-graduate training in emotionally-focused therapies (EFT for couples; AEDP), mindfulness-based approaches, and CBT. Studying, working and travelling extensively in various parts of the world has led to deep respect for, and love of, diverse cultural perspectives. Some of my counselling training has been in spiritually-based modalities learned in India and Japan. My part-time teaching position at UBC in the graduate program of Counselling Psychology keeps me in close touch with the needs, fears, and dreams of the younger generation at the beginning of their careers, and it is a joy to contribute to their development.
I also facilitate the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. This is an evidence-based group program comprised of 8 2-hour sessions and 1 all-day session with the purpose of learning mindful practices in order to reduce the impact of chronic stress and pain in everyday life. For more information about the next MBSR course starting in September, please email me (Wednesdays, Sept 11th through October 30th, 6.30 to 9 pm).
In short, I love helping people find happier and less stressful ways of living and aim to provide a compassionate and supportive atmosphere for clients to explore their experience and to find new ways of thinking, feeling and behaving.