Safety is not the absence of threat…
it is the presence of connection.

- Gabor Maté

I’m Mary.

Close up image of Mary Lucas, a woman with white skin and long curly salt-and-pepper hair. She is wearing a white blazer and standing beside the water outside. She is making eye contact and lightly but confidently smiling at the camera.

I am a registered clinical counsellor, therapist & an avid lifelong learner.

I have a passion for helping people and witnessing the growth, healing and change that can take place in a safe, trusting therapeutic relationship. I believe in the power of connection: to self, to others and with nature. I am dedicated to removing barriers to accessing mental health care in our community and I work in public and non-profit organizations as well as in private practice.

A designation of BC Association of Clinical Counsellors

I completed an MA in Art History from the University of Victoria in 2002 and took a meandering professional path through academia and careers in book publishing and non-profit administration before I found my true calling as a helper.

When I became a parent, I opened a small business selling eco-friendly baby clothing and toys. As someone who had struggled with infertility and depression, I understood the reality of parenthood was much different than how it is often portrayed. I knew what grief felt like, I was acquainted with exhaustion, shame, overwhelm and stress.

Through the conversations I had in that little shop, I discovered the power of empathy and connection and it motivated me to change my career (and my life!). I returned to school and completed a master’s degree in counselling psychology from Yorkville and I became registered with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors. 

My Approach

I use therapies that are evidence-based and trauma-informed and work collaboratively with people to tailor our therapeutic work to their goals and strengths. My master’s degree provided the foundation of my training as a therapist, to which I have added additional training including a two-year program in Somatic Attachment Therapy, bereavement and grief therapy, suicide and crisis intervention, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), Gottman Method Couples Therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

I am a relational, somatic therapist who acknowledges the ongoing impacts of colonialism, racism, sexism, capitalism, ablism, homophobia and transphobia, and disconnection from nature in my work. I hold anti-oppressive values and am dedicated to removing barriers to accessing mental health care through my work in public and non-profit organizations. I engage in personal and professional reflection and receive regular professional supervision to maintain my ethical integrity and a high level of care in my practice.

Image of a field of camas flowers, with one in-focus flower. It is lavender and delicate.

For those who experience my care, I work to foster a sense of efficacy, self-determination, dignity and personal empowerment. I value human connection, compassion, authenticity, accountability & humour. 

Additional Training

  • Pain Reprocessing Therapy Training, Pain Reprocessing Therapy Centre, 

  • Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level One: Bridging the Couple Chasm

  • Motivational Interviewing, Advanced Level Two

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

  • Counselling Ethics – Intermediate Level

  • Bereavement And Grief Counselling Training, Level Two: Advanced Practices and Topics in Grief and Loss. 

  • Bereavement And Grief Counselling Training, Level One: The Basics of Grief and Loss. 

  • Motivational Interviewing, Beginner Level One

  • Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) 

  • Tri-Council Course on Research Ethics (TCPS 2: Core)

Let’s connect…

A free 30-minute consultation by phone or Zoom can help determine if I’m the right fit for you.

Book a Consultation

Image of a large grey boulder balancing on a rocky ocean shore on Vancouver Island

I am grateful to live with my family on Vancouver Island, surrounded by the mountains, the Pacific Ocean and the Salish Sea. I am a white settler with ancestral heritage from Northern Europe and I acknowledge with profound respect that I live on the traditional territories of the Lewungen Peoples and the unceded lands of the Songees and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. I believe in and am committed to practices of reconciliation such as learning, self-awareness and engaging in community and societal transformation. I love being outside in nature, in my garden, at the shoreline or in the deep green forests. I am a lover of books, good conversation and art.