
Awkward Owl
PSYCHOTHERAPY

Brittany Dagenais
Registered Psychotherapist
About Me
When I was first starting out as a therapist I read the book Sometimes Therapy is Awkward and it was such an “oh shit, it’s not just me” moment. I have been described countless times over my life as someone who is awkward - benignly out of step with social norms, lacking a sense of social ease - so perhaps it makes perfect sense that I would find myself in a career where awkwardness is the norm, not the exception.
As I have learned to embrace the awkward and uncomfortable parts of therapy, I have grown to absolutely love the work I do; I love being a part of genuine and honest experiences with clients. I love being able to be both analytical and highly emotional at the same time. I love all of the quirks and strengths and stories that clients bring into the room with them, and even though it’s incredibly heavy to witness these at times, I love that I get to be the person that is trusted to do this work with them.
Having moved through life with my own experiences of trauma and a sense of otherness from being neurodivergent, I’m particularly attuned to people’s feelings of having to hide or reject parts of the self in an effort to find belonging. I am often described as warm, curious, and observant, and I have a knack for seeing the things that are going on under the surface. My work with clients tends to be deep, thought-provoking, and emotional, and I bring a patience and warmth to sitting with clients through the darker, more difficult parts of therapy.

ATTACHMENT THERAPY
Attachment behavioural systems underpin so much of how we relate to ourselves and others in our unconscious (and sometimes conscious) attempts to find safety and get our core emotional needs met. People-pleasing, shame, guilt, internalizing, externalizing, self-harm, and eating behaviours are all examples of behaviours that can be understood and transformed through this perspective.
PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPY
The therapy experience is exploratory and reflective, where the process of therapy is just as important as the content. The therapist works to stay curious and observes the ways in which the client and therapist relate to each other throughout the session, helping clients understand their part in co-creating the relational dynamics that exist both within and outside the therapy room.
TRAUMA-INFORMED THERAPY
A strong emphasis is placed on creating safety and stabilization in both the therapy relationship and the client’s life before exploring past traumas. Careful consideration is given to the client’s readiness to explore and process their traumatic experience so that the client feels a sense of safety, agency, and autonomy.
EXISTENTIAL THERAPY
Sometimes the bigger questions of life, death, and how we fit into the world come up in therapy. We exist as individuals, but also as a social species in a world of hierarchical and unequal systems, systems that we have often internalized or been oppressed by. These impact our experiences of grieving, belonging, anger, hope, and meaning-making in ways that can be helpful to explore and understand.
I'm often described as...
Curious, Observant, Expressive, Insightful, Intense, Non-Judgmental, Pragmatic, and Authentic
If my therapist self was an animal it would be...
A Garden Spider
My favourite books to recommend...
Adult Children of Emotionally-Immature Parents, by Lindsay Gibson
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Divergent Mind, by Jenara Nerenberg.
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Healing the Shame that Binds You by John Bradshaw
When I'm Not Therapist-ing...
I love to garden, cook, read, puzzle, create art, and play video games.