Practicum Students and Mentees
Former Practicum Students and Mentees
Alexandra Smyth (she/her)
Rhodes Wellness Student
Alexandra is a recent graduate of Rhodes Wellness College with a Professional Counselling Diploma. She brings a warm, creative, and relational approach to counselling, with a focus on helping clients feel safe, understood, and able to show up as themselves. With a background in art, Alexandra is especially drawn to the ways creativity, curiosity, and self-expression can help people better understand themselves and make sense of their experiences.
Her approach is person-centred, trauma-informed, somatic, and parts-based, while also drawing from attachment, narrative, and other integrative approaches. Alexandra is particularly passionate about somatic therapy and parts work, and about exploring the ways our bodies, nervous systems, emotions, and different parts of ourselves can offer meaningful information about what we need. She believes change does not always come from pushing harder, but can often begin by slowing down, listening inward, and approaching ourselves with greater curiosity and compassion.
As a queer and neurodivergent counsellor, Alexandra understands how important it can be to have a space where there is no expectation to mask, perform, or fit into someone else’s idea of what you should be. She is committed to creating an affirming and collaborative environment where clients can explore their identities, relationships, emotions, and experiences in a way that feels authentic to them.
Alexandra approaches counselling through an anti-oppressive and decolonizing lens and recognizes that mental health does not exist separately from our relationships, communities, cultures, identities, or the systems we move through. She remains committed to ongoing learning and reflection around power, privilege, and the ways these dynamics can shape both our experiences and the therapeutic relationship.
Alexandra also believes therapy does not have to feel clinical or overly serious all the time. There can be room for humour, creativity, playfulness, and genuine human connection alongside deeper therapeutic work. Her goal is to build a relationship where clients feel seen, respected, and supported as they reconnect with themselves, better understand what they need, and move toward a life that feels more authentic, meaningful, and their own.
Gunjan is a student counsellor currently completing her Professional Counselling Diploma at Rhodes Wellness College. Her approach is grounded in compassion, cultural humility, and embodied awareness. She integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS), Person-Centered, Somatic, and Existential therapies to create a relational space where clients feel seen, supported, and empowered to connect with their inner wisdom.
Guided by the belief that healing is a collaborative process of reconnecting mind, body, and spirit, Gunjan walks alongside clients as they navigate trauma, identity, loss, and transformation. Her practice invites curiosity, presence, and gentleness toward all parts of the self.
With a background in performing arts and over a decade of experience in the service and wellness industries, Gunjan brings creativity, attunement, and a deep respect for each person’s lived story. As a Punjabi-Canadian and member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, she approaches her work with an inclusive and trauma-informed lens, honouring the intersection of culture, identity, and belonging.
Gunjan Kundhal (she/her)
Rhodes Wellness Student
Javelin Laurence (they/them)
Rhodes Wellness Student
Javelin Laurence is a coach, group facilitator, and storyteller born and raised in Calgary, in Treaty 7 territory. Their work spans several industries but a common thread is their fierce advocacy for neurodivergent and gender diverse acceptance and celebration.
They hold a BA in Psychology from the University of Calgary and a Professional Counselling Diploma from Rhodes Wellness College. Through their small business, Alchemy Divergence Coaching, Javelin leverages their lived experience and education as an AuDHD artist and coach to support neurodivergent creatives in building lives and careers that work for them instead of against them.
Alchemy also partners with nonprofit and arts organizations to provide neuro-affirming programming that focuses on mental health and resiliency in creatives.
Natalie Kristelijn (she/her)
Rhodes Wellness Student
Natalie Kristelijn became a counsellor to support others through life’s challenges and to hold hope for those navigating difficult times. She finds deep fulfillment in witnessing clients gain insight into their own journeys, recognize patterns, and discover new ways to cope and grow.
Her approach to counselling is grounded in the belief that everyone has an inner strength and the ability to heal and live a balanced, meaningful life. Natalie strives to be like a lighthouse, offering clarity, safety, and hope when the path feels uncertain.
She enjoys working with young adults aged 21 and up and is especially passionate about supporting newcomers to Vancouver and Canada as they adjust to new cultural experiences. Natalie also works with individuals experiencing grief and loss, anxiety, and depression.
In session, Natalie focuses on genuine connection and creating a safe, compassionate space for clients to share their stories. Her style is approachable, curious, accepting, and sprinkled with humour, helping clients feel heard, understood, and empowered to make positive change.
Outside of counselling, Natalie loves travelling, spending time in nature, and biking daily. She finds joy in music, art, movies, and never misses an opportunity to pet a cute dog.
Daphne Gardiner (they/them)
CQCC Out for Business Mentee
Daphne Gardiner guides individuals and teams to strengthen self-trust, communicate with clarity, and take bold, values-aligned action.
Their work is informed by lived experience; surviving cancer and a brain injury, and embracing queerness, disability, and neurodivergence later in life.
Through transformational coaching, Freedom Meditation, and intuitive insight, they help people navigate hard conversations, build inclusive cultures, and lead with authenticity, courage, and presence.
Daphne is the owner and creator of Living in Possibilities, a coaching and consulting company with a mission of empowering individuals and organizations to move from fear and limitation to possibility, by re-imagining access, deepening self-trust, and leading with authenticity, advocacy, and courageous communication.