Richard Tatomir,
MA, CCC

I currently accept only a very limited number of clients or supervisees on a case-by-case basis. If you match my current focus (please read this page in entirety), I will likely be able to work with you, otherwise I recommend clients looking for counselling connect with another one of our trusted and talented Team members (see our Team page). For counselling with me, or for to be able to recommend the best match, please fill out the referral Form.

If you are looking to connect around speaking or research opportunities with your organization, please see the appropriate email in my Resume. For time-sensitive requests, please text me as well, at the number provided there.

My current focus is providing consultation, training/speaking, and program development and evaluation, related to various community projects and topics in the mental health space, including building more resilient and collaborative Trauma Informed organizations/systems, Innovations in Counselling/Psychotherapy, and Leadership/Supervision (see Resume and Academic Bio). Health or Wellness Professionals, or Leaders in the private or public sector are prioritized for counselling, consultation, or supervision, as needed.

Bio:

Hi, I'm Richard Tatomir (he/him/his). I am a Neurodivergent Counsellor-Educator-Supervisor-Researcher from Surrey, BC in the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley areas of BC.

I am a White Settler of English/Irish, and Ukrainian/Romanian descent living, working, and studying on the unceded (stolen) traditional territories xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt, Kwantlen, Stó:lō,, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen peoples.

I am personally committed to working towards reconciliation, including continuously educating myself, students, and service systems, about the tragedies that have occurred and continue to occur to Indigenous peoples through the Colonizing frameworks inherent in our Education, Child Welfare, Health, Legal, and other systems, and the importance of building a connection with the Land, Elders, and each other to begin the journey of moving towards acknowledgment, communication, and healing.

I work through a 2-eyed-seeing, Critical, Community Psychology approach to challenge explicit and implicit Systemic discrimination, including that which occurs to other cultural and religious minorities and oppressed persons (BIPOC, LGBTQ2SIA+, Disability, Socioeconomically/Occupationally/Educationally disadvantaged, and all the Intersections in-between), in order to improve access and health of equity-seeking communities.

I have worked for the last 5 years for SFU as SAFE Practitioner-Instructor in Counselling Psychology in the Faculty of Education. The SFU SAFE Community Clinical Counselling program is one arm of the award-winning Surrey Anti-Gang Family Empowerment multi-agency initiative and CHART (Children at Risk Table) Situation table/Hub model (est. 2019 by Public Safety Canada and the City of Surrey and now spread across Canada), that includes Municipal, Police, Child Welfare, Social and Recreational, Indigenous, and other resources working together to provide a comprehensive approach to community safety. SAFE and CHART work not only to intervene in youth violence and other risks in communities, but prevent through improved access to health, social, educational, and other opportunities that improve resilience in the collective “immune system” of individuals, families, service providers, and their communities to work against the influences of crime and other risk factors. In this role, I have had the chance to organize and speak at many conferences and other multi-agency and multi-disciplinary initiatives, and am happy to see this innovative model spreading across Canada, and work to adapt and evaluate critical components of it in my work with First Nations as part of my dissertation (I am currently a PhD student in Educational Psychology at SFU), and with community agencies across BC and Canada.

In my role with SAFE and SFU, I am a representative to both the CHART table and SAFE leadership table; a facilitator/developer/evaluator of programs for community agencies and service systems on specialized mental health topics, including Trauma Informed Practice, Supervision, and Systems Innovation; and supervise Graduate students in the specialized SAFE practicum who assist me in many of the above roles and as they deliver collaborative counselling and case management to individuals, families, and groups out of the SFU Surrey Community Counselling clinic site.

I am founder of a Psychotherapy and Consulting Collective (Resolve Trauma Collective) for new therapists focused on improving access and quality of trauma therapy for diverse populations. I maintain a special heart for "youth-at-promise," especially young men with entrepreneurial and leadership potential haunted by complex trauma and Western society's poor ability to help them transition into adulthood and a sense of healthy masculinity. I try to do the same in my role as a Father to a wonderful toddler “little scientist” as well.

Counselling Experience and Approach:

I have over a decade of post-Masters experience in government, health-care, and private practice treating children, youth, parents, couples & families with anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, conflict, and most other behavioural, emotional, and life issues, as well as over 5 years as a Clinical Supervisor/University Faculty.

My specialties are relationships and trauma, and as such use Gottman, Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)-trained, which are gold-standard therapies for couples and families, and trauma/stress/anxiety, respectively. I also have specialized experience working with neurodiverse children and youth, including physical/cognitive/adaptive/learning differences, Autism spectrum, Fetal Alcohol, ADHD, and other complex/concurrent disorders. Special populations I have significant experience serving include Indigenous persons, Military, First Responders, Health Care Providers, and Men.

I take a research-based, relationship-centered, and step-by-step skill-building approach, believing clients are doing the best they can—but that it takes a village to thrive—and sometimes additional tools, strategies, and outside perspectives are necessary to overcome barriers in the way of reaching our full potential.

Examples of research-based treatments that I am either trained in or informed by and integrate into my work include the following:

Types of Therapy/Counselling Theories:

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – EMDR is a type of trauma therapy that can allow for more rapid resolution of traumatic events/PTSD and anxiety/anxiety-related disorders (i.e. phobias, sleep issues, panic attacks), as well as performance improvement (sports, academics), combining a series of eye movements, taps, or tones while following a process to briefly touch on the distressing experience, but in a new empowered way that can result in permanent positive changes to how they experience the event(s) and carry out everyday functioning

  • Somatic Therapy and other Body-oriented therapies - non-touch based therapies that work to notice, understand, and resolve trauma stored in the body

  • Family Systems Therapy/Internal Family Systems/Emotion-Focused Therapy/Interpersonal Therapy – understanding the source of cycles of conflicts in the family and how they are replicated internally within oneself, which can improve child, couple, and family functioning and reduce and heal trauma by learning new ways of communicating and reacting to each other and internal and external stressors/triggers

  • Motivational Interviewing and Relapse Prevention – for alcohol/substance-use or behavioural addictions/disorders or at-risk for development of these

  • Child-directed play therapy or Parent-Child Interactional Therapy – esp. helpful for children w/ low verbal abilities, this therapy can increase attachment b/t parent and child, and helps children process, make sense of, and gain confidence and skills for working through trauma, grief, family separation, or other life anxieties. It is often combined w/ parent’s work on other above curriculums.

Clinical Supervision Experience and Approach:

  • During my Doctoral studies (ongoing), I have completed a Directed Readings course informed by the University of Lethbridge ED 5850 Clinical Supervision Course which was adapted to the particular setting I was in (a specialized University and Multi-Agency Practicum Site), and included a significant number of hours of supervision and evaluation of my supervision. I am currently working towards the CCS (Canadian Certified Supervisor) certification with the CCPA (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association). It is critical whether you choose to work with me or another supervisor or consultant, you know not only the theories of therapies they are trained in, but the Supervision model and training they receive and operate in, and that it includes both theoretical and practice based hours, as many Supervisors in the Counselling field are not qualified to provide supervision (or even consultation).

  • I subscribe to what I call an approach of “Matching Supervision to the Task,” which integrates Integrative Developmental Model, Discrimination, and Competency-Based Models in a priority and time-based sequence. (For an overview and resources to further learning regarding these models, see Smith, 2009). Due to my particular population experience, I also am informed by a Developmental, Trauma-Informed, and Multicultural/Equity/Social Justice-oriented perspective that comes from where the majority of my experience is, working with diverse (including neurodiverse) clients with complex trauma . Practically, this means that I am focused on intervening to strengthen the weakest areas first that serve as barriers to developing the counsellor’s competence.

More Info about me:

Link to: Resume (Apr 2024)

Link to: SFU Profile/Bio (July 2023)