Step into the shade.
Online counselling across BC for the things people carry alone.
Four counsellors you can actually choose between. Evenings and weekends. Start with a free consultation.
Next you’ll pick a time in Jane, our secure booking system. It asks for your name, email and phone.
- Free first conversation
- Sessions from $60
- Direct billing for some plans
- Video or phone, camera optional
You might recognize this
Things people say in a first session. Open the one that sounds like you to see who works with it, and how.
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You cleared the history again and promised yourself that was the last time.
When porn, sex or online habits feel out of control and hiding them has become a second job. Davis trained in sex addiction therapy and works mostly with men.
Who works with this: Davis Wiggs
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You found the messages. Now you’re both awake in different rooms.
The same fight on repeat, or the morning after you found the messages. Davis and Jasneet work with couples by video, without taking sides.
Who works with this: Davis Wiggs, Jasneet Purewal
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You rehearse the call to your mom before you make it.
Being the good daughter, the one who translates everything, the one who can’t say no. Jasneet works with this in English, Punjabi or Hindi.
Who works with this: Jasneet Purewal, Madison Morrison, Chantelle Efird
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One more bet to win it back. Then one more.
Sports betting, online casinos, shopping, debt nobody knows about. Davis is trained in financial disorders and works with the shame and the money.
Who works with this: Davis Wiggs
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You hold it together at work and fall apart in the driveway.
The 3 a.m. replays, the tight chest, the feeling you can’t rest until everything’s done. Three counsellors work with this, each in their own way.
Who works with this: Madison Morrison, Jasneet Purewal, Chantelle Efird
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Your body changed the rules, and nobody else can see it.
A brain that works differently, a body that changed the rules, or feelings that go from zero to a hundred. Madison works with all three; Chantelle works with ADHD.
Who works with this: Madison Morrison, Chantelle Efird
More on neurodivergence, chronic illness and emotional regulation
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Half-finished projects in every room, and a brain that won’t land on one.
Who works with this: Madison Morrison, Chantelle Efird
More on neurodivergence, chronic illness and emotional regulation
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It’s 3 a.m. and your chest is already running through tomorrow.
Who works with this: Madison Morrison, Jasneet Purewal, Chantelle Efird
Let's find your person
Five plain questions, about a minute. At the end you’ll see who we’d suggest, and why.
Your answers stay on this page and aren’t saved. We only count which counsellor was suggested, never your answers.
Not an emergency service. If you’re not safe right now, call or text 9‑8‑8, or call 9‑1‑1.
Next you’ll pick a time in Jane, our secure booking system. It asks for your name, email and phone.
Four counsellors, in their own words
We asked each counsellor 39 questions and kept their answers. Pick the one who sounds like someone you could talk to.
Davis Wiggs
Registered Therapeutic Counsellor
I help people who are going through a lonely stretch find connection again, and give them the tools to keep it.
A good fit for
- Addiction and recovery: substances, gambling, porn, spending
- Infidelity and couples (Emotion Focused Therapy)
- Men who are used to keeping it all in
- Fees
- From $145 Sliding scale
- Times
- Tuesday to Thursday evenings, Saturday mornings and afternoons
Waitlist: join through Jane
Madison Morrison
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) in Ontario
I work with adults who look fine on the outside and feel fried on the inside.
A good fit for
- Emotional regulation, stress and burnout
- Neurodivergence, including ADHD
- Chronic illness and injury
- Fees
- From $150 Sliding scale
- Times
- Wednesdays and Fridays, morning to evening, plus some weekend times
Jasneet Purewal
Registered Therapeutic Counsellor
Most of the people I work with are the ones everyone else leans on. My job is to give them one place where they don’t have to hold it all together.
A good fit for
- Family conflict and first-generation life
- Couples, in-laws and life transitions
- Sexual abuse recovery, at your pace
- Fees
- From $145 Sliding scale
- Times
- Weekends and most weekday evenings
Chantelle Efird
Registered Therapeutic Counsellor candidate
I give people a place to slow down and make sense of what they’re going through, then we work out together what might help.
A good fit for
- Anxiety, stress and burnout
- ADHD and self-esteem
- Life transitions, especially for teens and young adults
- Fees
- From $60
- Times
- Midday, evening and weekend times
The room is wherever you are
Every session, whether you call it counselling or therapy, happens by video or phone, anywhere in BC. No waiting room. No one from town seeing your truck in the lot.
All you need is a phone or laptop and somewhere you can talk: a room with a door, or a parked car with the engine off. If video is hard, or the internet is patchy where you live, a phone call works. Camera off is fine too.
Research comparing video and in-person counselling finds the results are about the same for most common concerns, and phone sessions hold up well too. What matters most is the fit between you and your counsellor. That’s what the free consultation is for.
Your first session, roughly minute by minute
Most people have never done this before, so here’s what to expect.
Roughly how the first hour goes, from what our counsellors told us. Every counsellor is a little different, and nothing here is a script.
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Five minutes before
Find your spot
The video link is in your booking email. Close the door, or park somewhere quiet. Water, tissues, headphones if the walls are thin. You don’t need to prepare anything.
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Minute 0
Hello, and a little small talk
Your counsellor checks they can see and hear you. If the video won’t behave, you switch to a phone call.
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Minute 3
The housekeeping
What stays private, the rare times it can’t, and where you are today, so they know where to send help if you ever need it.
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Minute 8
What’s brought you here
Say as much or as little as you like. You don’t have to tell your whole life story in one hour, and there are no perfect answers.
From Davis
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Minute 18
Who’s in your world
Who you live with, who you’d call at 2 a.m., who you’d never tell you’re in therapy. If you’ve come about trauma or abuse, you can say it exists without saying what it was.
From Jasneet
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Minute 28
What’s helped before
Your strengths, what’s got you through hard times, and what you’d like to be different in six months, even if the answer is “I don’t know, I just want to feel less like this.”
From Davis and Jasneet
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Minute 38
A gentle safety check
Counsellors ask everyone about thoughts of suicide, now or in the past. It’s routine, not a judgment. If it’s relevant, you’ll make a safety plan together.
From Madison
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Minute 45
Something small to try
One thing you can actually do before next time, and a check on how the session felt. You’re allowed to say something sat wrong.
From Jasneet
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Minute 50
Questions, and what’s next
Ask anything about how this works. Booking again is up to you. The aim is to leave feeling heard, and clearer about what comes next.
From Davis and Madison
What it costs, plainly
Davis, Jasneet and Chantelle offer a free first conversation, and Madison’s starts with a $50 consultation. After that:
- Chantelle: $60 an hour, and pro bono by arrangement if money is very tight
- Madison: $150 an hour, with a sliding scale
- Davis and Jasneet: $145 an hour, couples $185, both with a sliding scale
Davis and Madison bill Pacific Blue Cross and TELUS Health directly, and Davis also bills GreenShield and CVAP. With the others you get a receipt to claim from your plan. Money tight? Here are our low-cost and free counselling options in BC.
Before you talk yourself out of it
“It’s not bad enough.” You don’t have to be in crisis to talk to someone. Plenty of people wait longer than they need to.
“I can’t afford it.” $60 sessions with Chantelle (and pro bono by arrangement), a sliding scale with Madison and Davis, and your benefits may cover it.
“I don’t want to be on camera.” Phone works. Camera off works.
“What if I don’t click with them?” Tell us, and we’ll help you switch to someone else on the team. No awkward conversation needed.
“Someone might find out.” You can talk from anywhere private, and you tell us how to contact you and whether we can leave a voicemail.
“Does online even work?” For most common concerns, research says about as well as in person.
Started in the South Okanagan, now wherever you are
Desert Solace began with offices in Oliver and Penticton. In 2026 we moved fully online, so people anywhere in BC can reach us, including the small towns where everyone knows whose car is parked where. We still think like a small-town practice: you’ll deal with real people who answer their own email.
Compassion before judgment. Connection before shame. Support without conditions.
You don’t have to wait until the wheels fall off to ask someone to sit with you in the car.
Take a breath. Come as you are.
You don’t need the right words. Book a free consultation, or let the short quiz suggest someone first.
Next you’ll pick a time in Jane, our secure booking system. It asks for your name, email and phone.
Not an emergency service. If you’re not safe right now, call or text 9‑8‑8.