Ageing & Brain Therapy and Care to improve your Quality of Life
If you would like to set up a free 15 – 20 minute consultation to explore how I could help you, or just have a question, please, feel free to
Service Type
Therapy and Care for people dealing with Acquired Brain Injury, Concussion, Stroke, Coping with changes due to Aging, or Caregiver challenges
Provider Name
Mind your Brain,
Suite 400- 601 West Broadway,British Columbia-V5Z 4C2,
Telephone No.6048027291
Area
British Columbia incl Greater Vancouver, and Yukon
As a therapist, Heike provides care for people who experience worries about or difficulties with memory, concentration, or because of feeling foggy, and the resulting emotional difficulties (e.g. worries). Such worries may represent experiences that we all experience at one point in time or another, and throughout life. You may become more aware as you get older and demands on you are changing. Challenges also may occur due to a more sudden event such as a concussion, stroke, brain infection, or brain surgery. In short, Heike serves the aging population as well as clinical populations. Heike’s approach results from her unique combination of diverse education (see “About Me”) that has allowed her to integrate the medical and psychological model into her biopsychosocial approach and knowledge base. She utilizes counselling as a vehicle to provide relevant information to clients to find clarity for their questions. Her fundamental assumptions include a framework of functionality, positive psychology, and that people are doing the best they can under the circumstances they find themselves in. Heike’s approach is also geared toward improving your emotional well-being and quality of life by providing hope through education to address thinking and emotional challenges while addressing a person’s feelings of anxiety or depression, and providing Stress Management as needed. Together, we can figure out what underlies those challenges that you experience, how they impact your daily life, what can be done to make positive changes, and thereby pave the way to a more hopeful future and improved quality of life.
Service Type
Ageing & Brain therapy and care are often needed when life has been compromised by issues affecting the brain. Conditions that impact brain functioning likely impact your memory and/ or thinking ability (i.e., cognition). Such conditions include:
Brain injury (e.g., concussion, anoxia, chemotherapy, brain tumour, brain surgery, meningitis, encephalitis)- Injury/ Disease (e.g., long Covid)
- Ageing-related diseases (e.g., dementia, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, depression, major surgery)
The consequence can be a host of everyday life problems that most likely impact your mental health, thereby decreasing your quality of life. Naturally, having experienced an injury or ageing issues will have an impact on your emotional well-being.
Brain Injury Therapy and Quality of Life
Of course, there are many reasons why a person’s quality of life may be compromised. But health conditions such as brain injury or a medical diagnosis can impact a person’s quality of life by decreasing the person’s level of functionality and independence. Oftentimes mental health issues will arise as a result of a brain injury such as anxiety, stress, depression, frustration, or irritability.
To improve the quality of life following brain injury or a medical diagnosis and provide therapy and care, the roots of these mental health issues must be considered and treated.
For example, dealing with the complex cognitive demands of everyday life (e.g. getting oriented in an unfamiliar environment; finding products in a busy grocery store; remembering appointments) can lead to frustration, irritation, increased stress, and with it, anxiety, depression, and/ or sudden mood swings, and social isolation. These mental and emotional issues often are by-products of the cognitive issues experienced following a brain insult or memory issues associated with dementia. More importantly, these issues are more difficult to deal with when the person and family often don’t know how to address the cognitive issues successfully and cope with the emotional consequences.
Services for
Heike’s Approach to Brain Therapy and Ageing Care
To provide ageing & brain therapy and care to improve your quality of life, Heike Dumke (Ph.D. cand, RCC) utilizes a biopsychosocial approach to tailor treatment to an individual client’s needs (client-centred approach). She provides solution-oriented therapy and non-judgmental support. In Heike’s safe and compassionate environment, clients can learn about the connections between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours as well as about cognitive functioning and its importance to daily life. Importantly, Heike is specialized in to support clients if their cognitive functioning (e.g., memory difficulties, difficulties with organizing and planning, or decision-making) has been compromised due to ageing or brain injury. Heike’s goal is to support and guide clients on their journey to regain their footing in life to improve their emotional well-being and quality of life.
JE
February 2024
Thank you for everything, Heike. As mentioned in the session yesterday, you have been a huge part of my recovery and I will be forever grateful. I will definitely keep you in mind for any future needs should they arise.
FH
April 2022
“I contacted Heike (Mind your Brain) some time ago because of a concussion. Although I had a physiotherapist and other services, I felt consistently fatigued and had a difficult time keeping up with my responsibilities. This also impacted my relationship. In about 6 sessions, Heike helped me understand why I felt fatigued, and how to address it. She taught me with patience how to implement this new knowledge on how to approach tasks, what strategies to use, and how to communicate my needs. This has made a huge difference in my ability to accomplish tasks successfully that I thought I might not be able to do anymore. Heike gave me back my confidence!”
JA
May 2022
My experience with her has been excellent. With patience, she explained to me how my thinking and emotions impacted my communication with my business partner as well as with my spouse, and how I could change the way I could communicate with them. And as I learned how to make the suggested changes things kind of magically changed in my communication with the people around me and, in turn, my relationship with my business partner and well as with my wife got better. And I am really grateful to Heike that she had taken the time to teach me all the necessary things to improve my business and personal relationships. I can wholeheartedly recommend her services to anyone who is in need of counselling services. Thank you!
Virginia M
October 2014
“Many thanks for your caring and compassionate ways in helping me cope with my concussion. I so appreciate the encouragement you have provided. Your classes are great. You always walk around with a smile, and it’s obvious that it’s real; you are very kind, encouraging, and gifted. Don’t stop what you are doing!”
Professional
designations
A designation of BC Association of Clinical Counsellors
