About April Steele

Who I Am

After 20 years of working as a psychotherapist in private practice, I have now retired from client work and am focusing on providing consultation for EMDR therapists.

My Master’s degree is from the College of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Guelph. I also have a post-graduate diploma from the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute, am a registered art therapist and a past president of the BC Art Therapy Association.

As an EMDRIA-certified therapist and Approved Consultant and Credit Provider, I have been an active participant on the EMDR Institute discussion list since 1998. My experience includes work in sexual abuse programs in Nanaimo and Vancouver, as well as at a mental health centre and an alcohol and drug program.

Through my work specializing in working with adults with histories of abuse and neglect, I became especially interested in attachment and the effects of early deficits. Developing a Secure Self is an approach I have created to complement EMDR in working with clients with childhood histories of neglect, emotional abuse, and attachment issues. Imaginal Nurturing, its major component, utilizes externalization and guided imagery to directly address those issues which cannot be resolved simply by reprocessing trauma.

Developing a Secure Self is now being used in many countries around the world. As a credit provider, I offer a distance training program in this attachment-based, ego-state model.

In my personal life, I live in a sanctuary I have created on a Gulf Island on the west coast of Canada where I indulge my passions for piano, quilting, and birds.