Our Team

Our Founders

It all started as an internship on Salt Spring Island, and as the concept was proven, and the need great, Elsje and Jill developed Soul Matters Counselling. Moving to Cloverdale in 2020, Soul Matters continues to serve the community of Surrey and surrounding areas.

A woman with glasses and brown hair tied back, smiling in front of a wooden background, wearing a light purple top.

  • Elsje’s counselling approach is integrative. She believes that the individual client and the problems they want to work on are the best indicators for what type of theoretical orientation will best fit. She works with all issues and mental health challenges. Her services are offered to adults, children, couples and families. She has special experience dealing with terminal illness, prolonged chronic illness and family members and individuals dealing with bereavement. As well, she works extensively with adult childhood trauma and PTSD.

    She holds a Master of Arts degree in Counselling Psychology from Trinity Western University. She has her Canadian Certified Counsellor designation (CCC from CCPA) and Registered Clinical Counsellor designation (RCC from BCACC). She is also a certified supervisor both provincially and nationally. Elsje is trained in EMDR and OEI and is a Certified Daring Way Facilitatory working with the research of Brené Brown. Elsje has worked with the Vancouver Crisis Centre, BC Cancer Agency as well as various hospice and palliative agencies. She has worked with the Emergency Mental Health Team through Community Services on Salt Spring Island and has been in private practice since 2009. Her counselling clinic, The Healing Place shares it's office space with Soul Matters.

A woman with wavy blonde hair smiling and sitting by a concrete and wood barrier at a lakeside, surrounded by fallen autumn leaves.

  • Jill views her work from a holistic lens recognizing that there are similarities to our experience as humans but that it is important to understand the individual experience to heal from the hurt and live a full life. Whether it be a loss, trauma, relationship, family situation or illness, her hope is that all these experiences can lead us to understand ourselves better and derive meaning out of our situations.

    Jill holds a Master of Arts Counselling Psychology degree from Trinity Western University and has previously worked in cancer care, trauma counselling and community counselling services. She holds both CCC (Canadian Certified Counsellor) designation from the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (#5390) and RCC (Registered Clinical Counsellor) designation form the BC Association for Clinical Counsellors (#12301). Jill has further trauma training in Observed & Experiential Integration (OEI). She is a certified Existential Analytic counsellor and is trained in the Gottmann Method for couples counselling.

Intern Counsellors

Supervisors

  • A smiling woman with shoulder-length dark hair and glasses posing indoors, with a light green wall and framed artwork in the background.

    Susan Lim M.A, CCC, CCS

  • Chuck Macknee, PhD

    Chuck Macknee, PhD

  • Elsje Hannah, CCC-S, RCC-ACS, DWF

    Elsje Hannah, CCC-S, RCC-ACS, DWF

  • Jill Hart, MA CCC, RCC

    Jill Hart, MA CCC, RCC

THE BOARD

  • Scenic view of green rolling hills and cliffs under a partly cloudy sky with patches of blue, overlooking a small lake in a valley.

    PETER HANNAH

  • A minimalist room with a large potted green plant on the left, sunlight streaming through sheer white curtains, a wooden clothing rack with a white shirt and gray jacket hanging, a neatly folded towel and a straw hat on a wooden bench, and a pair of black and white sneakers underneath. A basket with rolled-up newspapers is partially visible in the bottom left corner.

    ANNIE NEWMAN

  • A rugged mountain peak under a dark, cloudy sky.

    GRANT FORSYTH

  • Sunlight filters through the dense trees and foliage of a misty forest.

    KATY KWON

  • A detailed image of outer space featuring a bright nebula with swirling gases and numerous stars scattered throughout the scene.

    TOM TAYLOR

  • Close-up of colorful yarns wound around white plastic bobbins, placed on a wooden loom.

    ELSJE HANNAH

  • An aerial view of a winding road through a dense green forest.

    JOCELYN HEYDE

  • JILLIAN HART

  • A view of palm tree fronds against a beige sky, possibly at sunset or sunrise.

    JESSICA LANIGAN

Canine Office Patrons

  • Close-up of a small, fluffy, tan and white dog with dark eyes, lying on a couch or bed.

    Rosie

    lapdog

  • A brown dog with expressive eyes resting its front paws on a sofa.

    Alfie

    Unofficial emotional support dog

  • A black and white dog, possibly a Bernese Mountain Dog, standing indoors with two women sitting on a red couch in the background. The women are holding clipboards or notebooks, and there are papers on a table in the foreground. The setting appears to be a living room or office space with a potted plant on a side table.

    Toby

    Unoffiial emotional support dog