When the Skills That Make You Good at Your Job Work Against You

Nursing trains you to push through. To triage your own feelings the way you triage a busy floor: set aside what isn't urgent, keep moving. You are good at this. You have been good at this for years.

But there's a cost to running on high for so long. The 12-hour shifts. The moral injury of watching outcomes that don't match the care you gave. The way the work follows you home even when you don't want it to. The creeping sense that you are behind glass from the rest of your life, watching it happen without quite being in it.

You know what burnout looks like clinically. That doesn't make it easier to name it in yourself. And it definitely doesn't make it easier to ask for help when your whole professional identity is built around being the one who provides it.

What Counselling for Nurses Actually Looks Like

Counselling for nurses isn't just therapy with a healthcare-worker theme. It's working with someone who doesn't need to be briefed on the culture: the hierarchy, the understaffing, the weight of holding difficult things in difficult rooms.

The focus isn't on analysing your nursing career. It's on making space for the person underneath it. What you're still carrying. What you need to put down. What you want your life to feel like outside of work.

Working with Someone Who Has Been on Both Sides

Paige Mathison, RCC, spent over a decade as a psychiatric nurse before training as a Registered Clinical Counsellor. She holds a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology. She understands the culture from the inside, not as a concept but as lived experience.

Her approach draws on Somatic Experiencing, which works at the level of the nervous system rather than the narrative. For nurses whose bodies have been in a state of readiness for years, this tends to land differently than talk-only approaches. The goal is to help your system catch up with what your mind already understands.

Paige works with nurses in hospital settings, community health, and long-term care, as well as nursing students and those navigating career transitions.

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What Happens When You Reach Out

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Your First Session

This is a conversation, not an intake form. Paige will ask what's brought you in and what you're hoping this work can do for you. You don't need to arrive with a clear picture of what's wrong.
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The Work

Sessions follow your pace. Paige draws on somatic and trauma-informed approaches, working with what's present in the room rather than a fixed protocol. You won't be asked to perform insight you don't have yet.
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Over Time

Many clients notice more breathing room between work and the rest of their life. Not that the hard things disappear, but that they stop running the show.

What Changes When You Have Space to Process

Many nurses find that having a dedicated space outside of work changes how they move through the week. Not overnight, but gradually.

  • The ability to leave work at work, not just physically but mentally
  • A clearer sense of who you are when you're not in a clinical role
  • More capacity for the people and things in your life outside the hospital

RCC sessions may be covered by extended health benefits. Paige provides official receipts for reimbursement.

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Questions Nurses Often Ask Before Booking

Very. Most nurses who come to Paige aren't in crisis. They're noticing that something has shifted, that they feel flatter than they used to, or that the resilience they've always relied on is harder to access. That's enough of a reason to reach out.
Paige spent over ten years as a psychiatric nurse. You won't need to explain shift culture, the moral weight of certain calls, or what it means to compartmentalize professionally. That context is already there.
Paige's approach isn't purely talk-based. Somatic Experiencing works with what the body is holding, not just what the mind can articulate. For people whose nervous systems have been running on high for years, this tends to reach places that conversation alone doesn't.
Yes. Paige offers in-person sessions in Kelowna and virtual sessions for nurses anywhere in BC.
RCC sessions are eligible under many extended health plans. Paige provides receipts for direct reimbursement. Check with your provider for your specific coverage.

Ready to Make Space for Yourself?

You spend your shifts making space for other people. This is where you get to do it for yourself. Paige offers in-person counselling in Kelowna and virtual sessions across BC.
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