middlepeace.com

This website is an individual work by Poran Poregbal,  RSW, MA, RCC.

M.A. in Clinical Counselling

Who am I?

My name is Poran Poregbal and I have a master degree in Clinical Counselling from the Adler School of Professional Psychology, Vancouver Campus.

I consider the importance of application of cultural knowledge along with clinical skills in order to create a therapeutic bond with clients.  I believe in our Iranian culture we need to understand Psychology with new eyes and also learn to apply it in our everyday life.

It is my honor to announce that I am  establishing my private practice in order to offer my clients a culturally sensitive counselling.

My hope is to examine the cultural, traditional, and environmental basis for mental health and dysfunction in our Iranian culture. At the same time I desire to explore the intersection of mental health with stronger family bonds, independent individuals, and peaceful communities. I would like to emphasis on parenting skills, healthy couple relationships, and wholeness of the individual.

My counselling experiences and my specialized interests afford me the ability to work with clients who suffer from migration related issues, depression, anxiety, sexual abuse, childhood abuse, domestic violence, and trauma.

My background is in Social Work and studies in the fields of Anthropology, Ethnology, Rehabilitation, and Victim Services.  I completed my undergraduate Degree in Social Science in 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden.

I had the opportunity to work for Ministry of Social Services in Stockholm for four years. Sweden is another part of my life, a second home country, to where I feel a deep connection. I learned a lot from the Swedish people and Swedish politics, which is based on a humanistic point of view. I appreciate the experience of having worked and lived in Sweden.

Over the past seven years, I have been working with victims of crime and trauma, both in police-based and community-based victim services.

I provide tutoring for an on-line victim services program and also work as a research assistant for the Anthropology & Sociology department at Simon Fraser University.

My life experiences of witnessing war, conflicts leading to migration, adjustment challenges, and the trauma of the nostalgia and longing for my home country have only made me stronger as a human being.

I have a life-long, conscious plan to be there for those who are weaker and to work for social justice.   My professional development is most definitely impacted by my observations and life experiences in the intersection of cultures, languages, people, and studies I have completed in different fields.  I live my life for creating change through dialogue, influence, and positive human impact.

I come from a multicultural and multi-disciplinary world with life experiences that go back to having lived in four countries, on three continents, so far. I speak three languages and I am an artist, activist, and writer.

Poran Poregbal

pporegbal@hotmail.com