Welcome!
A Little About Me . . .
Writer, Registered Clinical Counsellor & Depth-Oriented Therapist
© 2024 by Linda Quennec
Personal Life
I was a storyteller and poet even before I was old enough to hold a pen. A deeply imaginative and sensitive child, I grew up on the unceded territories of the Snuneymuxw First Nations, in the Southern region of what later became known as Vancouver Island. In this place, the ocean, forests and beds of ferns were sites of solace, refuge, and inspiration—and remain so.
I relate to literature the way some people relate to religion and spirituality—as a source of deep meaning and insight about the human psyche and its emotional and symbolic landscapes. This relationship has shown up in my twin loves of writing and psychology. As if to drive home the theme of twinning in my life in a literal way, I am also the mother of young adult twins who fill the world with their own artistic expressions.
Navigating and honouring these twin capacities is foremost in my life. As a working writer who also loves supporting people in their own transitions, challenges, and balancing acts, I see a small number of clients in order to "walk the talk" of balancing my family, my art, and my therapeutic work. I feel that this best positions me to show up for you with energy, authenticity and integrity.
"Undoing Aloneness"
—Diana Fosha, PhD
I invite you to rest in a relationship that is safe, where you know that your tender, vulnerable stories are held with kindness, care, and reverence. Where you are never judged, but rather welcomed into knowing that no story is too much or too strange, and that each story has its own purpose en route to deeper self-awareness.
Academic & Professional Life
After earning a BA in English Literature at Simon Fraser University, I worked in Japan, Brazil, and Vancouver, where I supported adult and teenage students from all over the world in learning English as an additional language. Following this I attended the University of British Columbia, obtained a B.Ed degree, and taught middle-school students for several years.
Propelled by curiosity and a need to tend to my writing life, I returned to school and completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at the Buddhist-inspired Naropa University. My graduate thesis became my award-winning first novel, Fishing for Birds, which was published in 2019 by Inanna Publications. I have also published poetry and short stories in various literary magazines.
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The discovery of Jungian psychology and the ways in which it traverses the territories of traditional psychology, science, and the humanities inspired me to obtain masters and doctoral degrees in depth psychology, with a specialization in Jungian and archetypal studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. My doctoral research focused on second-generation survivors of high-demand religions and cults, and a book on this topic will be released in June with Routledge Publications/Taylor & Francis.
It is the metabolization of this work and my personal life as a creative, a survivor of spiritual and religious trauma, a researcher, and lifelong learner that I offer to you in our sessions.