What Happens Around Us
Also Happens Within Us
What Happens Around Us Also Happens Within Us
THE PARALLEL APPROACH
There is an important moment where we are suspended between where we are and where we want to be. Parallel Counselling is committed to nurturing that space and working with people to find their truth in order to move forward with integrity.
We are focused on strengthening a narrative around counselling that considers the impact of societal norms and expectations on how we feel about ourselves, our lives, and our relationships while also doing individual root work to uncover how past interactions and experiences have shaped our beliefs about self. We do this in order to sustain long standing change. We believe in honouring the ways of coping (maladaptive or not) in order to meet your needs the best way you knew how, while also acknowledging alternative ways of moving forward that better align with your values.
Director & Therapist
May Melnyk believes in the power of connection and community when it comes to getting through the hard stuff. She has seen firsthand that when people come together to achieve a common goal nothing can stop them. Her goal is to help families come together and move forward together.
Her approach is grounded in systemic and relational trauma therapy which acknowledges that the society we live in, intergenerational trauma, early childhood attachments amongst many other factors influence the way we see ourselves and others. Regardless of what is going on inside of us, sometimes what happens outside of us can also be responsible for the problems in our lives.
She is a Registered Clinical Social Worker as well as a Marriage and Family Therapist. May has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Calgary.
For the past 11 years, May has practiced as a therapist focused on eating disorders and general mental health with individuals, couples, families, and groups. She has served as a Program Consultant in eating disorders advising and educating the community and other helping professionals. She has over 20 years experience working in the field of mental health in a multitude of settings and populations.
The pandemic has impacted us all in different ways, and May has witnessed the toll it has taken on our community’s health. She started Parallel Counselling as a way to help more people, sooner. She has recently added an emotional support animal to the office named Ari (optional). He has been a wonderful addition adding even more comfort and support to the work she loves to do.
May Melnyk believes in the power of connection and community when it comes to getting through the hard stuff. She has seen firsthand that when people come together to achieve a common goal nothing can stop them. Her goal is to help families come together and move forward together.
Her approach is grounded in systemic and relational trauma therapy which acknowledges that the society we live in, intergenerational trauma, early childhood attachments amongst many other factors influence the way we see ourselves and others. Regardless of what is going on inside of us, sometimes what happens outside of us can also be responsible for the problems in our lives.
She is a Registered Clinical Social Worker as well as a Marriage and Family Therapist. May has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Calgary.
For the past 11 years, May has practiced as a therapist focused on eating disorders and general mental health with individuals, couples, families, and groups. She has served as a Program Consultant in eating disorders advising and educating the community and other helping professionals. She has over 20 years experience working in the field of mental health in a multitude of settings and populations.
The pandemic has impacted us all in different ways, and May has witnessed the toll it has taken on our community’s health. She started Parallel Counselling as a way to help more people, sooner. She has recently added an emotional support animal to the office (optional). His name is Ari and he has been a wonderful addition to the office adding even more comfort and support to the work she loves to do.
