Communicate with more clarity
Practise brief, child-focused communication. Develop boundaries around messages, identify escalation patterns and create a more predictable way to exchange information.
Separation · Co-parenting · Family connection
A new chapter.
A steadier way
forward.
When separation becomes complicated, your family deserves thoughtful support. Make space for calmer communication, practical parenting decisions and stronger connections with your children.
With Colleen Vantol, MACP, RCC · Abbotsford & online
Room to pause. Space to reconnect.
Registered Clinical Counsellor20+ years across counselling, family support & educationIn person in Abbotsford · Online sessions
When family life feels unsettled
You don’t need every answer to take the next step.
School decisions, overnight transitions, new partners and different parenting styles can become points of conflict. Counselling offers a place to understand what is happening and develop responses that fit your family.
- 01Conversations turn into the same argument.
- 02Your child struggles with transitions between homes.
- 03You disagree about routines, school or childcare.
- 04A new relationship is changing family dynamics.
- 05Your child is hesitant about contact or counselling.
- 06You want to protect your child from adult conflict.
Support that meets your family
Less overwhelm.
More workable next steps.
We begin with your concerns, your child’s developmental needs and the relationships that matter. Support may involve individual parents, co-parents, children or parent–child sessions, depending on the agreed goals.
Make everyday life more predictable
Explore routines, handovers, holidays, school and childcare decisions. Consider work schedules, travel and your child’s needs, with clear points for reviewing how a plan is working.
Strengthen your relationship
Dyadic parent–child work supports connection through shared activities, emotional attunement and repair. Build ways to respond when your child feels worried, angry or disconnected.
Help children feel heard
Offer developmentally appropriate space to explore feelings, practise coping and make sense of family changes. Children’s experiences are heard without asking them to choose sides.
Find your footing together
Work through changing roles, sibling tensions, household expectations and loyalty pressures. Develop realistic steps toward safety, connection and belonging.
Navigate difficult decisions
Use structured, mediation-informed conversations to clarify concerns, explore options and identify shared priorities. Where family mediation is requested, its scope and suitability are established separately at intake.
How we work
Understand the pattern.
Practise a new response.
My work brings together family systems, child development and a neuro-informed understanding of stress. Interventions are chosen collaboratively and adapted for age, communication style, sensory needs and family circumstances.
What this can look like
A difficult handover becomes a predictable goodbye routine, a shared comfort item and a clear plan for the next transition.
Map the family pattern
Identify triggers, repeated conflict cycles and the ways each person responds. Explore what helps the family feel more settled and connected.
Build regulation skills
Practise grounding, paced breathing, noticing early signs of stress and taking a planned pause. Help parents support a child’s regulation while managing their own response.
Use connection and play
Bring shared play, emotion naming, reflective listening and relationship repair into parent–child sessions, with activities suited to the child’s development.
Turn concerns into a plan
Translate broad disagreements into specific routines, communication agreements and manageable goals. Consider gradual transitions and set a time to review the child’s response.
Notice what changes
Review parent observations, clinician observations and the child’s perspective when appropriate. Look for changes in transition distress, communication, connection and daily functioning.
Your counsellor
Meet Colleen Vantol
MACP · RCC · CO-FOUNDER & CLINICAL DIRECTOR
I bring over 20 years of experience across counselling, family support and education to my work with children, youth and parents. My focus includes family systems, separation, co-parenting and strengthening parent–child relationships.
I pay close attention to early childhood development, neurodivergence and the impact of ongoing conflict. My mediation and med-arb training also informs how I help people organize concerns, consider different perspectives and move toward practical decisions.
Our work is collaborative and compassionate, with room for difficult conversations and concrete skills you can use outside the counselling room.
Getting started
A thoughtful beginning.
You do not have to resolve every disagreement before reaching out. We will start by identifying the kind of support that fits.
Step 01
Connect
Book a free consultation to discuss your concerns, ask questions and explore whether the service is a good fit.
Step 02
Clarify
Review goals, consent, parenting arrangements and any relevant court orders. Agree on who participates and how information will be shared.
Step 03
Build & review
Practise skills, work toward agreed goals and review progress. Adapt the approach as your child’s and family’s needs change.
Questions you may have
Start with clarity.
Every family’s circumstances are different. The consultation helps us identify the right role and next step.
Can I begin if my co-parent will not attend?
You can enquire about individual parenting or separation support. Joint work and services involving a child require an appropriate consent process and a review of relevant parenting arrangements and orders.
Do we have to attend sessions together?
Session arrangements depend on the goals, safety and suitability of the service. Separate sessions may be appropriate. Screening includes concerns about family violence, coercion and power imbalances before joint work is considered.
What if my child resists contact with a parent?
We explore the child’s experience, developmental needs, safety and family context without assuming a single explanation. Goals are established after careful assessment; a particular contact outcome is not promised.
How do you work with younger or neurodivergent children?
Activities, language, pacing and sensory demands are adapted to the child. Parent involvement, shared play, visual supports and predictable routines may form part of the work, depending on assessed needs.
Can you help when court proceedings are underway?
Contact Colleen to discuss suitability. Relevant orders and the proposed professional role are reviewed before services begin. Counselling, mediation, assessment and arbitration involve different roles; the agreed service and any reporting expectations must be clear.
Will counselling decide our parenting or legal dispute?
Counselling supports emotional well-being, relationships and parenting skills. It does not decide legal entitlements or replace independent legal advice. Any separate mediation service requires its own clear scope and agreement.
Where are sessions offered?
Reset Wellness Collective is located at 33783 Essendene Avenue in Abbotsford, BC. In-person and online counselling options can be discussed during your consultation, including what is appropriate for your child or family.
A place to begin
Support for your family’s
next chapter.
Tell us a little about the support you are looking for. We will help you explore a thoughtful next step.
For your privacy, please keep initial enquiries brief and avoid sending sensitive family or court documents by email.