Samantha McDaniel
MACP | RCC
Your child isn't being complicated.
Their big emotions are trying to tell you something.
I'm Samantha McDaniel, a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) in Abbotsford. I specialize in working with emotionally intense children (ages 6-14) and their families—kids whose big feelings run the show and parents who are running on empty. I also work with couples who keep wounding each other without understanding why.
Before becoming a therapist, I spent 10+ years as a Learning Support Services Teacher with middle-school aged kids—the ones labeled "impossible," "defiant," "too much." That's where I learned what stuck with me: when a child acts out, their behaviour is communicating something their words can't express. Your child isn't broken. Their nervous system is overwhelmed.
I've also coached competitive basketball for years. The court taught me about pressure, recovery, and what it takes to show up when you'd rather quit. I bring that same energy to therapy: practical, direct, focused on what works. No therapy jargon. Just real understanding and real skills.
My Approach? Your Child Isn't a Problem—
Their Nervous System Is Overwhelmed!
I work from an attachment-based, trauma-informed framework focused on nervous system regulation. For parents: You'll learn to stay calm when your child can't and understand what's happening in their brain during meltdowns.
For children: They'll learn to recognize when emotions are getting big—before the explosion. For couples: You'll understand the attachment wounds driving your conflict and learn to repair instead of letting resentment build.
I don't do cold, clinical therapy. I remember what you tell me. I challenge you without judgment. And I genuinely believe change is possible—but it takes work, practice, and someone in your corner who gives a damn.
$160.00
$140.00
6+
AGES
FAMILY/COUPLES
INDIVIDUAL
RCC
#25083
MAYBE YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE...
1
You’re a Young Person (Ages 6–12) With Feelings That Feel Too Big to Handle?
Your emotions come on fast and strong. One small thing can turn into yelling, crying, throwing things, or shutting down completely. Grown-ups keep telling you to “calm down,” but you don’t know how.
School feels hard—especially transitions, rules, noise, or when things don’t go as expected. Sometimes you feel misunderstood, like you’re “too much” or “bad,” even though you’re trying your best.You might feel anxious, angry, overwhelmed, or exhausted from holding it all together.
Key Specialty Areas:
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Helping kids understand their big feelings and why they happen
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Teaching body-based calming skills that actually work in the moment
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Supporting emotional regulation, impulse control, and frustration tolerance
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Creating a space where kids feel safe, seen, and not “in trouble”
You Might Be Experiencing:
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Meltdowns at school or home that feel impossible to stop
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Big reactions that surprise even you
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Trouble calming down once emotions take over
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Feeling different from other kids or worried you’re “doing it wrong”
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Adults focusing on behaviour instead of how hard things feel inside
2
You’re a Parent of an Emotionally Intense Child (Ages 6–12)—And You’re Exhausted
Your child’s emotions run the household. Mornings are battles. School drop-off is stressful.
Homework ends in tears & shutdowns. Bedtime drags on for hours. You’ve tried reward charts, consequences, calm-down strategies, parenting books—nothing seems to stick. The school calls often. Other parents don’t get it. You love your child deeply, but you're overwhelmed, second-guessing yourself, & running on empty.
Key Specialty Areas:
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Understanding your child’s nervous system & emotional wiring
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Helping parents stay regulated when their child can’t
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Supporting kids with ADHD, anxiety, autism, or high emotional sensitivity
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Navigating school concerns, accommodations, and advocacy
You Might Be Experiencing:
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Frequent calls or meetings with the school
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Judgment from others who think it’s a “parenting issue”
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Guilt, worry, and constant self-doubt
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Feeling like you’re always managing crises
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Isolation because other families don’t understand your reality
3
You’re Dealing With Communication & Conflict Issues That Are Impacting Your Relationships
Emotions don’t stay contained anymore. Conflict escalates quickly. You might feel out of control when angry, shut down when overwhelmed, or terrified by thoughts of self-harm, aggression, or emotional explosions.
Maybe you’re a teen or adult who doesn’t feel safe with your own emotions. Maybe you’re a couple stuck in painful cycles of pursuit and withdrawal. You know something needs to change, but you don’t want to be judged, blamed, or minimized.
Key Specialty Areas:
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Supporting emotional regulation when intensity feels unmanageable
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De-escalation and safety planning when emotions cross into risk
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Understanding how nervous systems drive conflict in couples and families
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Emotion-Focused Therapy for repairing connection and trust
You Might Be Experiencing:
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Fights that escalate quickly or shut down completely
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Fear of hurting yourself or someone else during emotional overwhelm
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Feeling disconnected, misunderstood, or unsafe in relationships
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Repeated relationship patterns that never truly resolve
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Worry that things are “too much” for other therapists to handle
WHO I WORK WITH
Youth 6+ Navigating Identity, Trauma & foundational challenges
You're in elementary or middle school. Your emotions explode fast—anger that feels like fire, anxiety that makes your stomach hurt, meltdowns that you can't control.Maybe you cry easily. Maybe you hit or kick when you're upset. Maybe you shut down completely and can't talk.
School is hard because your brain won't focus when your body feels this way. Kids at school don't understand. Teachers send you to the principal's office. Your parents are worried but you don't know how to explain what's happening inside you. You're tired of being called 'the bad kid' or 'too sensitive' when you're actually just struggling.
Parents / Guardians of an Emotionally Intense Child
Your child's big emotions are running your household. Morning routine is a battle. Getting them to school feels impossible some days. Homework ends in tears, throwing things, or complete shutdown. Bedtime takes hours. You've tried sticker charts, reward systems, consequences, timeouts, deep breathing—nothing sticks.
The school calls constantly. Other parents' kids don't act like this. Your child might have ADHD, anxiety, autism, or they're just wired more intensely than other kids. You love them fiercely but you're exhausted, overwhelmed, and questioning everything you're doing. You worry: Will they be okay? Am I making it worse?
Families and Couples Stuck in Painful Patterns
You're stuck in a loop. One of you pursues, the other withdraws. Arguments escalate or shut down completely. Trust is broken. Intimacy feels distant. You both feel misunderstood. You're wondering if it's fixable or if you're just delaying the inevitable. But you're here, which means part of you still hope. Understanding your patterns (pursue-withdraw, fight-flight-freeze, control-avoid).
Learning what your nervous systems are doing during conflict. Rebuilding trust after betrayal, affairs, or repeated hurt. Communication skills that work when you're triggered. Repairing the relationship after big fights (because you will mess up, and repair matters more than perfection).
WHAT WE'LL WORK ON TOGETHER:
Youth 6+ Identity & Emotional Regulation
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Understanding what's happening in their bodies when emotions get big.
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Building age-appropriate skills to calm down (breathing, grounding, movement).
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Learning to name feelings instead of just reacting.
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Processing tough stuff (divorce, trauma, loss, bullying). Building confidence, self-understanding, and self-worth.
Supporting Youth Through Identity, Anxiety, and Trauma
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Understanding your child's nervous system so their behaviour makes sense (Why do they melt down over small things?).
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Building YOUR ability to stay calm when they can't. Learning how to help your child calm down without forcing it.
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Communication that connects instead of escalating. Navigating schools, IEPs, and teacher meetings.
Understanding Your Family Dynamics & Relationships
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Breaking cycles of escalation.
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Creating safety when everyone's emotions are intertwined.
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Repairing relationships after big fights or ruptures.
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Family communication that works for younger children.
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Building new patterns & systems to support one-another
Relationship Dynamics and Communication Patterns
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Understanding your attachment style and how it shows up in your relationship
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Identifying the deeper roots of recurring conflicts (they're rarely about the dishes or the kids' bedtime)
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Learning how to communicate needs, boundaries, and emotions without defensiveness or shutdown
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Rebuilding emotional and physical intimacy when connection feels distant
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Co-parenting effectively, whether together or separated, while prioritizing your children's health.
Risk Assessment and
Youth Safety Planning
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Risk assessment and safety planning (I'm trained in violent risk threat assessment and suicide prevention).
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De-escalation strategies for when emotions reach crisis level.
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Understanding the difference between risk and dysregulation.
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Building relational safety when fear is running the show.
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Crisis intervention with both urgency and care (not just protocols, but actual human connection).
Youth 12–18 Navigating Life Transitions, & Mental Health:
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Supporting teens through identity development, emotional regulation, and increasing independence
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Helping youth navigate school stress, academic pressure, peer dynamics, and social expectations
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Building coping skills for anxiety, low mood, overwhelm, and emotional shutdown
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Making sense of big life transitions (new schools, family changes, breakups, moving, growing up)
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Creating a safe, non-judgmental space where teens can talk honestly about what’s actually going on
THINGS I WON'T DO WHEN YOU WORK WITH ME:
I won’t treat you like a problem. You’re not broken—your reactions make sense in context. This is a shame-free space focused on understanding, not labeling.
I won’t blame you for being overwhelmed.
Parenting & relationships are hard. I won’t shame you for struggling or expect perfection.
I won’t minimize what you’re going through.
Big emotions, burnout, and fear deserve to be taken seriously—even when they don’t look “neat.”
I won’t disappear when things get hard. I stay steady in intensity, conflict, & uncertainty. This is work I trained for.
I won't treat you like a diagnosis. You're a person, not a collection of symptoms. I don't do cold or clinical therapy.
My Approach?
CREATING STRONG & HONEST FOUNDATIONS
My approach starts with honesty and respect. I’m direct, I’ll tell you what I’m noticing, and I’ll ask the hard questions—because avoiding the truth doesn’t help anyone. I won’t tiptoe around patterns that aren’t serving you, but I also won’t shame you for being human. This is a space where you can be real without being judged.
I use humour intentionally—not to minimize pain, but to create safety. Some of the hardest conversations happen when we can breathe, soften, and laugh at the absurdity of being human. That mix of seriousness and lightness helps people open up, especially teens who are tired of being talked at instead of listened to.
I meet people in their actual world. With teens, that means understanding school pressure, social media, gaming, sports, friendships, and the constant noise of comparison. With parents, it means drawing from years in the classroom and knowing what behaviour looks like in real life—not just in theory. With couples and families, it means recognizing what’s normal conflict, what’s a stuck pattern, and what’s a real red flag.
I believe movement and teamwork matter. Sports can be powerful teachers of resilience, identity, failure tolerance, and showing up for others. If your teen plays basketball, soccer, hockey, or another team sport, we’ll use that language. If they don’t, we’ll find their version of connection, effort, and growth.
This work is about helping you move from overwhelmed to grounded, from reactive to understood, from feeling alone in it to knowing you have support. We go at your pace, start where you are, and focus on what actually helps—not what looks good on paper.
I DRAW FROM SEVERAL APPROACHES
Attachment-Based Theory
How you learned to connect (or protect yourself) in early relationships shapes everything. We'll map your patterns and build secure attachments at any age.
Trauma Informed Practice
Trauma changes your brain and nervous system. We work with your body's responses, not against them.
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Your emotions aren't the problem. They're trying to tell you something. When you learn to listen instead of fighting them, they become guides.
Nervous System (Polyvagal Theory)
Understanding fight-flight-freeze-fawn responses. Learning how to help your child calm down. Building your capacity to stay calm when emotions are high.
Narrative Therapy
The stories you tell yourself matter. We'll examine which stories serve you and which ones need rewriting.
Crisis Intervention & Risk Assessment
Trained in violent risk threat assessment and suicide prevention. I take safety seriously and respond with both urgency and care.
WHO I AM—BACKGROUND
DEGREES & EDUCATION
Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology
Yorkville University
PROFFESIONAL REGISTRATIONS
Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC)
# 25083
Bachelor of Education (Special Ed.)
Trinity Western University
Bachelor of General Studies
Trinity Western University
SPECIALIZED TRAININGS
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Trauma-Informed Therapy
Violence Threat Risk Assessment
Suicide Risk Assessment
I became a therapist because I worked in special education and saw how the system fails kids. Brilliant, creative, deeply feeling kids getting labeled as 'behaviour problems' when what they actually needed was someone to understand their nervous system.
Parents getting blamed for their kid's struggles when they were doing everything they could with zero support. I watched youth mental health decline year after year while schools stayed focused on test scores instead of emotional literacy.
I also watched kids on sports teams transform. The ones who were 'problems' in class became leaders on the court. They learned to regulate under pressure, trust their teammates, and get back up after failure. Sports taught them what therapy takes years to teach: resilience, identity, belonging, and the value of showing up even when it's hard.
That's why I do this work. Because teens deserve adults who take them seriously. Because parents deserve support, not judgment. Because couples deserve to understand why they keep hurting each other so they can actually stop. Because mental health literacy should be taught in schools alongside math and reading. And because every kid should have access to something (sports, art, music, community) that teaches them who they are and what they're capable of.
I've navigated my own trauma, loss, and relationship struggles. I know what it's like to feel too much, shut down completely, and wonder if something's fundamentally wrong with you. I know what it's like to fight the same patterns over and over before finally understanding what's underneath them. That lived experience makes me a better therapist. Not because I have all the answers, but because I know what the work actually feels like.
When you work with me you'll find: A therapist who actually remembers what you told them last session. Who laughs with you, challenges you, and won't let you disappear into shame. Who believes your struggles are real even when other people minimize them. Who knows that change is possible, but it takes work, practice, and somebody in your corner who genuinely gives a damn.
You won't leave sessions wondering what we're even doing here. You'll have clarity on what's happening, why it's happening, and what to do about it. You'll build skills that actually transfer outside the therapy room. And you'll feel like you can finally exhale because someone gets it.
SAMANTHA MCDANIEL