Sonia Stewart and Parker from Seeking Sunrise Therapy
We sat down with Sonia Stewart, founder of Seeking Sunrise Therapy in Sechelt, BC, to talk about how her experience in sustainable agriculture and community programs led her to clinical counselling with her golden retriever, Parker, by her side.
When Sonia Stewart opened her private practice, she wanted to create a space that felt welcoming and approachable. Her goal was to offer care in ways that met people where they were, whether in a cozy office, walking through the forest, or sitting beside her golden retriever, Parker.
Meet Parker
Even before starting her master’s degree in counselling, Sonia knew she wanted a therapy dog by her side as a part of this work. So when she brought Golden Retriever puppy Parker home, she was already imagining the work they’d do together. “I told the breeder that I wanted him for therapeutic work,” she says. “He was chosen for his calm personality, but also because he just loves people.”
Parker went through an assessment with Pets and Friends, a volunteer therapy program based in Vancouver, but Sonia completed all of his training herself through classes and practice. Once he passed his therapy dog evaluation and earned his AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate, he was able to volunteer in hospitals and community spaces. He even made an appearance in a PetSmart advertisement, which Sonia laughs about now. “He’s had some experience on camera, but his real gift is how he shows up for people.”
Now, Parker is a regular part of clinic life at Seeking Sunrise. In the office, he’ll quietly join clients on the couch or rest his head in their lap in hard moments, and on walk-and-talk sessions he follows alongside them as a steady, reassuring presence.
Sonia has seen how powerful Parker can be, especially for people coping with grief or anxiety. “Parker offers comfort in ways I can’t,” she explains. “He gives people a sense of safety. Sometimes they’ll cry, hug him, or just sit quietly with him. It’s such a gentle form of connection.”
Beyond comfort, Parker brings a wonderfully goofy and loving energy into the room. He’s known for his “head smushes” (where he presses his face or chest into clients during tender moments), his unsolicited sloppy kisses, and perfectly timed snores or happy growls that often bring levity into heavy sessions. These small, honest gestures help clients feel grounded, supported, and less alone.
Sonia recalls a time when, in the middle of a session with lots of tears, Parker let out a huge burp that softened the heaviness and brought a bit of joy back into the room.
Finding sustainability in the work
Starting a private practice so soon after graduation wasn’t the most traditional path, but Sonia knew it was the right one for her.
“In a small community like Sechelt, there aren’t many options,” she says. “You can work for the health authority, or you can create something of your own.”
Going independent also allowed her to design a practice that felt sustainable for her. As someone who identifies as neurodivergent, movement and time in nature are vital parts of her own wellbeing. “The work I do can be heavy,” she explains. “Being outdoors and moving helps me stay grounded so I can keep showing up for my clients.”
What shapes the heart of Sonia’s practice
Before she entered the mental health field, Sonia worked in sustainable agriculture and land-based community programs, creating outdoor programs with Indigenous and BIPOC communities and exploring how working with the land could support both physical and emotional healing.
Her understanding of land-based healing is also deeply personal. Sonia shared that her family has been touched by mental health and suicide, and those experiences have influenced the ways she shows up to this work.
A central person in that story is her aunt Katie, who recently passed away from dementia and had lived through the unimaginable loss of all three of her daughters, two of whom died by suicide.
Every day, Sonia shared, her aunt tended to her garden, speaking to her daughters as though they were right beside her, staying close to the earth in a way that helped her carry her grief. Witnessing that process cultivated Sonia’s belief in how deeply the land can hold people in hard times, and that understanding continues to guide her practice.
“That experience shaped how I see therapy,” she says. “Healing doesn’t always happen in a chair, in front of a computer, or across from a stranger. Sometimes it happens while moving, breathing, and reconnecting with nature.”
Today, she holds her aunt’s strength, humour, and relationship with nature close, and it remains at the heart of her work. Sonia hopes to reach the people who might feel unseen or unsure about seeking help. “If I can connect with even one person who feels like they have nowhere left to turn, then it’s worth it,” she says.
Creating a different kind of space
For Sonia, the land isn’t just a backdrop to therapy; it’s an active partner in the work she does with her clients. The forest and ocean are both part of her therapeutic toolkit and informs how she gives back. Sonia donates a portion of her practice’s revenue to Swiya Farms, an Indigenous-led restorative agriculture project that provides fresh produce to Elders, families in the community, and hospital programs.
“It didn’t feel right to be on this land and not give back,” Sonia explains. “The work they’re doing, healing the land and nourishing the community, reflects what I hope to do in my own way through therapy.”
When clients visit Seeking Sunrise in-person, they quickly notice that it doesn’t feel like a clinical experience. Sonia believes that therapy should feel welcoming, not intimidating, so she intentionally designed the space to feel warm and relaxed, with a make-your-own tea station, fidget tools, and yes, a little golden retriever fur.
For Sonia, being real is part of creating safety. Humour, honesty, authenticity, shared memes, the occasional expletive, and lots of laughter all show up in her sessions. She believes these natural human expressions belong in the room and help clients feel seen rather than analyzed.
“Therapy can include tears, but it can also include laughter. Both have their place.” Sonia finds that this openness helps her clients feel at ease, especially those who might have avoided therapy in the past.
Many of her clients appreciate outdoor sessions, particularly if they’ve had negative experiences in more traditional settings. “For some, the idea of sitting face-to-face in a clinical room is overwhelming,” she explains. “Being outside or walking side-by-side can feel safer. It’s still therapy, just in a different form.”
She recalls a recent kayak session with a client where a family of seals followed them for almost two hours, something she had never seen before. It felt as if the land and water had come together to support her client during one of the lowest points in her life, offering a kind of care that words couldn’t. Experiences like this have stayed with Sonia, reinforcing her belief that healing can happen in many forms, and often in the places where people feel safest. This is the kind of care she hopes to continue offering.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DRucqMRkQTI/ ##Building with Jane
When it came time to set up her new practice, Sonia chose Jane to help her bring it to life. She had used Jane as a client and appreciated how simple everything felt from the other side of care. Setting up and using Jane as a practitioner felt just as intuitive. “I booked a startup session with someone from Jane, and they were so patient walking me through everything,” she says. “It made the whole process feel easy.”
Sonia also noticed how many of her clients on the Sunshine Coast were already familiar with Jane. “People recognize the name here. When clients see that I use Jane, they feel confident booking because it’s something they already trust,” she explains. That sense of comfort and familiarity with Jane’s name and design helps her offer the kind of experience she values most: professional, welcoming, and accessible.
Looking forward
As Sonia continues to grow her practice, she hopes to make therapy feel more approachable and connected to people’s everyday lives, one session at a time. She’s already inspiring other counsellors to think differently about what therapy can look like and to explore more creative ways to reach people in their communities.
“My hope is that more people realize therapy doesn’t have to happen in one specific way,” she says. “Whether that’s sitting with a cup of tea, walking on a trail, or kayaking on the ocean, what matters most is feeling safe enough to show up.”
Sonia believes that creating that sense of safety is what opens people up to exploring the parts of life that feel too heavy to carry alone. She aims to make therapy feel a little less intimidating and a little more human, in spaces that feel warm, grounded, and maybe a little hairy, where people can ease into the hard things at their own pace with her and Parker by their side.
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