Ashley Karstunen, PACFA

Ashley Karstunen is a PACFA-registered practitioner who brings a trauma-informed, depth-oriented approach to counselling and psychotherapy. He combines an array of therapeutic skills - including mindfulness and meditation teaching and somatic EFT techniques - to support people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, relationship struggles, and compassion fatigue.

Ashley works with clients on issues related to identity and intimacy, LGBT concerns, caregiving and hospice challenges, chronic illness and pain, and the emotional effects of loss and life transitions. He also addresses attachment difficulties, family of origin patterns, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and questions of life purpose.

His practice integrates person-centered, strengths-based, and motivational interviewing principles alongside solution-focused and somatic interventions, with additional training in trauma-informed depth psychotherapy and post-Jungian somatic methods. This blend aims to meet each person where they are and build practical tools for coping, resilience, and self-understanding.

Ashley emphasizes a mindful, bio-psycho-social-spiritual framework that supports release of emotional blocks and gradual reconnection with one’s values and capacities. He tailors therapy to individual goals so people can move from stuckness toward clearer thinking, greater emotional ease, and renewed personal agency.

Attachment, Client-Centered and CBT Support Online

Ashley draws on Attachment-Based Therapy to explore how early relational patterns shape current connections and emotional responses - this approach can help with relationship difficulties, intimacy concerns, and recurring attachment wounds. He also uses Client-Centered Therapy, which emphasizes empathy, acceptance, and collaboration to build a trusting therapeutic relationship and support clients as they clarify values and goals. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is another tool in his practice, offering practical strategies to identify and shift unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns that contribute to anxiety, depression, and stress.

Discovering the right combination of approaches is part of the therapeutic work. Ashley collaborates with each person to tailor techniques and interventions to their needs, preferences, and goals, adjusting the plan as progress unfolds.

Online therapy with Ashley is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to provide flexible access to care. These options make it easier to fit sessions into busy lives, maintain continuity during transitions, and keep momentum between meetings, while enabling licensed professionals to deliver consistent therapeutic support regardless of location.