About Counselling & Health Advocacy by Jenna Reed-Côté
Hello! I'm Jenna Reed-Côté, MSW, RSW
I became a therapist because I wanted to be one of the helping professionals I needed growing up with chronic health issues.
As a Registered Social Worker and therapist, I specialize in supporting adults living with chronic illness and disability, including those navigating chronic pain, medical trauma, accessibility barriers, advocacy fatigue, and major life changes related to health.
Living with a disability or chronic illness can be exhausting. Sometimes you're managing symptoms. Sometimes you're managing healthcare. Sometimes you're managing other people's opinions about both.
My goal is to create a calm, collaborative space where you feel heard, understood, and supported—not judged or talked over.
As someone with lived experience of chronic illness and disability, I understand that sometimes the hardest part is not your condition—it's navigating a world that was not built with you in mind.
Together, we'll explore what is getting in the way, identify what is already helping, and build tools that actually fit your life.
Because if a strategy only works in theory, it is not much use on a Tuesday afternoon.
Outside the therapy room, I have been an ambassador with the Rick Hansen Foundation since 2017, speaking with schools and communities across Canada about accessibility and inclusion.
In 2021, I led the Vancouver team participating in AccessNow's accessibility mapping project, which contributed to the largest accessibility survey ever conducted in Canada.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Before booking a session, please make sure that your health benefits cover services provided by a registered social worker (which I am).
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Ontario and British Columbia, Canada.
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I only provide virtual services.
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An hour-long session is $135.
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I have my Master of Social Work degree from Dalhousie University (2018) and my Bachelor of Social Work degree from University of Victoria (2012).
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If you have navigated the healthcare system, you know it’s not easy!
Whether you’re wondering if you’re allowed to speak up, how you’re supposed to manage your symptoms or medication, the anxiety of preparing for appointments or procedures/surgery - not only are you not alone, you are the EXPERT on you!
I can help you process what can be an overwhelming process - mind, body and spirit - how to find your voice to communicate with your healthcare team, family and friends and find ways to reframe and get creative to cope.
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No, I also support clients with anxiety and depression.
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I find it important to acknowledge that your family and even close friends can also “have” your diagnosis.
How? Why? They are on this journey with you but are experiencing it from a different vantage point. If you are having surgery, your family and friends, who are there supporting you, are also watching you navigate it and - it ain’t easy to watch someone you love going through pain.
Your support system also needs support, though it may look a little (or a lot) different. They more they can get their own unique support, the better able they can be to support you.