McTavish Counselling sees your challenges as an opportunity to identify strengths.

Jordie McTavish

Jordie’s introduction to strengths-based psychology began through sport. As a youth and young adult, he excelled in basketball, competing in the NCAA, internationally, and for Canada. The psychological flexibility and resilience developed during these years became the foundation for his later work. After career-ending injuries, he redirected these strengths toward supporting the growth and well-being of others.

Early in his professional life, Jordie served as a graduate teaching assistant and Division I NCAA coaching assistant, while earning a Masters in Physical Education. During this time, he developed a deep appreciation for the interconnected nature of psychological, physical, social, emotional, and intellectual well-being. He later returned to Canada to teach, applying his background in physical education and youth sport administration.

Diversifying his identity has been central to Jordie’s growth. Teaching reinforced his commitment to a growth mindset—captured in the phrase “by teaching we learn.” He went on to work as a mountain bike guide, trail builder for private operations and Parks Canada, and later, after a traumatic life event, as a professional tree faller and danger-tree assessor for provincial parks and the ski industry.

Today, Jordie brings this diverse experience into a compassionate, non-judgmental, strengths-based, and evidence-informed counselling practice. His work is grounded in radical acceptance, authenticity, empathy, and a deeply held sense of hopefulness. He integrates mindfulness into sessions and focuses on fostering trauma-informed, client-centred relationships—with both self and others.

Jordie currently serves as a high school mental health counsellor in the Shuswap, in addition to working privately, where he applies a growth-mindset approach to supporting youth, teens, and adults. As a RCC with the BCACC, his practice focuses on helping clients restore their relationship with themselves and the people in their lives. Through learning to practice self-compassion, clients learn to view challenges as opportunities, transform grievances into gratitude, interrupt negative thought patterns, and nurture the parts of themselves they wish to grow.

Jordie has lived, worked, raised a family, and built a community in Salmon Arm, Utah, Idaho, and throughout southern BC. He now counsels within the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territories of the Secwepemc, Sinixt, Syilx, and Ktunaxa Nations. He is grateful to be part of the vibrant communities from the Shuswap to Revelstoke. Through times of instability, he has come to understand how grounding oneself in mental health practices supports families, strengthens homes, cultivates diverse relationships, and builds connected communities.

Jordie welcomes individuals from all walks of life into his practice. He has extensive experience working with marginalized and vulnerable populations, including people navigating systemic barriers related to culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic background. 

Committed to lifelong learning, Jordie continually engages in ongoing professional development. He is currently completing training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to further strengthen his clinical skills, ensuring his work remains thoughtful, effective, and responsive to the needs of his clients.