Best Self Forward – Individual & Couples Therapy

Services

Offering Online & In-Person Therapy and Couples Counselling

Individual Therapy

BEST Self Forward

Often, past trauma and adverse life experiences leave us feeling stuck and unable to move forward in life. You can see your potential but not reach it.  You feel hopeless and defeated.  I will help you process unhealed trauma and guide you to deeper self-awareness as we work together.  Learn the skills and gain the inner strength to break down the internal barriers that stop you from creating the life you desire and deserve. You are more powerful than you know!

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Couples Therapy

BEST Relationships Forward

Romantic relationships are among the most rewarding connections.  However, not knowing how to define and convey your wants and needs and accept and work with one another’s differences can leave you feeling frustrated, resentful, sexually dissatisfied, and disconnected from one another.  Years of experience and training have taught me what is required to make relationships last. I am happy to teach what I have learned to help you bring back the spark in your relationship.

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Proactive Couples Therapy

BEST Start

The connection between our upbringing, childhood experiences and trauma and our adult relationships is widely researched.  Proactive couples therapy takes into account that most of us come into these relationships at a disadvantage and gives you the awareness and the skills you need to communicate effectively, resolve conflict efficiently and strengthen your relationship.  Make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself. Learn how to create a healthy, thriving relationship together instead.

 

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Credentials

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), Comprehensive Family Mediator (FMC), and sexual health and trauma-informed practitioner specializing in couples counselling.

What I can help you with

  • Rekindle the passion in your relationship;
  • Feel heard when communicating;
  • Manage conflict in a way that develops deep intimacy;
  • Feel connected and safe to speak openly about intimate issues; or
  • Uncouple in a loving way.

How I can help you

I use an integrative approach to therapy, drawing from different theoretical models and therapeutic tools to suit your needs. Although my training in the Bader-Pearson Developmental Model for Couples Therapy provides the foundation for my practice, I continuously drew upon my training and knowledge in the Gottman Method, Internal Family Systems Theory, Sex Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Transactional Analysis and more. This allows me to apply a variety of life-changing interventions to my clients based on their needs and what works best for them.
My mediation training plays a big role in helping me assess where my clients struggle in their interactions. I will work with you to identify old patterns and habits that hold you back from being an effective and empowering communicator. I will provide you with the skills and tools needed to clearly articulate your needs and resolve conflict effectively.

How You Can Help Yourself

  • Attend a consultation appointment to make sure we are a good fit
  • Agree to commit to the work
  • Show up willing and open to challenging yourself
  • Follow through on your assignments and homework
  • Put what you learn into practice and learn from your mistakes
  • Be fully invested and engaged in your self-discovery, recovery, and growth
  • Don’t give up on yourself
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Maha Elias sitting in an arm chair holding a cup of tea
Maha Elias, R.C.C., C.C.C, F.M.C.

"Learn to be facilitators of change in your relationship."

I Can Help You

  • Revive your connection with each other
  • Rekindle the passion in your relationship
  • Learn to communicate in ways that lead to deeper intimacy and connection
  • Develop an environment of safety to explore what matters most to you
  • Break free from past trauma and ineffective patterns and roadblocks that keep you stuck
  • Learn how to show up in your life with your best self forward
About me

Credentials

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC), Comprehensive Family Mediator (FMC), and sexual health and trauma-informed practitioner specializing in couples counselling.

I Can Help You

  • Rekindle the passion in your relationship;
  • Feel heard when communicating;
  • Manage conflict in a way that develops deep intimacy;
  • Feel connected and safe to speak openly about intimate issues; or
  • Uncouple in a loving way.

How You Can Help Yourself

  • Attend a consultation appointment to make sure we are a good fit
  • Agree to commit to the work
  • Show up willing and open to challenging yourself
  • Follow through on your assignments and homework
  • Put what you learn into practice and learn from your mistakes
  • Be fully invested and engaged in your self-discovery, recovery, and growth
  • Don’t give up on yourself
Read More

What Makes Best Self Forward the Way Forward?

“Maha is an exceptional counsellor, and has helped our relationship immeasurably. She is extremely professional and we feel very comfortable discussing sensitive aspects of our relationship with her. she has an ability to pinpoint the precise issue we are dealing with in the moment and help us work through it. We would highly recommend her services to anyone.” - D & S. S

“Maha is a phenomenal counselor. I have tried therapy multiple times and have never felt like it was 'successful' or that it made a difference. With Maha, I can list the ways that things are improved, tangible real world outcomes and I feel like, even though there is still more work to be done, Maha will get us there.” - Amy B.

“It has been a great pleasure to sit and work with Maha. She has challenged me to approach issues with a different perspective as well as providing reassurance and support where I needed it. I am forever grateful for the growth and personal development that Maha has helped me navigate so far!” - R.U.

“Maha’s approach has challenged me in a gentle and reflective way, which has allowed me to discover and recognize my strength and resilience. She’s helped me reframe thoughts and given me a unique and positive perspective from areas in my life that I used to look at as weak and damaged. Maha makes me feel safe to be vulnerable. I have laughed and cried (sometimes at the same time) and no matter the topic or issue we are covering (and there have been A LOT) I leave our sessions feeling heard, understood and with a path forward.” - C.M.

“Maha Elias is truly incredible, I am so so grateful for everything she does. I have never met such an attentive, caring, passionate, and genuinely interested counsellor.”- Jake H.

“Maha is excellent as a couples counsellor. We have seen several others and she is by far the most skilled and helpful we have ever had. Very grateful for this opportunity through our work.” - Mandy & Dave

“Maha Elias is fantastic. Friendly, empathetic, and helpful, she's lovely to talk to and has helped me reach some useful insights about myself.” - Jamie M.

"Maha gave us the tools to recognize and manage our triggers and understand how they were clouding our communication. She helped decipher what each of us was trying to express, vs. how it was being received. We now have the skills to handle difficult conversations before our emotions get the best of us, allowing each other the space to bring our best selves to the table. Maha is extremely skilled in her craft and we cannot praise her enough for the integral part she played in where our relationship stands today!" - I & F

Names of participants may have been changed to protect their privacy and to insure confidentiality.