Kim Vandepeear, MSC Marriage and Family Therapy, RCC
Kim is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with 25 years' experience working as a Therapist and
Case Manager. She has a passion for helping individuals, couples and families navigate
transitions and create lives and relationships characterized by understanding, hope and growth.
Her extensive understanding of Acquired Brain Injury and Persistent Concussion symptoms is
informed by the hundreds of clients she has had the privilege of partnering with on their journeys.
She is passionate about helping these clients to revision their lives so that brain injury is only
one important part of who they are and not their whole story. Kim is also a wonderful resource
for families learning to advocate for themselves effectively.
Kim grew up in St. Albert, Alberta and completed her Bachelor of Arts with Distinction,
Psychology, from the University of Alberta. In 1997, she completed her Master of Science in
Marriage and Family Therapy from Loma Linda University. She moved to Calgary, AB in 1998 to
work as the Family Therapist for the Youth Justice Resource Program in Strathmore and area.
Kim has additional training in Strategic Family Mediation, Suicide Intervention, Youth Justice
Alternative Measures, Peer Support, Attachment Theory and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Kim moved to Kelowna, BC in 1999 and started her Acquired Brain Injury career with the
Central Okanagan Brain Injury Society (now Brain Trust Canada) as a Pediatric and Adult Case
Manager and Family Support Coordinator. In addition to providing individual, couple and family
therapy, she facilitated ABI education and cognitive functioning groups, caregiver support and
education groups, and co-created Choosing Change, a cognitive behavioral psychoeducational
group to facilitate adjustment after ABI. She presented at both the Pacific Coast Brain Injury
Conference and the Naramata Brain Injury Conference on topics such as relationships, dating,
self-esteem and addictions after brain injury. Kim has worked with a wide range of of rehabilitation
professionals, including OT, PT, SLP, Physiatry, Psychiatry, Social Work and Nursing to provide
holistic care.
In 2004, Kim moved to Kamloops, BC, to start her family and to work with Interior Health as they
assumed responsibility for Brain Injury Services from the Provincial Brain Injury Program. She
was also an Okanagan College instructor in the Community Brain Injury Certificate Program.
Her role as a Neuro-Rehab Case Coordinator in Interior Health West involved care planning,
support and education, advocacy, curriculum development, and behavioral intervention planning
for people with ABI. She is experienced in both community and acute care settings and has
facilitated discharge planning and established individualized community supports to maximize
independence. She has a unique understanding of the secondary effects of brain injury,
including relationship loss, role changes, addictions, mood and anxiety issues, return to work or
school challenges, grief and goal redefinition.
Kim is currently in the process of becoming a Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS) through the
Brain Injury Association of America. When she is not working she loves to hike with her
husband and dog, travel with friends, SUP (stand-up paddle board), watch her sons play soccer,
visit Sun Peaks, bake muffins, read, or watch movies. She also spends too much time on
Instagram, loves a good meme, is passionate about chai lattes and eats too much chocolate!
People who work with Kim will be welcomed with compassion and provided opportunities to feel
valuable and hopeful. She is grateful to partner with her clients to help them create lives with
purpose and self-efficacy. She believes that people can continue to learn and grow regardless
of their brain injury outcomes.