ABOUT
Leanne was born and raised in the Lower Mainland, and has lived and worked in communities across Northern and Central British Columbia. She currently resides in Victoria, where she is active in the community supporting many initiatives, having run various programs and projects supporting youth and the community at large.
Leanne holds a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology, a Bachelor of Arts in Child & Youth Care, and is a Qualified Arbitrator (Q.Arb), with numerous diplomas and certificates acquired over her 30+ years of experience in the field of mental wellness. Her work experience has spanned from group homes for youth, transition homes, working with youth in high schools and children and staff as a School District Elementary Counsellor, to over a decade with the Provincial Government in Child Protection and Child & Youth Mental Health direct service delivery and public policy. Leanne is a trained neutral child interviewer and is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors.
Leanne operates a private practice offering specialized family law clinical and reporting services including expert court testimony, family reunification, co-parenting, Hear the Child and Views of the Child Reports, and Section 211 Parenting Assessments, and hybrid and customized services. Appreciating each matter carries its’ own novelties and complexities, Leanne tailors her approach and services to each file, often developing customized assessments and reports and innovative processes based on the needs of the parties. These have included family reunification and co-parenting assessments, independent analyses or reviews, and customized reporting for family justice processes such as mediation, arbitration, or court cases involving children.
In addition, Leanne provides private counselling and skill development through Coastality, a hybrid practice she founded to offer services online (virtually) across British Columbia, and in-person at its offices located in the heart of Downtown Victoria. She is proud to have brought together a team of dedicated and highly-experienced professionals offering this integrated, multi-disciplinary hybrid service model. Please feel free to contact her or the Coastality office, or visit the Coastality website to find out more about Leanne’s specialties and areas of professional interest.
Please feel free to e-mail or fill out the contact form on this site with any enquiries you may have about the various types of services Leanne offers. For general counselling services, please visit the Coastality website directly.
Leanne Toews acknowledges that her work is primarily carried out on the unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Peoples, including the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. She further acknowledges that her work across British Columbia takes place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of many Indigenous Nations, holding respect for the enduring relationships Indigenous Peoples have with their lands and the responsibilities that accompany carrying out professional work on these territories.
General counselling services that Leanne Toews provides as a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) is done so as a member in good standing of the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC). The BCACC is a voluntary professional association that establishes standards of practice and a Code of Ethical Conduct for its members. The BCACC does not function as a dispute-resolution or review body, and does not adjudicate matters relating to fees, contracts, scope of services, scheduling, or dissatisfaction with professional opinions, reports, or outcomes rendered within an agreed upon scope of services. The BCACC does not make awards for compensation, nor does it require refunds, compel apologies, or provide civil remedies. Please visit their website by clicking on their name above to learn more about what they do and what services and options may be available to you.
Leanne Toews additionally holds professional designations and memberships with the ADR Institute of Canada (ADRIC) and the ADR Institute of British Columbia (ADRBC), which are credentialing and professional standards organizations for alternative dispute resolution practitioners. ADRIC and ADRBC similarly to the BCACC do not adjudicate client complaints, resolve contractual or fee disputes, or provide remedies such as compensation, apologies, or reversal of professional opinions or outcomes, except as may be expressly provided within a separately agreed dispute-resolution process.