Be Stubborn about your healing
I’m Jessica. Before becoming a therapist, I spent over six years as a paramedic. Today, I work with the people who carry everyone else through their worst days.
Is this you?
You are the one everyone counts on. On shift, in uniform, at the bedside, or at home. But lately, it takes absolutely everything you have to keep showing up.
Maybe sleep has stopped working. Maybe your fuse is shorter than it used to be, and the people you love are noticing. Maybe a call, a tour, or a shift followed you home and hasn’t left. Or maybe you’ve been managing a neurodivergent brain for years by sheer force, and the force has run out.
If any of that lands, you are in the right place. What you are carrying is incredibly heavy, and you have been carrying it for a ling time.
I work with paramedics, firefighters, police officers, dispatchers, military members, veterans, nurses, physicians, and any adult living with the weight of trauma, burnout, or neurodivergence. You won’t have to explain the job to me, or the shift work, or the dark humour that helps you through it.
My Story - Why I Began
The Birches Collective grew out of a hard-won understanding of what it takes to find your way out of he woods and into the clearing. I didn’t only learn about trauma in a classroom or from a textbook. I learned about it in the back of an ambulance.
I spent over six years as a Primary Care Paramedic, standing beside people on the worst, most chaotic days of their lives. That work taught me two things that shape every session I run. First: how much grit it takes just to show up. Second: that the human nervous system in remarkably resilient, even when it it convinced it isn’t.
On the hardest days, exhaustion sets in and the trail ahead looks endless. What helps most in those moments isn’t someone promising to “fix” you. It’s someone who will stand beside you, look you in the eye, and say: dig deep, keep going, be stubborn.
That stubborn hope is what this practice is built on.
Many people try therapy once or twice, don’t feel better, and quietly decide they are beyond help. If that is you, I will gently push back. If a therapy didn’t work before, it doesn’t mean therapy can’t work for you. It usually means the approach wasn’t right for you, or the timing wasn’t.
Hard times are a part of being human. Giving up on yourself doesn’t have to be. If you’re tired and stuck, I ask you to be stubborn about finding your own clearing.
Why I trained in this work
When I left the ambulance service, I didn’t want to be a generalist who saw some trauma clients. I wanted to focus on two specific paths: helping people safely process past events that hold them back in the present, and helping neurodivergent minds see their own strengths while building routines that actually fit them.
So, I pursued highly specialized training on top of my master’s degree.
For Trauma, I am certified as a Clinical Trauma Professional, Level 2 (CCTP-II). Level 2 focuses on the complex end of this work, trauma that built up over years rather than a single event, and the structured treatments required to navigate it. That is the backbone of my Deep Woods work, utilizing Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), and Prolonged Exposure Therapy.
For ADHD, I am an ADHD Certified Clinical Services Provider (ADHD-CCSP). This training focuses on how ADHD actually shows up across an adult life: the executive functioning, the time blindness, the shame that often rides along with it, and the practical strategies that actually help.
For Foundational Skills & Occupational Health, I wanted to ensure you have practical tools to navigate your everyday life. Healing isn’t just about deep processing; it’s about having a robust toolkit for emotional regulation and distress tolerance. I draw on extensive additional training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Emotionally-Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT). Furthermore, my specialized training in Workplace Mental Health means I understand the exact realities of occupational stress injuries, medical leaves, and return-to-work planning.
I train continually because you deserve a Guide who knows the terrain, not one who is reading the map for the first time alongside you.
Jessica Maclean, MACP, LCT-C, CCC, CCTP-II, ADHD-CCSP
MACP: Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology
LCT-C: Licensed Counselling Therapist–Candidate (Registration # LCT-C26-055, College of Counselling Therapists of New Brunswick)
CCC: Canadian Certified Counsellor (Certificate # 11250337, Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association)
CCTP-II: Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Level 2
ADHD-CCSP: ADHD Certified Clinical Services Provider
Advanced Training: Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) & Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
Additional Clinical Training in: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), DBT, CBT, Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), Prolonged Exposure, and Workplace Mental Health.
Background: Primary Care Paramedic (over 6 years)
What LCT-C means: In New Brunswick, therapists complete a period of supervised practice after their master's degree before full licensure. During this time, I practice under the clinical supervision of Monica Smyth, MA, LCT, CCC. In practice, that means an experienced clinician reviews my work regularly. It is an added layer of clinical care and safety for you.
Whether we are mapping the woods of your past or building a blueprint for your daily life, I would be honoured to walk beside you.
The Birches Collective Core Values
Absolute Safety & Dignity
For therapy to be effective, you must feel fundamentally safe. Safety means providing a judgement-free sanctuary where your dignity is fiercely protected and where the survival skills that kept you going during dark times are honoured as strength.
Bespoke Individuality
We believe there is no one-size-fits-all approach to therapy. We draw from multiple, evidence-based modalities to build a map that honours your specific nervous system, neurobiology, and goals.
Accessible Excellence (The Canopy Program)
We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to heal, regardless of their resources. This is why our clinicians reserve space for The Canopy Program, a community initiative ensuring that clients with financial barriers receive the highest-quality, specialized care with absolute dignity.
What working together actually looks like
We start with a conversation, not a deep dive. You decide what to share and when, and I will tell you honestly what I think may help.
If we do trauma work, we build steadiness first. We only turn toward the past when your nervous system feels ready. You will never be pushed, rushed, or asked to relive something for my benefit. My approach is warm, accepting, and judgement-free. Whatever you have been through, you can bring it here, and you do not have to tidy it up first.
Not sure yet? That’s entirely normal. Book a free 15-minute call. It isn’t therapy, and it isn’t a commitment. It is just fifteen minutes for you to ask questions, hear how I work, and decide for yourself.
Still have questions? Read the FAQ here