“I believe that growth and transformation are always possible. I strive to provide a safe and compassionate interpersonal space where clients can explore challenges and create the life that they want.”

WORK

• Clear Counselling
• Physician: Family Practice, Psychiatry, Emergency, Oncology, Pathology: South Africa

EDUCATION

• Registered Clinical Counsellor #18678
• Canadian Certified Counsellor #10005150
• Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology: Adler University
• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB): University of Pretoria, South Africa

ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

• Afrikaans

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Trauma & Emotional Overwhelm

• Anger Management
• Anxiety
• Burnout
• Critical Incident Stress
• Depression
• Emotional Overwhelm
• Professional Exhaustion
• PTSD
• Sleep Difficulties
• Stress and Trauma
• Suicide (Ideation & Safety Focused)
• Trauma

Relationships

• Communication
• Connection
• Conflict
• Couples Counselling (Gottman Method)
• Divorce & Separation
• Family Conflict
• Family of Origin Issues
• Intimacy Challenges
• Sex
• Marriage Counselling
• Rebuilding Trust
• Relationship Conflict

High Performance & Ambition

• Concentration Challenges
• Creativity Blocks
• Emotional Regulation Under Pressure
• Focus
• Life Balance for High Performers
• Perfectionism
• Performance Anxiety
• Performance Enhancement
• Procrastination
• Self Criticism

Medical & Life Transitions

• Cancer Care
• Career Issues
• Caregiver Stress
• Cross Cultural Adjustment
• Death and Dying
• Emotional Support
• Grief and Loss
• Illness Adjustment
• Immigration Stress
• Life Transitions
• Medical Trauma
• Personal Growth
• Recovery After Medical Procedures
• Self Actualization
• Self Esteem
• Sex and Gender Issues

Elder Concerns

• Aging Related Emotional Challenges
• End of Life Reflection
• Illness and Declining Health
• Loneliness
• Loss of Independence
• Meaning Making in Later Life
• Senior Related Life Concerns

APPROACHES USED

• Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Existential Therapy
• Feminist Approach
• Gestalt Therapy
• Gottman
• Humanistic Approach
• Mindfulness Based Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• Solution Focused Therapy

Alita Dommann provides individual, couples, and family counselling with over 20 years of combined experience in medicine and psychotherapy.

She is an Adlerian Psychotherapist, Registered Clinical Counsellor, Canadian Certified Counsellor, and a former physician (non practicing in Canada), specializing in:

• • Trauma, PTSD & Critical Incident Recovery
    EMDR informed support for trauma, emotional overwhelm, and high stress events, integrating her medical background and emergency psychiatry experience.

• • Couples Counselling & Relationship Repair (Gottman Method)
    Strengthening communication, rebuilding connection, and interrupting conflict cycles with evidence based Gottman Method interventions.

• • High Performance & Complex Life Transitions
    Supporting athletes, executives, creatives, and individuals navigating medical, identity, or high pressure transitions with a blend of performance psychology and clinical insight.

Her background spans psychiatry, emergency medicine, oncology and family practice, experience that gives her a rare depth of understanding when clients are navigating complexity, responsibility, or high pressure lives.

Clients often describe her as warm, direct, efficient, and deeply human. Her style is direct but gentle, grounded but flexible. She asks the hard questions with care, and clients appreciate her ability to hold complexity, emotional, physical, and relational, with steadiness and skill.

Her belief is that “Growth and transformation are always possible. I strive to provide a safe and compassionate interpersonal space where clients can explore challenges and create the life that they want.”

Areas of Focus Include

Her work includes working with the following kinds of concerns:

Trauma & Emotional Overwhelm

• Anxiety
• Trauma
• Burnout
• Exhaustion
• Depression
• Critical Incident Stress
• Emotional Overwhelm
• High Stress Occupations
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Relationships

• Sex
• Intimacy
• Connection
• Communication
• Family Dynamics
• Relationship Conflict
• Couples Counselling Using the Gottman Method

High Performance & Ambition

Alita supports clients who want clarity, momentum, and a therapist who can keep pace.

Drawing from her experience as a high performance master’s athlete, she helps athletes, executives, and creatives strengthen:

• Focus
• Recovery
• Resilience
• Emotional Regulation
• Identity During Transitions

Medical & Life Transitions

Informed by her years as a physician, she supports clients navigating:

• Identity Shifts
• Caregiver Stress
• Medical Trauma
• Illness and Recovery
• Complex Lived Experiences

Elder Concerns

Grounded in her graduate research on Vancouver seniors, she works with:

• Aging
• Illness
• Health
• Meaning
• Loneliness
• Social Connections
• End of Life Reflection

How She Works

Alita integrates clinical skill with warmth, respect, and collaboration. Her approach includes:

• CBT + Adlerian Psychotherapy for Insight, Strategy, and Meaningful Change
• EMDR for Trauma and Critical Incident Recovery
• Gottman Method (Level 1) for Couples Wanting Stronger Communication and Connection
• Medical Insight from Years in Clinical Practice
• Performance Psychology for Focus, Resilience, and Recovery

Why Clients Choose Her

Clients choose Alita because she brings both heart and rigor. She doesn’t posture or pretend to have all the answers; instead, she offers a steady therapeutic partnership rooted in clarity, respect, and meaningful change.

Therapy with Alita is focused, collaborative, and transformative. She creates a space where clients can be honest, challenged, supported, and understood.

If You’re Ready

Whether you’re struggling, rebuilding, curious, or reaching for something more, Alita offers a relationship grounded in skill, insight, and genuine care.

Therapy can be hard work, and it can also be transformative. You don’t have to do it alone.

Email now to make a change for you.