Neuroscientist provides inclusive counselling for a diverse community

Dr. Kelly Tennant, Ph.D., opened Synapse Counselling Services in January to offer rehabilitation counselling in Moose Jaw — Rehabilitation Counselling is the subdivision of the field that helps people with disabilities, neurodiversities, and all chronic health conditions.

Tennant said that she makes her office a safe space for people who have struggled to feel accepted in society.

“Anybody who feels like they identify with the label of disabled, or if they’re dealing with a chronic illness, anybody who considers themselves neurodivergent,” she explained. “I also do a lot of work with people on the LGBTQ spectrum. I take a very inclusive, very accepting stance to therapy.”

Tennant is originally from Chicago and completed her undergraduate in psychology at Northern Illinois University. For her entire career she has been interested in and worked in the areas of disability and rehabilitation.

Tenant went to Austin, Texas, and wrote her Ph.D. thesis on post-stroke neuroplasticity, studying the ability of the brain to recover and heal after damage.

She then took a research position in Victoria and married a member of the Canadian Forces.

“And I just got my Canadian citizenship after many long years,” Tennant said with a big smile. “I’m officially a dual citizen now, as of May, it’s very cool.”

Her husband’s posting to Winnipeg brought her an opportunity to work with Spinal Cord Injury Manitoba as a rehabilitation counselor.

“I worked with them for four and a half years,” Tennant said. “I did a whole bunch of masters-level counselling courses and got my Master’s Certificate in Rehabilitation Counselling.”

Her masters-level courses taught counselling within the umbrella of disability and chronic illness. She describes rehabilitation counselling as a niche in the counselling world that is especially inclusive and affirming.

“It understands the disability experience in a really deep way that a lot of the general psychology, social work counselling programs don’t really touch on.”

Her husband’s posting to 15 Wing was his last before leaving the military, and the couple have decided to call Moose Jaw their permanent home. Tennant opened Synapse Counselling in January and said things are going well.

“Maximizing quality of life is always the goal. When you live with chronic illness or disability, there’s always some things that are going to impact your quality of life that you don’t have any control over – the way your body functions, or your access to things,” Tennant said. “But even if you have a lower quality of life, that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy or you can’t live well.

“A lot of my work is building up people’s resilience, so that they’re able to get through those hard points, deal with whatever they’re dealing with, and find those moments of joy.”

Visit Dr. Tennant’s website to learn more about her approach to counselling at www.synapsecounselling.com.