About
We have been doing this work for a long time. And we love it.
Mareel Counselling was founded by Lisa Shopland-Black, a Registered Clinical Counsellor whose path to this work began not in a therapy room but in a high school classroom, and before that, as a teenager who was outraged by the misinformation and deliberate misuse of science during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
That early anger at shame, stigma, and the silencing of vulnerable communities never went away. It became a compass. Lisa volunteered with what was then Planned Parenthood BC, trained as a teacher with a focus on sex education, and spent 25 years in classrooms before completing a Master’s in Counselling. The pivot wasn't a departure; it was the natural next step for someone who had always been doing as much counselling as teaching.
Over the decades, Lisa has had the privilege of hearing countless people share their stories around sexuality, identity, abuse, and assault. It never felt like a burden. It always felt like a calling.
Where the name comes from
Growing up on the West Coast, some of Lisa's most vivid memories are of going down to the ocean at night and watching the bioluminescence, swirling her arms through the dark water and seeing it light up. Pure magic, just beneath the surface.
That image became the heart of what counselling means to her: poke gently through the surface, and you find what needs healing. There the magic lies.
Mareel is the Shetlandic word for that bioluminescence. Lisa's family has roots in Shetland, settlers to the West Coast of Canada, and the word felt like it held everything: the ocean, her ancestry, and her vision for what therapy could be.
What makes us different
Mareel is an unique combination of people. Every therapist on this team shares a deep commitment to the same things: rigorous knowledge, a genuine thirst to keep learning, and a fierce protectiveness of every client's right to their authentic gender and sexual expression.
Almost everyone Lisa has hired is someone she has taught, whether in the master’s counselling program, or in one case, in high school. She knew their intelligence, their integrity, and their clinical abilities long before they joined the team. The result is a group of women who genuinely respect each other, champion each other, and share the same ethics around the work, including the belief that therapy should be accessible to everyone.
They also show up, fully, as themselves. That's not an accident. Every therapist at Mareel has done their own work, which means they can sit steady no matter what comes into the room. The collective expertise this team holds around the science and research of sexuality is remarkable, and they share it with each other constantly.
Meet our team
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Liz Lesperance
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Accepting New Clients
Liz bring her warmth , extensive knowledge and non-judgmental attitude to all aspects of sexuality counselling .
Areas of Focus: painful sex, orgasm difficulties, erectile challenges, low desire and desire discrepancies
Individual and Relationship Counselling
Works with: Adults
Availability:
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Andriana Bergman
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Accepting New Clients
Andriana brings a background in education, domestic violence advocacy, and the private sector to counselling and has worked with children, parents, and individuals across a wide spectrum of mental health, emotional regulation, development, and relationship challenges
Areas of focus: Relationship dynamics, Sexuality and intimacy, Attachment work, Parenting and family systems, Regulation, Mental health. Healing and navigating domestic violence
Individual and relationship counselling
Works with: Adults, adolescents, and relationships
Andriana takes a limited number of sliding scale clients
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Madeleine Downey
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Accepting New Clients
Madeleine bring a profound curiosity about the human experience to the work and her background as a yoga instructor helps her create spaces that nurture self-discovery and personal evolution
Areas of Focus: relationships, codependency, sexuality and intimacy, desire and pleasure, boundaries, anxiety, self-discovery, and the impact of sexual and relational trauma.
Individual and Relationship Counselling
Works with: Adults and youth
Madeleine takes a limited number of sliding scale clients
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Nicole Beach
Masters Level Counsellor - Lower Cost
Accepting New Clients
Nicole brings a background in child, youth and family support and integrates lived experience within queer and neurodivergent communities
Areas of Focus: Queer and trans affirming support, shame-free exploration of desire, ethical non-monogamy and kink, relationship transitions & communication
Individual and Relationship Counselling
Works with: Adults and youth
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Manjima Salim
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Accepting New Clients
Manjima brings her curiosity and experience for all things about sexuality, relationships and neurodivergence to her counselling practice.
Areas of Focus: Sexuality, relationship issues, kink and sexual exploration, systemic issues
Individual and Relationship Counselling
Works with: Adults and youth
Availability: currently available Thursdays. Only available for virtual work
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Tamara McKay
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Accepting New Clients
Tamara brings her years as a high school counsellor and sex educator and her expertise with difficult dynamics into her work.
Areas of Focus: Sexuality, relationships, life transitions, JDRF certification in diabetes counselling, pregnancy loss, infertility, postpartum adjustment
Individual and Relationship Counselling
Works with: Adults and youth
Availability: after 6 on Wednesday and Saturday mornings (Virtual only at this time)
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Lisa Shopland-Black
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Accepting New Clients
Lisa brings over 30 years of working in the field of sexuality and relationships to her counselling work.
Areas of Focus: Sexuality, relationships, sexual assault trauma, life transitions
Individual and Relationship Counselling
Works with: Adults
Availability: Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays from 10 am - 6 pm In Person is only on Tuesdays
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Mr Biscuit
Cat
Mr. Biscuit brings snuggling to his therapy practice but only if you give him treats. He uses a Feline-centric Lens for all his work and is a firm believer in the Catriarchy.
Areas of Focus: Himself, treats and birds, himself
Works with: Whomever he feels like
Availability: He currently has no openings as this would interfere with his nap schedule.
Our guiding purpose
When it comes to sexuality and relationships, most of what we have been taught is neither true nor helpful. Our goal at Mareel is to help people find their way to their own authentic sexual expression and to relationships that bring them genuine joy.
We push back, always, at the expectations that get in the way of that. Our core values are compassion, inclusion, and non-judgment, and we mean it.
Finding the right therapist changes everything.
Research consistently shows that the single biggest predictor of success in therapy isn't the technique or the modality, it's the relationship between you and your therapist. Feeling genuinely safe, understood, and unjudged makes everything else possible. That matters in any therapy context, and it matters even more when the topics are as personal as sexuality and relationships.
We never want the wrong fit to get in the way of the right support. That's why every new client starts with a free 15-minute consultation, a relaxed, no-obligation conversation to introduce ourselves, hear a little about what you're looking for, and get a sense of whether we're the right match. You're also welcome to meet more than one of our therapists before deciding, and you can switch at any time.
Not sure where to start? Our therapist matching page walks you through the team and helps you find the person who feels right for you.