Hi, I’m Toby Macklin

Toby Macklin RCC is a male counsellor providing counselling for men in BC. Seen here on a beach with his dog.

I’m a male counsellor specializing in counselling for men. I offer online counselling services to men from Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and across British Columbia, as well as Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan..

I first came to Canada in 2001. At a difficult time in my life, I participated in a series of programs at The Haven on Gabriola Island, BC, which were enormously helpful and continue to inform my life and work today. I went on to train intensively at The Haven, learning powerfully transformative ways of working with others, rooted in humanistic, existential, and gestalt psychotherapy, with a strong emphasis on relationships, and on bodywork and breath. I started leading Haven programs in 2009.

It was during these years at The Haven that I realized that I particularly enjoyed working with men, and seemed to be good at it! It was this that inspired me when setting up my private practice to offer specialized counselling for men. Many of my clients find it especially valuable to be able to connect with a male counsellor.

Since then I’ve added to my Haven training with a Masters in Counselling Psychology, which has allowed me to expand my practice in new and exciting ways. I’ve become especially interested in Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), and am IFS Level 1 trained through Dick Schwartz’s IFS Institute.

In addition to my private practice, I’ve worked at the Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees (VICCIR), with people dealing with the psychological and interpersonal effects of trauma in some of its most extreme forms, including political imprisonment, torture, and war.

Before coming to Canada, I lived in England, where I was born, Egypt, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus. I studied Arabic and Social Anthropology and worked in teaching, journalism, and publishing. I’ve had a lifelong interest in both playing and listening to music. I’m also still learning Arabic, and am happy that I sometimes get to use it in my work. I live on Gabriola Island with my partner of 30 years, and have two adult children. Our dog, Tugboat, is much bigger now than in the picture on this page!

At The Haven, with VICCIR, and in private practice, I am inspired by people’s resilience, and their ability to heal and thrive in the face of sometimes enormous adversity. If you’d like to access and nurture that capacity in yourself, and you think we could work well together, use the button on this page to get in touch. I look forward to meeting you.