Darja Milidragovic, M.C., RCC
(She/Her)
Expressive Arts Therapist
Counselling for Adults, Teens, and Children
Hi! My name is Darja (Dar-ee-ya) and I am passionate about working alongside people of all ages to co-create a therapeutic space where you can feel seen, heard, and safe enough to explore your challenges and re-discover your strengths, gifts, and inner wisdom. In sessions, I adopt an unshaming, non-judgemental and curious approach to connect with you, so you can begin to experience your whole self with more awareness, understanding, compassion, and grace. We also work on expanding the possibilities of how you see yourself and the concerns you have, and what you can do. Rather than giving you solutions and answers, I believe sustainable, long-term change comes from guiding you to unearth and unfold the answers that are already within you. You are the expert (even if you don’t feel like one right now!), and I am the guide and facilitator.
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I strive not to pathologize you or what you’re going through in a culture that sees our problems as sickness or a sign that we are wrong, broken, bad or to blame. I truly believe that our bodies, nervous systems and symptoms carry deep intelligence, even if we can’t yet make sense of them. I welcome the opportunity for us to discover the deeper why of what you are experiencing and see symptoms not as enemies but as doorways into your deeper needs, gifts and life’s path.
My Integrative Approach
​My integrative and person-centred approach is informed by many lenses – such as synergetic play therapy, polyvagal theory and neuroscience, internal family systems, somatic practices, and narrative therapy – always honouring the relationship between mind and body. My approach to counselling (especially when I work with youth and adults) is also informed by my 10-year experience as a certified Expressive Arts Therapist.
Expressive arts therapy uses all of the arts (e.g. drawing, painting, photography, creative writing, movement and dance, music and sound, drama, etc.) to explore, witness, and understand our feelings, thoughts and behaviors and facilitate expression, expansion, and transformation. Regardless of age, when we connect to our senses, imagination and innate desire to play and create, we begin to see more possibilities for ourselves, our relationships, and our lives. I truly believe that change doesn't have to be all about growing pains. It can be fun, playful, inspiring, and interesting too, and it adds a little more soul and magic to a life inevitably filled with both ups and downs, victories, and challenges, for all of us. Using the arts can always be an invitation and option in our work together.
Who I Work With
I have experience working with children, youth and adults. I have worked with refugees and immigrants, and my Master’s Capstone paper focused on migratory grief that can result from leaving one’s land and facing the challenges of starting over. I am also experienced in working with neurodivergent clients, especially children with ADHD and autism. Other areas of experience include anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, loss and grief, life transitions, lack of purpose/meaning, reonnecting to creativity, self-esteem, and “big, baffling behaviours” (as the wonderful Robyn Gobbel refers to them). I am also interested in deepening my skills working with chronic pain, issues with body image, and relationship with food and eating. In addition, I am currently completing a Certificate in Process-Oriented Facilitation with David Bedrick, author of the Unshaming Way.
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A bit About Me as a Human
Counselling and expressive arts therapy light me up! Some other things that make me light up are teaching, writing songs and poetry, live music, dancing, making art without rules and expectations, “coincidences” and synchronicities, the sea, the moon, wild flowers, and connecting with others on a deep and genuine level.
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My journey to counselling was inspired by my own life experiences, including fleeing war with my family as a young child, experiencing the challenges of being a refugee and immigrant, and facing multiple deep losses throughout my life. I extend my heartfelt gratitude for being able to heal, live, learn, work, discover and share my gifts on the ancestral, occupied, and unceded territories of the Kwiketlam, Musqueam, Squamish, Stol:lo, and Tseil-Waututh Nations. As an uninvited guest on this land, I strive to bring more beauty, love, honesty, and connection wherever I can.
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Some of my Influences: Resources for your Exploration and Curiosity
https://synergeticplaytherapy.com/ (Podcast: https://synergeticplaytherapy.com/podcasts/)
https://robyngobbel.com/ (Book: Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors; Podcast: https://robyngobbel.com/podcast/)
https://ifs-institute.com/ (Internal Family Systems)
https://www.davidbedrick.com/ (Books: https://www.davidbedrick.com/books-by-david-bedrick)
