Tensley offers warmth, curiosity, and compassion, and his approach is grounded in building a trusting therapeutic relationship wherein space for transformation, healing, and meaning-making is held.
Intertwined with his own healing journey and upbringing in Alberta’s backcountry and the rangelands of BC’s Cariboo-Chilcotin, Tensley recognizes Nature as a valued teacher and support of wellbeing. His approach honours our interconnectedness with the social and physical environments around us and invites a collaboration with the land through experiential activities and play, mind-body awareness, insights from neuroscience, and attachment and family systems perspectives. Tensley works with adults, youth, and families to support them where they are at, offer tools to foster growth, and walk alongside them on their journey to rediscovering their inherent wholeness. Supporting his integrative counselling approach is specialized training in Nature-Based Therapy (NBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), and mindfulness-based interventions, including Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).
Tensley previously completed a BEd in Physical Education at the University of Victoria and has taken a path supporting youth and adults as a teacher and coach in BC and abroad, as a field instructor with Outward Bound Canada, a kayak guide, as well as working as a wildland firefighter. He is father to an effervescent daughter and is of German and Métis heritage. Tensley draws from his ancestral background and experience walking in different worlds, and he appreciates connecting with diverse peoples.
It is with gratitude and humility that Tensley practices on the traditional unceded territories and ancestral homelands of the Quw’utsun, MÁLEXEȽ, BOḰEĆEN, Ts’uubaa-asatx, Halalt, and Stz’uminus Peoples.
Tensley is a Certified Nature-based therapist, level 2. Specialization: NBT with Groups.