Meet the Team Behind Kootenay Family Therapy
Wherever you are in life, we’ll meet you there.
Families and relationships don't come with a roadmap. When communication breaks down and your family becomes stuck in difficult patterns, it can be hard to know where to turn. What may appear to be one person's struggle often affects the entire family system. Reaching out for guidance is a first step in gaining a deeper understanding of your family and relationship dynamics.
Why Kootenay Family Therapy Was Founded
Drawing on more than two decades of experience working closely with children, youth, and families in education, Kootenay Family Therapy founder Wendee Byrne began noticing a pattern. What often appeared to be a child's struggle was rarely isolated to the child alone.
Over time, this led her to ask a bigger question:
What happens when we stop looking at a struggle in isolation and start looking at the relationships surrounding it?
Wendee became increasingly interested in understanding the patterns, dynamics, and experiences that influence the entire family. Focusing on one individual in isolation didn't feel right. Or effective. She was drawn to an approach that considers the broader relationships shaping family life.
Inspired to transition into counselling and family systems work, Wendee founded Kootenay Family Therapy with a simple vision: to help individuals, couples, and families better understand one another. Through this understanding, healthier patterns of communication and connection can take root.
No two people experience life in exactly the same way. So why should counselling be any different?
Kootenay Family Therapy brings together counsellors with diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, perspectives, and therapeutic approaches. As the West Kootenays continue to diversify, we believe it's important that the support available to our community reflects that reality. Just as no two stories are the same, neither are the paths toward healing. Our team offers a range of counselling modalities to support each client's journey.
Wendee Byrne, RCC
Seeing the bigger picture through a family-systems lens.
Wendee brings more than 25 years of experience supporting children, youth, and families through education, non-profit, and counselling settings. She holds a Master's in Special Education equivalency and a Master's in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia.
Her work is grounded in a whole-person perspective that considers emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Whether supporting children, individuals, couples, or entire families, Wendee combines several therapeutic modalities with practical strategies that help clients navigate real-life challenges and strengthen relationships.
With children and youth, she incorporates art and play-based interventions through a trauma-informed lens, creating safe and gentle ways to explore difficult emotions and experiences.
Tanya Sharama, CCC
Recognizing that behaviour is a form of communication.
Tanya works with children, youth, adults, and families navigating emotional, behavioural, relational, and developmental challenges. Her background includes counselling, crisis support, behavioural intervention, tutoring, and early childhood education. This gives her a well-rounded understanding of the needs children and families face at different stages of life.
Tanya has a particular interest in supporting neurodiverse children and youth, including those navigating autism, ADHD, cerebral palsy, and emotional regulation challenges. She believes that behaviour is often a form of communication. Tanya works collaboratively with clients and families to better understand underlying needs and build practical skills, which leads to stronger connections.
Tanya offers support in English, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi and brings a warm, culturally sensitive approach to her work. Depending on the client's needs, Tanya incorporates play-based activities, attachment-informed approaches, and emotional regulation strategies. This helps clients build confidence and develop coping skills. Clients then create emotional and relational tools to navigate life's challenges with greater clarity and resilience.
Intisar Fadulelseed,
MD, CPRO (Qualifying), CCC (Pending)
Providing culturally responsive care with compassion and understanding.
Intisar brings a calm, grounded presence to her work, and she is committed to creating a space where clients feel genuinely seen, respected, and supported. Before transitioning into psychotherapy, she spent more than a decade practicing as a Family Physician. Her background in medicine informs her work as a therapist, giving her a unique understanding of the connection between physical health and emotional wellbeing.
Intisar works with adults, older adults, and families navigating challenges such as anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, life transitions, and relationship concerns. She brings a trauma-informed and culturally responsive lens to her work, with a particular passion for supporting refugee and new comer communities navigating cultural adjustment and identity.
Integrating several counselling approaches, Intisar, in Arabic as well as English, can help clients reconnect with their strengths, clarify what matters most to them, and move forward with greater purpose and confidence.
Ronia Michael Violo, RSSW, RP (Qualifying)
Combining compassionate support with practical strategies for change.
With more than 25 years of experience supporting individuals, couples, youth, and families, Ronia brings a compassionate yet practical approach to counselling. She is known for creating a safe, non-judgmental space where clients feel heard and supported. By helping clients identify patterns and develop coping strategies, she empowers them to take meaningful steps toward change.
Ronia works with a wide range of concerns, including trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, addiction, relationship challenges, and major life transitions. She incorporates somatic work, art therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and Gottman-informed couples counselling into her practice. Support is tailored to each client's unique needs and goals.
Whether helping clients heal from past experiences, strengthen relationships, or navigate life's next chapter, Ronia is committed to helping people build resilience, gain clarity, and approach challenges with confidence.