Crystal Arber

Crystal Arber graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Masters degree in social work. She is a registered social worker and a registered clinical counsellor.
She has devoted her career to working with many of the most challenging client populations in both public health care and the private sector. She has extensive experience case managing and treating adults, youth, and families with complex challenges, ranging from mental health, addiction and trauma. Her career encompasses working as Team Lead at Covenant House to a clinical counsellor and group facilitator at the Center for Concurrent Disorders to a clinical counsellor treating mental health and substance use concerns for adult marginalized populations living on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Crystal is also known for developing and facilitating skill based programs such as Making Sense of Trauma, a psycho-educational skills based group, that empowered clients to effectively control their most severe PTSD symptoms.
These experiences motivated Crystal to develop a focused interest in treating trauma, which led to her becoming a certified EMDR Therapist, approved EMDRIA consultant and EMDR facilitator for clinicians in training. She has also supervised masters in social work students who specialize in treating concurrent disorders. In her subsequent clinical work, she introduced the use of EMDR to successfully treat PTSD and Complex Trauma in clients with co-occurring addiction and mental illness. Crystal is currently an EMDR regional coordinator for Vancouver.
Crystal currently works at the BCOSI clinic as a clinician who treats Post Traumatic Stress Injuries for RCMP members and Veterans both active and retired. She is known for piloting a successful intensive EMDR program which has helped many RCMP and Veterans manage and eliminate disturbing PTSD symptoms.
Crystal is an appointed educator for Trauma Informed Practice for Vancouver Coastal Health, and has been invited as a guest speaker by the University of British Columbia school of Social Work, St. Paul’s Hospital Department of Psychiatry, and the HOPE Centre at Lions Gate Hospital.