Gavin Patterson, an Oakville native and Portage Collegiate Institute graduate, has turned his personal experiences with mental health into a lifelong mission to support others, particularly in rural communities. He says his work is shaped not just by training but by the challenges he faced seeking help himself.
“Almost a decade ago, I was going through what we would call complex grief,” Patterson says. “Being in rural Manitoba, it was hard to find a service provider that could meet my needs. I was a younger male who worked at the railway at the time, and there was just so much stigma.”
The challenges he faced accessing support ultimately influenced his decision to enter the field.
“Part of the reason why I became a counsellor and then a therapist was to help break down those barriers and to work with people in their own mental health recovery,” he explains.
Patterson works with clients across a wide spectrum, from teenagers to people approaching retirement. Much of his work involves first responders and others exposed to repeated stress and trauma.
“Countless people in our community do remarkable work for us, but it’s clear that their roles come with significant additional stress,” he notes.
His role is to help clients manage that stress while maintaining balance in their personal and professional lives.
“I work with people to increase their window of tolerance, but also help them with their moral distress or any psychological rupture they experience, so they can keep doing the job they’ve trained for, that they love, but also go home to their families, spend time with their kids and be with them very presently,” he says.
Patterson’s therapeutic approach is trauma-informed and holistic, combining years of clinical training with hands-on experience working alongside psychiatry within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
“Part of my practice is a form of mindfulness and brain spotting, which is a subform of therapy from EMDR, which lets people process the trauma and their feelings from those moments and helps the brain catch up to those experiences. It’s not just talking; it’s a highly effective, holistic, client-centric therapy,” he adds.
As Patterson prepares to open a second location of Wildwood Wellness Therapy in Portage la Prairie, his motivation remains the same: providing the kind of support he once sought himself.
“When somebody comes in and says, ‘I just don’t feel like I can do it anymore,’ being able to sit with them, create a safe, judgment-free space that works for them, that lets them develop awareness about their brain, their body, their mind, and also the appropriate tools to navigate that stress, it’s a huge win for me.”
The Portage office will be located above the post office on Saskatchewan Avenue West, with a soft launch this week and hopes of being fully operational by April. Patterson says opening a local practice feels like a return home.
“Being from the region, I wanted to bring my practice here as well,” he says.