Online Therapy for POTS, Dysautonomia & MCAS Across Canada

When your own body sets off the alarm — your heart races when you stand, the room tilts, a meal or a scent triggers a flare — life starts to shrink around the next reaction. If you're living with POTS, another form of dysautonomia, or Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), you may spend your days scanning for threats, pacing carefully, and explaining symptoms that other people can't see. You're not imagining it, and you're not alone. Therapy can help you calm a nervous system stuck in overdrive, process the grief and fear these conditions carry, and build a life that fits the body you have now.

I'm Elysia Bronson, a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) who works exclusively with chronic illness and chronic pain. I'm certified in the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) for nervous system regulation and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) for chronic pain — two evidence-based approaches with direct relevance to dysautonomia and mast cell conditions.

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Adapt Therapy to Fit You

There are multiple ways to adapt therapy to fit your life. You can do self-guided SSP for vagus nerve stimulation, or take a self-guided course with video walkthroughs on how to manage life with a new disorder, or we can meet 1:1 online for weekly support.

Free Guide: Living Well with Orthostatic Intolerance & Dysautonomia

Not ready to book yet? Start here. Download my free, evidence-informed handout, Living Well with Orthostatic Intolerance & Dysautonomia: A Practical Guide — a one-page resource covering daily habits that build stability, in-the-moment tools for dizziness and symptom flares, and gentle ways to care for your nervous system and emotions. No email required.

[Download the Free Guide (PDF) →]

How Therapy Helps with POTS, Dysautonomia & MCAS

These aren't only physical conditions — they reshape your relationship with your body, your identity, your career, and your sense of safety in the world. Many people living with dysautonomia and MCAS are carrying grief over lost health, anxiety about the next flare or reaction, frustration with a medical system that's still catching up, and a nervous system locked in a state of threat. With MCAS in particular, the fear of reacting to food, medications, or the environment can become its own source of chronic stress — and stress itself can feed the symptom cycle.

Therapy addresses these layers directly. I'm not treating your heart rate or your mast cells — I'm helping you with the full human impact of living in a body that keeps sounding the alarm, so you can respond with more steadiness and less fear.

What We Work On Together

Nervous System Regulation

POTS, dysautonomia, and MCAS all involve an autonomic nervous system that has lost its sense of safety — leaving you with racing heart rate, sensory sensitivity, sleep disruption, temperature swings, and emotional reactivity. The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a Polyvagal-informed listening therapy that uses filtered music to stimulate the vagus nerve and help shift the nervous system toward a calmer, more regulated state. Many of my clients with dysautonomia and mast cell conditions find SSP helpful for reducing sensory overload and improving their tolerance for stress and daily demands.

Health Anxiety and Fear of Symptoms

When standing up, eating a new food, or stepping outside can trigger symptoms, hypervigilance makes complete sense — but it's exhausting, and it can amplify the very reactions you're trying to avoid. We work gently with the fear-and-flare cycle, helping you build a felt sense of safety so your body isn't bracing all day long.

Grief and Identity Loss

You may have been highly active, career-driven, or socially engaged before these conditions took hold. Living with dysautonomia or MCAS often means mourning the person you were while building a sense of purpose within new limits. We move through this grief without rushing it.

Brain Fog and Cognitive Frustration

Dysautonomia and mast cell activation frequently bring brain fog, word-finding trouble, and mental fatigue. While therapy doesn't cure these, it can help you develop strategies to manage them — and process the frustration, shame, and anxiety that cognitive difficulties create. We also work on pacing cognitive activity to reduce post-exertional crashes.

Medical Trauma and Dismissal

If you've been told "your tests are normal" or "it's probably anxiety," those experiences cause real harm — and they're especially common with POTS and MCAS, which are still under-recognized. We process the impact of medical gaslighting and rebuild your confidence in advocating for your own care.

Chronic Pain and Symptom Burden

Many people with dysautonomia and MCAS also live with widespread pain, headaches, migraines, or joint pain (these conditions often overlap, including with hypermobility). Using Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), we work with the brain's pain processing system to help reduce pain that has become centralized.

Pacing and Energy Management

We develop personalized pacing strategies based on your specific symptom patterns and triggers, helping you reduce crashes and flares and build a sustainable routine that respects your real capacity.

Therapy Approaches I Use for POTS, Dysautonomia & MCAS

Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) — Polyvagal-informed listening therapy for autonomic nervous system regulation
Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) — evidence-based approach for chronic pain that often accompanies dysautonomia and MCAS
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) — adapted for chronic illness, not the "push through it" version
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) — emotional regulation and distress tolerance for symptom flares and reactions
Somatic pacing — gentle, body-based approaches that respect post-exertional malaise and orthostatic limits

I understand post-exertional malaise and the unpredictability of flares. I will never push you to do more than your body can handle.

Why Online Therapy Works for POTS, Dysautonomia & MCAS

Leaving the house can cost you days of recovery — and for those with MCAS, unfamiliar environments can carry real exposure risks. Online therapy removes those barriers completely. You attend from home — from bed, or lying down with your legs up, if that's where you need to be. You control your environment: lighting, noise, temperature, scent, and positioning. If you need to pause, adjust, recline, or keep your camera off on a hard day, we make it work.

Who I Work With

I see clients across British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland & Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. I'm registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC).

I currently cannot see clients from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or PEI due to provincial registration requirements.

About Me

I'm Elysia Bronson, RCC. I serve on the Board of the Canadian Pain Society and co-chair the Interprofessional Special Interest Group. I'm certified in the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT). My entire practice is focused on chronic illness and chronic pain — I work with the conditions other therapists don't fully understand.

I live with chronic illness myself. I know what pacing looks like in practice, not just in theory.

Session Details

Individual counselling: $150 CAD / 50-minute session
SSP-integrated session: $180 CAD / 50-minute session
Free 20-minute consultation: No cost, no pressure
Insurance: Most extended health plans cover RCC services. ICBC and WorkSafe BC accepted.
Sessions: Monday–Friday, online via secure video

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a referral?

No. You can book directly — no referral, no doctor's note.

Is therapy for POTS, dysautonomia, or MCAS covered by insurance?

Most extended health insurance plans in Canada cover Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCC). ICBC and WorkSafe BC claims are also accepted. Check with your insurer for your specific plan.

I don't have a confirmed diagnosis yet. Can you still help?

Yes. Many of my clients are navigating uncertainty or are still in the diagnostic process. Dysautonomia and MCAS are frequently missed or take years to identify. I work with you regardless of where you are — unexplained symptoms and diagnostic limbo are things I specialize in.

Will therapy cure my POTS, dysautonomia, or MCAS?

No — therapy doesn't cure these conditions, and it isn't a replacement for medical care. What it can do is help regulate your nervous system, ease health anxiety and the fear-flare cycle, reduce centralized pain, process the emotional impact, and help you build a sustainable life while you heal — or while you adapt. Both paths are valid. I work alongside your medical team, not in place of them.

Can I do SSP if I have sensory sensitivity or react to a lot of things?

Yes — sensory sensitivity is one of the primary reasons people do SSP. Because it's listening-based, there's no ingredient, scent, or substance involved. We start slowly and adjust the pace based on your nervous system's response, and many clients with dysautonomia and MCAS find SSP helps reduce their sensory and stress reactivity over time.

Can therapy really affect physical symptoms like flares or tachycardia?

Therapy doesn't control your mast cells or your heart rate directly. But stress and a threat-locked nervous system can worsen symptom burden in these conditions, so calming that system — through SSP, pacing, and regulation skills — can make daily life more manageable and reactions feel less all-consuming.

Take the First Step

You don't need to have it all figured out. If you're living with POTS, dysautonomia, or MCAS and want support from someone who specializes in chronic and complex conditions, I'm here.