Ruby Au, M.A., RCC holds a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology and is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC). Ruby has worked in a wide array of mental health services serving patients across the spectrum of mental health. At the beginning of her career, she was a Child, Youth & Family Therapist working alongside with the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) and the Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS) providing individual and family counselling therapy to children and their family. She then mainly worked with the adult population as a Mental Health Clinician at the Cross Cultural Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic at the Vancouver General Hospital, the Group Therapy Program at the Royal Columbian Hospital, and at different community Mental Health & Substance Use Services teams with both Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and Fraser Health Authority. Before focusing on her private practice, Ruby worked as a Primary Care Clinical Counsellor with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCH) at the Vancouver Primary Care Networks in a multi-disciplinary setting working alongside family physicians in Vancouver providing counselling therapy to their patients.
Ruby’s interests are in cross cultural mental health. She conducted research on the mental health issues in Chinese Canadians in Metro-Vancouver, as well as on the regional differences among ethnic Chinese on level of acculturation to Canadian culture and perceived barriers to mental health help seeking. These research were published in the World Cultural Psychiatry Research Review (WCPRR). Ruby was invited to be a workshop presenter at the 14th Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists Scientific Meeting in Brisbane, Australia in 2010, to share of her understanding and experience in engaging and treating ethnic Chinese.
Ruby specializes in treating depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. She works in an integrative approach with her therapy mainly based on the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Her expansive counselling experiences allow her to tailor therapy to the needs of her patients. She believes with bio-psycho-social-spiritual support, patients are empowered to utilize their strengths in their individual recovery journey.
Ruby is an approved service provider of ICBC and will bill ICBC directly for MVA related counselling cost.
Ruby is tri-lingual in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and is able to provide counselling services in these languages.