Nathan MacRae
MSW, RSW
Nathan MacRae,
MSW, RSW
My name is Nathan. I am a queer trans person who is passionate about giving back to my community and making the world a safer space for non-normative identities.
My Story
I’m a Registered Social Worker providing online counselling across Ontario and British Columbia. My approach is grounded in connection, collaboration, and care. I support adults and young adults navigating life transitions, identity, relationships, mental health, and personal growth.
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My practice also includes working with partners and loved ones who are navigating the layered and often challenging dynamics of relationships. This might mean rebuilding trust after a rupture, working through ongoing conflict, deepening emotional connection, or simply learning to communicate with more clarity and care.
I also work with individuals who want to show up more fully and compassionately in their relationships
whether with a partner, a family member, a friend, or within their broader community. Many of the people I support are looking for a counsellor who holds space for the complexities of identity, culture, and lived experience, and who understands the diversity of relationship structures, including non-monogamy and queer partnerships.
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My approach is affirming, neurodiversity-affirming, strengths-based, and flexible. I recognize that seeking support is an act of courage, and I aim to create a space where you feel seen, heard, and supported in a way that feels right for you. Whether you're navigating anxiety, relationships, life transitions, or more complicated mental health challenges, we’ll work together at your pace to create meaningful, personalized steps forward.
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I have a particular area of interest and specialized knowledge in supporting queer and trans clients, as well as folks in the 2SLGBTQIA+, lesbian, gay, bisexual, kink, neurodivergent, and non-monogamous/poly communities. I also specialize in supporting men through various challenges such as mental health struggles and life transitions, and I have experience working with high-conflict couples, helping them improve communication, manage emotional intensity, and rebuild trust in a compassionate and solution-focused way. While these are some of my areas of interest I welcome folks from all walks of life.
I humbly live, work, and play on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples in Victoria, BC where I live with my wife. I hold deep gratitude for the land and the communities that have shaped me.
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When I’m not working, I’m often at the gym, cycling along the coast or out to Sooke, and exploring local trails. I’m a lifelong learner who enjoys reading counselling books, queer poetry, and ghost stories. I also love supernatural podcasts (ask me anything about Sasquatches).
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Spending time outdoors, cycling, connecting with my family, and tending to my sobriety are some of the most meaningful ways I care for my own mental health. These practices keep me grounded and remind me of the importance of joy, movement, and rest.
"I am out with lanterns, looking for myself."
-Emily Dickenson
My Approach
There is a path forward to a fulfilling and happy future for everyone. Working together, I can support you in cultivating compassion for yourself and others, taking pride in who you are, navigating relationships and moving through the difficulties that arise in life. Through a warm relational, curious and trauma-informed I support folks in unpacking identity, managing PTSD, processing trauma, building resiliency, navigating sex and relationship issues, emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety and addiction. Our work will be guided by your values, your pace, and what feels most meaningful to you.
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I take an integrated, psychodynamic and relational approach to my practice, pulling from a variety of evidence based modalities including some elements of polyvagal therapy, DBT, mindfulness, self-compassion, and strength-based client-centred counselling. I am passionate about somatic attachment therapy which focuses on the lasting impacts of relational trauma on the body and its effects on everyday life. I believe in tuning into the body to help regulate the nervous system to allow for deep exploration of one’s experiences of self and the world.
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My role as a counsellor is to work collaboratively with you, drawing on your strengths, providing psychoeducation, and finding adaptable solutions to help you lead a more fulfilling life. I believe in putting experiences into contexts, not boxes, and am deeply critical of pathologizing ways of being and responses to trauma. Guided by your goals, I offer understanding, insight and accountability in your journey. It is my greatest honour to sit with clients in the darkness, joy and monotony that makes up life in this world.
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My services are covered by most extended health plans.
"I think I knew right then, but sometimes knowing comes in layers."
-Leslie Feinberg
My Training & Experience
I hold a Bachelor's Degree from Simon Fraser University in Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies and a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Victoria. I am a Registered Social Worker in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. I have also completed the Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 1, the Sexually Competent Therapist Training with Allura Sex Therapy Centre and Essentials of CBT and CBT for Anxiety with the Beck Institute. I have completed the Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy Two Year Training with Bringing the Body into Practice under Dr. Lisa Mortimore.
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​I come to this practice with over 13 years of experience in mental and health and addiction services, including:
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Various organizations in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
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The Kelty Mental Health Center at the BC Women and Children's Hospital
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Mental health/Substance Use units at the Royal Jubilee Hospital
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The Catherine Assertive Community Treatment Team at the Royal Mental Health Centre
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Flexible Assertive Community Treatment Team - Dual Diagnosis at the Royal Mental Health Centre
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Family Information and Support Services at the Royal Mental Health Centre
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I have also co-authored research with the Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Center at the University of British Columbia.
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In 2021, I delivered the keynote address at the Client and Family Centred Care Virtual Conference at the Royal Mental Health Centre on the topic of Gender Diversity and Healthcare. I also regularly provide Gender Inclusivity Educational Workshops to healthcare workers, support workers and educators.
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In addition to this work, I also have a background as a community activist. At Simon Fraser University I was the lead organizer of the Trans Inclusive Committee whose efforts cumulated in policy changes allowing students to utilize their names and gender on student identifications, as well as the creation of gender-inclusive washrooms on campus.
I also delivered a TEDx talk on the topic of gender-inclusive washrooms which highlighted the limited narratives we allow trans people to tell and how we can move past that framework.
"I don’t know what it is like to not have deep emotions. Even when I feel nothing, I feel it completely."
-Sylvia Plath