About Me

I’m Tonya Kilmer, Registered Occupational Therapist, Veteran Medic and proud mom.

I live for the outdoors and have a passion for serving others. I have a professional practice on beautiful Vancouver Island, where the mountains meet the ocean, in this epic playground that I call home.

My therapeutic journey took off 24 years ago because of my passion and fascination of the brain and its incredible ability to heal. That passion to understand its magic only intensified following my path into Occupational Therapy and through my own personal experience. 

I hold those experiencing mental health challenges close to my heart because I’ve been there. I know how it feels to lose yourself while trying to hold it all together. 

I have come back from concussion, many physical injuries and burnout, but nothing more challenging and complex than PTSD. It was diagnosed following the loss of my husband in 2018, who went missing on Vancouver Island. 

His disappearance sparked a massive search alongside Search and Rescue, the Police, and Canadian Search and Disaster Dogs Association (CASDDA).  He was found 5 months later to have taken his life in the wilderness. This was a man who had a deep love for his family and no history of mental illness.

I needed to understand how this could have happened. How could the mind of someone so strong change and in such a short period of time, leading to his disappearance and ultimately to taking his life?

I needed to understand what happened in the brain and how the damage could have been prevented. Given my PTSD, I needed to understand how to keep my mind as healthy as possible for my kids, for my family and for me. This led to many conversations with experts in the mental health and neuroscience field, and to deep dive into the research.

The journey continues and has been far from easy, but the work to have a full quality of life is worth it! It would be a privilege to work together and to support you on your journey.