Dana Brunanski MA, RCC
Indigenous Two Spirit Advisory, SARAVYC
Child and Youth Wellness Counsellor, Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society
Clinical Counsellor, Private Practice
Dana Brunanski (she/her) has Metis and European settler roots, and is a single parent of an 8-year-old. She has been a front-line youth worker and counsellor in Vancouver for 25 years, including street outreach, addictions, and mental health counselling, and most recently, wellness counselling at an urban Indigenous child welfare organization. Her research journey began in 1997 with a self-reflective SFU psychology honours thesis on bisexual women’s identity. In 2009, she completed her UBC Counselling Psychology Masters research which explored Indigenous street youths’ experiences with counselling, using an Indigenizing narrative methodology. Dana has been associated with SARAVYC since 2007, starting as a graduate student trainee and research assistant, then continuing as a community research affiliate after completing her Masters. She also came back briefly as a research technician in 2017, to coordinate the Indigenous Two-Spirit Advisory, and has continued as an advisory member since that time.
