ABOUT JENNIFER STRILCHUK
Practitioner Behind Balance WTHN
For over 25 years, I supported families through pregnancy, birth, and the early postpartum period as a doula, raising my own family while caring for others as they grew theirs. This work gave me a deep respect for the body’s innate wisdom, and it was an honor to walk alongside clients during such transformative times.
Throughout those years, I found myself drawn to the quiet language of hands. Hands held through contractions. Hands offering steady support. Hands resting gently on the body. It feels fitting that my path eventually led me to acupressure, a practice rooted in therapeutic touch.
As my children grew into adulthood, a quiet inner knowing emerged: my work was still about holding space, but it was ready to evolve. When I look back, I can see that this work had been quietly walking beside me long before I formally chose it.
During my years as a doula, I often used acupressure to support clients in labour, holding points to encourage relaxation, ease discomfort, and help the body find its rhythm. At the time, I experienced it simply as another way to offer care through touch, presence, and attunement. Only later did I begin to recognize that this was more than a supportive technique. It was the beginning of a deeper relationship with a practice that felt both ancient and deeply intuitive. In many ways, it feels as though this work was waiting for me to step toward it, just as it had already stepped toward me.
As I began formally studying acupressure within the broader framework of Chinese medicine, I discovered a language that gave shape to what I had already witnessed for years. The body is always seeking balance. Healing unfolds in relationship. True support often comes through listening rather than intervening.
My path from birth work into acupressure was not a departure, but a widening. The same hands. The same listening. A deeper understanding of the rhythms of the body and the seasons of a person’s life. Today, I bring together over 25 years of birth work experience with the principles of acupressure to offer holistic, person-centered care.
Supporting women through conception, pregnancy, miscarriage, birth, and postpartum, while also moving through my own seasons of motherhood and midlife, has given me a deep and embodied understanding of hormonal health and nervous system well-being. This work allows me to continue holding space with the same presence and attentiveness, while offering a therapeutic approach that supports the body in remembering its own rhythm and balance.
I currently practice out of Tara Wellness in Abbotsford, BC. If you feel called to explore how acupressure can support you, I'd love to connect.
MY WORK DRAWS FROM THE SKILLS AND WISDOM CULTIVATED THROUGH 25 YEARS OF LEARNING, PRACTICE, AND EXPERIENCE:
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Canadian Acupressure College - Diploma in Five Element Acupressure *
Wild Temple Flower Essence Practitioner Certification
Bach Flower Essences and Chinese Medicine - Loyola Colebeck
Floral Acupuncture course - Deborah Craydon
FES Professional Flower Essence Practitioner Certificate - The School for Flower Essence Studies
Douglas College - Dona Certified Postpartum Doula (retired)
Douglas College - Dona Certified Birth Doula (retired)
Vancouver Community College - Prenatal Educator (retired)
*This program is recognized by the Private Training Institutions Branch (PTIB), Ministry of Advanced Education, and approved by the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada Association (NHPC).
MEMBERSHIPS
Natural Health Practitioners of Canada (NHPC)
CONTINUOUS LEARNING
I am continually growing as a practitioner and am deeply committed to expanding my knowledge and wisdom so I can better serve my clients. I have a genuine love of learning, especially when it comes to Chinese Medicine, nature-based wisdom, and somatic and embodiment practices. This passion inspires me to keep learning through ongoing education, personal exploration, workshops, lectures, and conferences.
CURRENTLY STUDYING
Centering the Earth Element: TCM for Late Summer - Pacific Rim College
Holistic Nutrition for Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Autumn According to TCM - Pacific Rim College
Kind Words
"Jennifer entered my life as no less than an angel when I needed one most. As a practitioner, her gentle and wise manner emanates a strength that is channeled to those she tends. She is a seasoned mother, an insightful guide, and a mindfully evolved human who has walked the path herself. Jennifer holds that space for others; that place of compassion, that can be gained only through facing one's own life truths. Therapeutically, she is a gift and a healer."
- Odette
"There are only a handful of times during a lifetime when you will meet someone and know that they have a special gift for what they do - Jennifer is one of them."
- Lerina