My Approach
My approach centers on humour, compassion and connection – we’re wired for relationships and community, even when this is where our pain is sometimes rooted!
I’m a Registered Social Worker with over fifteen years of advocacy and mental health work across education, child welfare, healthcare, justice, and trauma-exposed sectors. I’ve worked extensively with relational, developmental, and sanctuary trauma, as well as with issues relating to grief and shame. I work primarily from trauma, embodied and attachment-focused frameworks, and am trained in a variety of evidence-based therapeutic interventions including EMDR, CBT and DBT.
Regardless of my training and approaches, please know that what matters most to me, is you. My focus is on getting to know and understand you. That comes first and foremost, regardless of therapeutic models or research-backed strategies.
What To Expect
You can expect our conversations to feel casual, comfortable and collaborative. I’ll ask questions in order to know you and the context of your experiences, may offer to share alternate perspectives and strategies, and will often check in to ensure we’re on the right track and addressing the things that brought you to counselling. We’ll build on your existing strengths and knowledge to integrate new skills and awareness. Ultimately, our goal will be to gently pursue understanding and connection, rather than to pathologize you or any aspect of your life.
A Reminder: Therapy Can…
- Create room to be your full self, without any judgement from me.
- Help you cope through hard times, process trauma and multiple layers of wounding.
- Allow you to grieve the losses in your life, both big and small.
- Help you feel unstuck in areas you feel chronically challenged by.
- Clarify how your professional and personal worlds impact you.
- Familiarize you with your emotions so you’re less intimidated by them and have greater self-understanding.
- Be an opportunity to unpack anything. Therapy isn’t just for when you’re struggling or going through “rough patches”, but also for when things are going well. It’s always beneficial to pause, reflect, and take stock.