About Me

---

I am a Registered Psychotherapist* and a Canadian Certified Counsellor* with a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology*

* College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario CRPO; Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association CCPA; University of Toronto

I have spent over 20 years assisting people in the mental health, cancer care, and healthcare fields. I have experience in helping children, youth, adults and families with a variety of concerns including anxiety, depression, addictions, relationship difficulties, trauma, life changes, and health issues. 

I have worked as a counsellor in a post-secondary institution, as a child and family therapist at a children's mental health facility, and I provided crisis support for a local sexual assault centre. For 7 years, I also provided supervised psychological services as an Associate for a local Psychologist. My current focus is providing counselling and psychotherapy through this practice, and providing supervision and consultation to other therapists.

My education and training involves different therapeutic techniques for individual counselling and family work. I completed post-grad training and interning in Narrative Therapy and additional education in Addictions. For the past few years much of my training focuses on trauma work including basic training in EMDR and Level 1 and 2 training in IFS through the IFS Institute in the USA (I'm also currently in the process of certification for IFS). I am committed to life-long learning and as such, my professional training and learning is on-going.

I feel that therapy should be centred on you and your goals. Collaboration and transparency are important values that I strive for. In my work I focus on helping my clients reach their goals for attaining the changes they desire, and assisting them in creating a life that feels healthy and full of possibility.

The work that we do together will be trauma-informed. My tendency is to help you to go deep to the parts of you that may be driving your symptoms, and that need compassion and healing. Helping you to find different ways to respond towards yourself is a rewarding journey, and I admire the bravery that it takes to create the changes that you desire.

On a personal note, I am mom to two adult sons and two rescue cats. You can often find me buried behind a book, hiking in nature, or travelling to faraway places. While I've always known that I'm an introvert (a social one), I've recently come to understand that I'm also a HSP, or highly sensitive person. This comes with a lot of positive qualities like empathy, introspection, creativity, and a love for animals and nature. People have described me as daring, solid, capable, determined, and rebellious. I love coffee, shopping for vintage bargains, and challenging the status quo.

Throughout my life, I've encountered difficulties that led me to seek therapy. I have lived experience with depression, panic attacks, and trauma. If I reflect on the therapists who helped me the most, they were the ones who provided an atmosphere where I felt comfortable to share my stories and my struggles, and they were able to hold a safe space for my suffering. They also believed in my ability to make the changes that  would allow me to reach my potential. These therapeutic qualities help to inform the work that we'll do together.