I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC#2796) with extensive experience working with adults in both one-to-one and group settings.
Issues that I help with
- Healing from traumatic loss.
- Recovering from the effects of childhood trauma, relationship abuse, and other difficult life events.
- Improving regulation of difficult and uncomfortable emotions.
- Developing and maintaining healthy boundaries.
- Recovering from substance misuse and other compulsive behaviours, including post-treatment relapse prevention.
- Addressing anxiety and depression.
- Learning to live life in alignment with one’s deeper values, whether they are personal, relational, emotional or spiritual.
Major values that inform my practice
- Creating safety — both within and outside of the counselling relationship — is essential for healing.
- Balancing validation of your experience with gentle challenge that will encourage growth.
- Balancing the wisdom that comes from your head, your heart and your body.
- Respecting the “Window of Tolerance.” Growth and healing require some discomfort and care is needed to prevent overwhelm.
- Identifying and affirming your strengths.
- Collaborating with you to best meet your goals.
- Supporting your autonomy. Ultimately, only you know what is best for you.
- Recognizing that psychological pain does not exist in a vacuum but in a context that may include loss, deprivation, discrimination and other elements beyond your control. In other words, you did not land in your struggles all by yourself.
- Recognizing the need for connection and community to thrive.
- As a practitioner, recognizing my need to do my own personal work, address blind spots and stay cognizant of my own privilege.
Healing and growth are both forms of movement in a positive direction. Within a safe environment, I provide the right amounts of challenge and learning how to access all of your intelligence and gifts (yes, you have them, even if you don’t yet believe it!). As a result, you will grow in your capacity to better handle life’s challenges and gain improved peace of mind.
Even when your struggles originate from severe adversity and trauma, you can grow, not only despite their adversity, but because of it. This is what is known as ‘post-traumatic growth.’
If this resonates with you, I invite you to take a first step toward healing and contact me to see if we are a fit to work together.