License #6114

Welcome! I always find it a bit tricky trying to find the words to describe the “essence of me”, but I’ll try my best! I’ll start this with the necessary details: I graduated with a Master of Counselling from Athabasca University and am a registered psychologist. Prior to this career, I worked in the area of social work for approximately 14 years.

Now onto what you really want to know – how I approach my work! My main focus is the therapeutic relationship, which is my way of saying that you are the most important part of each session. Every person brings with them a unique set of strengths, resources, and experiences that should be honoured and validated, so I want to work with you to understand your narrative, as you experience it. I am passionate about empowerment because I believe focusing on strengths, understanding our value, and locating what’s within our control leads to greater personal growth and well-being.

I believe many of us have been socialized to see things in inflexible, dualistic ways. Things are either good or bad, right or wrong. This includes emotions and thoughts, which can lead to “sticky” thoughts/feelings that are hard. The trouble is, the more we try to avoid, outrun, or ignore these sticky thoughts and feelings, the more powerful they become. Basically, the more we struggle, the more we feed the metaphorical monster. I enjoy working with people to learn skills to drop the struggle, or “unhook”, from these thoughts and feelings so they no longer hold power over you. Once we learn to unhook, we can get back in the driver seat and decide what we want to focus on, allowing us to live our best life aligned with our values.

Within individual therapy, I tend to draw upon techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), but have also taken training in Narrative Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I am also trained in EMDR, which is an evidence-based therapy for trauma, and can also be utilized as an intervention for anything from anxiety and depression. For work with couples, I have studied Gottman Method Couples Therapy, and primarily use this in combination with ACT. Although these are the methods I work most frequently with, my main priority is to work collaboratively with you, to the best of my ability, to help explore your needs and work towards healing.

A few things about me:

• I love to travel and see new cultures! I’ve been to five continents, currently still missing Africa (and Antarctica but, free fun fact, I also really dislike the cold so odds are that’s a trip I’ll never make!)
• I love to read and spend almost all my free time with my nose in a book
•  I was made for summer weather – camping and flip flops make my heart happy