My approach to therapy is based on the idea that our behaviours, thoughts, and emotions—even the ones that cause us problems—always make sense if we encounter them with curiosity and compassion. I truly believe that by not villainizing ourselves and how we have learned to think and act (be it through our traumas, family of origins, culture, etc.), we stand to find deep healing, change, and the freedom to choose who and how we want to be. 

I bring my full self into the therapy room as I believe good therapy requires that we be authentic and open to the entirety of the human condition, even though it can sometimes be as messy as it is beautiful. To cry, be angry, be joyful, be anxious, to be scared, to be excited, all of this has a place in my room. You’re human. I am human. Our therapy will be human too.

I don’t shy away from humour, wit, contradiction (gently, of course!), or sitting with pain in my approach as I deeply believe that my job is to serve the whole of who you are. 

Complex Trauma and Childhood Trauma

I work with adults and older teens who are contending with the long-term effects of complex and childhood trauma. Trauma of this kind can deeply impact how we see others, the world, and—most significantly—how we see ourselves. Trauma survivors often carry an invisible backpack that can sometimes contain deep feelings of shame, fear, lack of trust, self-hatred, anger, confusion, and a feeling of “being broken.” In our work, we will endeavor to gently set down this backpack and tenderly lighten the load that you never deserved to carry. In the process, we will explore how to reconnect with your truest, lightest, and most empowered Self.

Grief & Loss

Grief and loss are a most unique and challenging pair of experiences in that they can not be “solved” in the usual sense. When we lose our beloved person or a future we thought we had we are faced with a heartbreaking and intense pain that can not simply go away. Life can never be the same as it was before when we encounter significant loss and this weight can sometimes be crushing to hold alone. Together, we can gently tend to and process the pain of grief and loss while slowly assembling a meaningful picture of what life and who you are looks like in this new landscape of existence. There is no rush. There is no “proper way to grieve.” There is no “right and wrong” way to have your heart broken and there is especially no “right or wrong” way to pick up the pieces. 

Self-Esteem & Image Issues

More often than not we are our own worst critics. For some of us, the inner critic takes on an intensely cruel and crippling form, making it hard to enjoy many aspects of our lives including our social lives, romance, and our bodies. A low self-esteem is often something we shoulder in silence, especially in a culture that relentlessly holds us to increasingly unattainable standards of success, beauty, and being. To our inner critics and our culture as well, the idea of genuine love and enjoyment of yourself can be intensely scary. My passion lies in helping individuals find the bravery to be in a loving relationship with themselves that, for one reason or another, was lost along their path of life. 

Other Areas:

• Highly Sensitive Peoples: As someone who experiences big and deep emotionality since childhood, I understand what it is like to harbour a complicated relationship with your feelings. Highly Sensitive Peoples can feel like outsiders due to the misunderstood nature of their perceptive nervous systems. My work with HSPs focuses on building a compassionate understanding of your nervous system that rests on an appreciation for the natural talent we have to experience existence more deeply than most.

• Pure-O OCD: The intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and cognitive loops that define Pure-O OCD can be debilitating and can make us feel like we are being tormented and held hostage by our own minds. It can feel like there is no “off switch.” My work with Pure-O OCD rests on a neurologically informed cultivation of mindfulness and the building of cognitive skills needed to find the courage to break the cycle and be free. 

Like most professional helpers, I have experienced the challenging yet sometimes beautiful complexity of being a human on this crazy planet. Be it through my own experiences as a covertly neurodiverse woman, through my varied work with individuals of all kinds in all kinds of contexts, or through my unending appetite for learning and knowledge, I’ve come to deeply appreciate the many paradoxes of existence. At the same time, I’ve come to deeply admire and love human beings. We’re incredibly resilient and we can do great things when we give ourselves the chance.

When not doing what I love (being a therapist!) you can find me doing other things I love such as reading, watching really long YouTube videos on fringe topics, drinking black coffee, playing chess, meditating, or annoyingly hoping for overcast weather.

• Practicum student in the City University Masters of Counselling Psychology program

• C-DBT Certification: Practical Clinical Application or Trauma, Comorbidities, Addiction. PESI Canada.

• Complete IFS Therapy Immersion: Integrating the IFS Model Across Clinical Applications. PESI Canada.

• Complex Trauma Certification Training: Interventions from EMDR, Parts Work, CPT, and Polyvagal Therapy. PESI Canada