A bit more about me
I knew at 17 that I wanted to be a psychologist. I’d seen enough suffering by then to know that I wanted to find a way to help people. That led me to a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and from there to my first job as a therapist supporting people with complex trauma. I loved it.
Over two decades later, I still do.
I couldn’t have predicted where I would go with my work - from that first job in a hospital in Toronto, to a forensic psychiatric hospital in Vancouver, to almost two decades in the humanitarian sector supporting people in conflict and post-conflict settings. No matter the setting, though, there’s always been a common thread - working in service of individuals and communities navigating profound suffering and loss.
In my 25+ years of doing this work, my thinking about healing and therapy has changed but my commitment to my clients has not. I’m a firm believer in the potency of a strong therapeutic alliance. I work hard to earn the trust of my clients, to honour their experiences, and to create a safe container for therapy. Attunement, humility, and curiosity are the cornerstones of my approach.
My approach to therapy is experiential. That means your healing comes not from a cognitive understanding - though that can be helpful - but from the experience of being with.
I work within the Internal Family System model, and thus hold two things to be true:
First, we are all multiple. We all have multiple parts of ourselves, parts that hold different beliefs, feelings, sensations, experiences, memories, and patterns.
Second, all our parts have good intentions. Your parts are working for the good of your system. Their methods can be brutal and destructive - harsh self-criticism, addictions, panic attacks, obsessive thinking, numbing out - but their intention for you is good. As you bring understanding to your parts, you can forge a new relationship with them, offering the loving presence they need to transform.
As your guide, I offer my compassion, my calm, my curiosity and my hope, and help you connect to those qualities in yourself.
Together we bear witness to the wounded parts of you, the parts that hold the pains of past experiences, and the hard-working protective parts that drive much of your behaviour and thinking.
And in that witnessing, your parts transform, freed of their destructive habits and hurts, leaving you with more flexibility, more harmony, and more access to your true nature - a compassionate, courageous, and expansive being.
Therapy is a journey. My job is to guide you to safely explore your inner world.
You are the expert on the terrain of your life. I bring the experience of having been on this journey myself and with many others.
Selected Qualifications
Ph.D. Clinical Forensic Psychology, Simon Fraser University
Internal Family Systems, IFS Institute
Level 1 Foundation
Level 2 Deepening and Expanding with IFS
Level 3 Spirituality and IFS
Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy, Fluence
Apprenticing to Grief, Grief Tending in Community UK
Shamanism of the Sister Isles of Britain & Ireland, Hallowquest UK (Foundation & Intermediate Levels completed, Advanced Practitioner Training on-going)
Intensive Training on Control-Focused Behavioural Treatment of Trauma Survivors, DABATEM Istanbul Center for Behaviour Research and Therapy
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Investigations Basic and Advanced, Common Humanitarian Standards
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Basic Training, EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program
Prolonged Exposure for the Treatment of Trauma, Edna Foa, Ph.D.
My Co-Therapist
A (mostly) silent presence in sessions, Bubs offers her cat self energy (and the occasional gentle snoring) for your healing. Not held back by her lack of credentials, she may occasionally make an on-screen appearance to send you compassion, love, and hope.