Making the choice to work with a counsellor involves a great deal of courage and a will to step beyond your usual ways of managing your life to embrace new ways of being. It’s not an easy process, and I am privileged to accompany my clients on their journeys of discovery and healing.
Growing up, I often played the role of listener and peacemaker in my family. Since then, part of me always wanted to know how to be helpful to families and individuals in distress, but my own struggles with shame and self-criticism led me to believe that if I felt drawn to something, I would be best to avoid that path, as failure would be sure to follow. And yet, over time and with many new experiences and supportive relationships, I learned that what I saw as failure was really part of my learning process.
After a long journey, I hold a Master of Arts degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia and I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors.
As a counsellor and as a human, I bring a sense of warmth and curiosity to my work, as well as a deep respect for the experiences and the strengths of those who choose to work with me. It is important to me to take the time to get to know you and what you value as an individual and as a part of larger systems like family, school, and cultural groups. I am passionate about working with people around issues such as anxiety, relational trauma, self-criticism, low self-worth, and lack of connection, which can show up in struggles like low mood, difficulty regulating emotions, and eating and body image concerns.
In my work, I draw from a range of trauma-informed approaches, anchored by my training in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), which is based on the idea that we are able to “undo our aloneness” and access our natural healing tendency from the safety of a secure relationship. I also use cognitive-behavioural therapy, mindfulness, and expressive practices, to name a few, all of which I love to teach during the counselling process, so that your work with me can be a way to practise tools that will support you long after our time together is finished.