Much like plodding through snow-laden terrain in winter, forging forward with therapy can be
arduous and foreboding. With commitment and repetition, however, a path emerges, and our
journey becomes easier and more familiar with time. Whether we are mired in depression,
frenetic with anxiety, battling the legacy of a past trauma, or slogging through the monotony of a
tired relationship, therapy can provide us with the tools and insights we need to reorient
ourselves to the present and create an informed design for the future.
As a Canadian Certified Counsellor with a Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology, I only
practise evidence-based treatments that have a track-record of efficacy. Some of these include:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Strengths-Based Trauma Therapy, and elements of
Gottman Method Therapy (Levels 1 and 2) for couples. Shortly, I will be augmenting my skill set
through further trauma training in Life Integration (LI) and couples training with the Gottman
Institute.
Much like plodding through uncharted terrain in winter, moving forward with therapy can be
arduous and foreboding. With commitment and repetition, however, a path emerges, and our
journey becomes easier and more familiar with time. Whether mired in depression, frenetic with
anxiety, or sewn into the pattern of a dysfunctional relationship, therapy can provide us with the
tools and insights we need to reorient ourselves to the present and create an informed design
for the future.
As someone who holds a deep respect for the scientific method, and a reverence for each
individual’s spiritual framework, I apply research-based practises to help you distill clouded
perspectives and process traumatic experiences. Some of these approaches include: Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Lifespan Integration Therapy (LI- a contemporary trauma therapy),
and Gottman Method Therapy (GMT) for couples. While these modalities provide the structure
“or bones” of therapy, my personal approach is informed by a veneration for the following:
1. Irvin Yalom’s existential givens of death, meaning, isolation, and freedom, which denote
the parameters of the human condition,
2. Carl Rogers’s client-centred approach, which views individuals through a lens of
curiosity and unconditional positive regard, and
3. the bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach, which I use as a heuristic for understanding the
facets of life that contribute to wellbeing.
With regards to delivery, I find figurative language, particularly the use of metaphor and analogy,
effective for creating rich, memorable dialogue, and useful for expediting salient insights.
Kintsugi, for example, is the Japanese art form of mending ceramic vessels with gold. While it is
a stunning form of art, it is also a valuable metaphor for how adverse experiences (our own
cracks and fissures) are part of what make us unique and resilient. In this way, I believe
psychotherapy to be a form of Kintsugi for the psyche.
On the topic of adversity, it is my mission to understand, and be present for, the plight that has
brought you to therapy. As someone who has been on both sides of the table- as an individual
client, a couple, and a therapist, I respect the courage, energy, and motivation it takes to
instigate change and show vulnerability to someone you’ve never met. It is my hope that we can
work together to help you reframe the legacy of your trauma, mitigate depression and anxiety,
create connection and grace within your relationship, and help you design an informed path
forward. Until then, I invite you to contemplate this quote by Winston Churchill, 1940: “If you’re
going through hell, keep going.”
