Therapy is a process where you explore new ways of understanding your relationships with yourself, with family, friends, workmates, and others, and with the wider world.  Therapy is also the relationship that develops between you and your therapist, which is why it is important to feel enough comfort and trust to begin the work.  As your therapist, I take a holistic approach, asking you to consider all of your experiences, your body, mind, and soul, as you understand them.  I support you to consider your strengths and how you can bring them to bear on what feels stuck in your life.  As I listen to you, I draw on a variety of therapies in response to hearing about your challenges and your life’s journey.  Together, we consider what approaches and practices work for you.

I use cognitive behavioural therapy to focus on specific thoughts, emotions, and sensations, psychodynamic therapy to connect past events to present outcomes, mindfulness and self compassion to increase calm, self-kindness, and self-trust, and to decrease reactivity and increase responsiveness, DBT skills, and Neuropsychotherapy.  I offer Expressive Arts Therapy, an experiential and embodied therapy rooted in the arts and play for those who are interested.  No training in the arts are required to explore this approach!

Here is a general outline of the early stages of therapy with me:

Consult

You may wish to set up a 20 minute free consult where you can ask questions, express concerns, and determine if you would like to start therapy with me. 

Intake Session and first few sessions:

If you indicate you would like to start, we begin by going over your history.  Over the next 2-3 sessions, we will get to know each other and I will learn more about your concerns.  After a few sessions, I will outline a treatment plan that includes a suggested timeline.

What is a session like? 

You bring your reflections, questions and experiences to therapy and I listen deeply and respond in an open, non-judgmental way that I hope will allow you to explore and share more deeply as we develop a trusting relationship.  Together, we address your current concerns, whether they come from the deep or near past, the present or the future.  You are welcome to agree and disagree with me, to talk or sit silently, and to express yourself in other ways.

How long will I be in therapy? 

You determine how long therapy will last.  Since no two therapeutic journeys are alike, I will make recommendations as requested.  Some challenges might require short term therapy (3 to 6 sessions) and some take longer.  Sometimes, telling a therapist about an experience in a session or two is enough.  Some people develop a long term relationship with their therapist and enjoy discussing large and small concerns.  Sometimes people work on an issue with a therapist, take a break, and then return.   Your choices will depend on many factors and I will work with your choice.