What I Do.

  • Life can be hard.

    Most of us have an idea of how we would like things to be. When the vision and reality don't line up, this can cause even more distress. We try to change things but change is hard and we are often left alone with our thoughts, spinning around in circles, wondering what to do next.

    I believe that people are doing the best they can and that there are very good reasons why change is not happening for them. We are all products of our genetics, lived experience, and current environments and all of these factors are contributing to the reasons why change can be hard or seemingly impossible.

    For many of us because of shame, guilt or embarrassment, it is hard to reach out to others to talk about it. We worry about what others might think, concerned there is something wrong with us, that other people don’t feel this way, and that if anyone found out, we would be judged. Without unbiased guidance,it can be hard to normalize how we are feeling, articulate a new vision and develop strategies for making things better. 

    I offer a forward-looking, supportive, judgement-free environment, conducive to exploring and questioning the elements in people’s lives that are creating barriers, and collaborating on a renewed vision of what is possible. With well-developed skills in the use of empathy and humour in counselling, I work with individuals to understand the complex web of factors that have contributed to their current reality and work collaboratively with them to redefine their future.

    I believe it is time to lift the stigma of therapy and I offer an approach that is adaptable and appropriate for anyone who longs for change in their life.

    I believe in the power of hope and am convinced that change IS possible. 

    Take the first step towards your new reality. 

  • One of the deepest and most primal of our emotional needs is to be connected with others and feel that we matter. 

    Relationships take many forms but one of the most important is when we choose a partner to share our life with.  While there is a lot of joy that comes with this relationship, it also requires an enormous amount of work. The modern world can wreak havoc on the modern family; time constraints, financial strain, parenting styles, career demands, and the various obligations of family members are among the factors that slowly erode the connection between couples.  When this is not attended to, the gap between couples can widen, creating even more tension, and introducing feelings of disconnection, frustration, loneliness, and sadness. 

    Often couples develop patterns of communication and behaviour that get in the way of being able to be there for each other. Understanding these negative patterns can be the first step toward doing something different,  introducing behaviours that will allow both to move closer to each other rather than farther apart.

    Learning to talk openly, being vulnerable with our partners about our own needs, while learning about theirs, navigating our unhelpful patterns and understanding our triggers, are all skills that are critical to developing and maintaining healthy relationships but may not have been taught to or modeled for us. 

    In counselling, my role is to help couples share their thoughts, hurts, and hopes so that people can create a new vision together and develop the skills necessary to cope with the challenges of realtionships and family life in the 21st century. 

  • Revisioning life at work

    Many of the same communication pitfalls that occur between individuals or with couples, happen within organizations. I have heard it said that there is no “organization”; any company or established business exists only as systems made up of people.  People carry with them their own thoughts, ideas and challenges. Many of the same negative patterns that exist in our personal lives can be mirrored in the workplace, with the complication that often we can't just "cut them out" of our lives.  I work with organizations to identify, challenge, improve, and address on-going issues in the workplace. These may be systemic, organizational, attitudinal, psychoeducational or skill-based issues. This type of work can be in the form of individual work, working with a team or at the managerial level. 

     My experience in working with groups from diverse backgrounds, in combination with my ability to make connections with people quickly and easily, contribute to creating and implementing effective workshops and seminars to help organizations develop healthy communication patterns and collaborate on a new vision for life at work.