Counsellor | Quadra Island & Campbell River, BC | Online
Services
One-to-One Counselling
I provide one-to-one clinical counselling to adult individuals. Counselling sessions are provided online through a virtual platform for the most part, but please enquire for the availability of in-person sessions.
Approach & Philosophy
With my clients, I endeavour to build a balanced relational power dynamic and a space for collaboration in the work we do together. With my clinical practice I utilise an integrative approach which enables me to use an eclectic range of therapeutic methods and mixtures of theories and frameworks to serve individual client's unique circustance. I incorporate the principles of mindfulness practice, somatic approach, neurobiology, attachment theory, and trauma and compassion informed care.
The science has enabled us to understand our behaviours and emotional experiences through studying the human brain and the cognitive perspective of neuroscience. However, we now know that each feeling or emotion we experience elicits sensations which we hold in our bodies. Trauma too resides within the body. My integrative approach incorporates the cognitive, affective, physiological, and relational aspects of understanding and exploring clients’ experiences and challenges in order to provide a holistic intervention.
Many come to counselling and therapy suffering a sense of a lack of control and power over their lives, but my practice approach incorporates the consideration of respecting and recognising the capacity and capability within each individual of having the inherent ability to heal and grow and to regain a sense of agency. My intention is to facilitate the process of empowerment and rediscovery for individuals to heal and thrive and to find meaning in the struggles that we all encounter in our life journey.
While my clinical goal is to offer a safe space rooted in a therapeutic relationship between clients and myself for their healing work, my ultimate aim is to support my clients in reaching an internal alliance and integration so that reconnection with and trust in the self can continue to accompany them in their life journey.
Here are some of the difficulties that can be supported through working with me
anxiety, depression, & stress
attachment
abuse / violence
work related stress
grief, loss & bereavement
emotional regulation
relationship difficulties
trauma / transgenerational trauma
life transitions & challenges
chronic health conditions
My personal take on trauma & grief
I assist my clients through a wide range of issues, such as anxiety, stress, and depression, which prevent many from living a fulfilling life. More particularly, I have a special interest in supporting clients through their trauma and grief work. I focus on strengthening knowledge and skills in these areas which are closely connected and significantly inform our life experiences. From living with anxiety and depression, to work and life and relational stress, to encountering specific traumatic events or chronic trauma, and to feel stuck in past trauma memory, these human experiences deal with a common struggle of losing a sense of normality, stability, and at times, selfhood. As a result, this often leads to the loss of self agency and chronic grief.
While we grieve over the loss of loved ones or beloved pets, as humans, we also grieve over expected transitions and unanticipated changes in life; we grieve over our children growing up and find we are no longer needed in the same familiar way; we grieve over our own aging process. Many of us also grieve over the loss of a relationship, a dream, an ability, and a possibility. These losses position us at a place where grieving is an essential process in helping us to regain our footing and find meaning in life. And yet, we forget that through traumatic experiences, we encounter losses. As many trauma experts point out, not all grief originates from trauma, yet all trauma involves an element of grief. It can be hard to heal alone, and my hope is that I can walk alongside you, helping and encouraging you through your healing journey.
“I know what the fear is. The fear is not for what is lost.
What is lost is already in the wall.
What is lost is already behind the locked door.
The fear is for what is still to be lost.”
Blue Nights, Joan Didion