My professional style is gentle, relaxed and down to earth with a dash of east coast humour!
My practice approach is holistic, trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and client-centered. I work from an integrative perspective, combining several different evidence-based counselling frameworks including attachment theory, emotion focused therapy, polyvagal theory, internal family systems Therapy, interpersonal neurobiology, compassionate inquiry and acceptance and commitment therapy. I am deeply committed to ongoing professional development to further my knowledge and offer you the most effective counselling services.
When you work with me, you get a more genuine, collaborative, and empowering approach that honours your lived experience, resiliency and strengths. My goal is to offer you a counselling experience that’s rooted in professionalism but feels a little less clinical. We aren’t pathological problems to be fixed nor are we the labels, diagnoses or negative stories that we carry around. We all have the capacity to grow and change. As your counsellor, my role is to help you tap into your innate wisdom and capabilities; create awareness and empower the changes you wish to make.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
As a counsellor, I value authenticity and vulnerability – being real with you. So, I think it’s important to share a little bit about myself so that you can get a sense of whether or not you feel we might be a good fit for working together. I got my professional start working in the counselling centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, while completing a BA in Psychology and a BBA in Business Administration. From there, I moved into supporting victims/survivours of sexual violence at the NL Sexual Assault Crisis and Prevention Centre. For over 20 years now, I have worked in a variety of frontline community settings providing interventions for a diverse array of clients dealing with a variety of complex issues including mental health issues, addictions, poverty, violence, etc.
I recently completed my Master’s degree in Social Work at Carleton University so that I could shift into private practice. I chose social work because I believe it offers the most holistic approach to well-being, considering all of the factors that impact us throughout our lives – biological, psychological, social, spiritual and structural. I am currently registered with both the OCSWSSW and the NLCSW to be able to offer virtual counselling in both Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Perhaps just as importantly as having the right combo of educational training and work experience, I’ve gained lived experience and hopefully just a little bit of wisdom over the years! I’ve personally struggled with many of the same issues you do. So, I get it on a personal level, which ultimately helps me to relate to and connect with you on a deeper level while still providing the professional support that you need.
Some areas of particular interest include: alcohol use and sober curiousity; stress management, self-care, burnout, compassion fatigue/empathic strain, vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress; anxiety and depression.
