My Approach

You might wonder how one counsellor can fully carry everything you're hoping to work through. I know how much these kinds of worries can impcat decision making.

Here are some of the themes I work with regularly and robustly:

* Substance use and abuse

* Anxiety, stress, overwhelm

* Depression, sadness, hopelessness

* Feelings of shame, guilt, low self-worth

* Reproductive mental health

* Preparation and integration of psychedelics

My approach knits many different threads. But, the essence of my work is committed to a trauma-informed and relational practice.

What does this mean?

* I hold a deep understanding of how trauma impacts your whole system including thoughts or beliefs about yourself, others, and the world around you.

* I aim to de-pathologize. Shifting from what is "wrong" with you to focus on what you are experiencing.

* I am gentle, curious, collaborative, and often playful.

* We will strengthen your resources so you can stay regulated during therapy and as you move through the world.

Education/Experience:

I worked as a doula/birth partner for many years with the aim of dismantaling oppressive medical practices and norms that impact birthing bodies and their partners. My work was largely based in women's shelters in Ottawa, as well as with single women, or new immigrants to Canada. I worked in Honduras in rural communities learning from mountain-based midwives and collaborating with urban medical care providers to improve birthing outcomes for young women.

Yoga has been a consistent space for me to be with myself, notice my judgements, reactions, and breath. Though I no longer teach, I rely on these ancient and precious learnings to stretch, expand, and find limits as a counsellor and human being. I earned my wings as a flight attendant which didn't nourish me in the ways I had hoped, however this launched me into my current work as a counsellor.

Since 2022 I have been working as a concurrent disorder counsellor and case manager in Vancouver and the Downtown Eastside. I am deeply committed to working alongside marginalized populations to hear and hold their stories, reduce medical biases, shift power dynamics, and focus on relationship building over paperwork.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Religious Studies from University of Ottawa, and Masters in Counselling from Yorkville University.

Most recently, I have graduated from Lisa Mortimore's two year somatic attachment psychotherapy diploma.

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