About Therapy

What is therapy anyway?

It is a place to:

• Explore and make sense of painful thoughts, feelings, and experiences in the presence of a non-judgemental witness.

• Find validation in what you have gone through.

• Discuss unhelpful patterns.

• Learn new, helpful ways to respond to thoughts and behaviours.

• Come up with ideas on how to practice new ways of living.

Getting Started:

Therapy works best when you feel comfortable with your counsellor and can develop a trusting relationship. I offer a free 15 minute consultation over the phone so that you can get a feel for whether we are a good fit. Individual therapy sessions are 50 minutes in length and you have control in determining the frequency. We will decide during your initial intake session what frequency of appointments makes sense for your unique situation and adjust periodically as needed.

Your first session will be considered an intake session where we will discuss what brings you to therapy, what your life currently looks like, and what your goals and hopes are for therapy. We will discuss a plan for your therapy which will be reviewed periodically. You may have short term or long term in mind, and we can plan around that together. My clients and I work collaboratively to come up with ways to practice homework in between sessions with things like journaling and mindful based practices. 

My Approach

My top priority is to create a safe space for you to explore whatever it is you need in the moment. With me you will experience deep trust and feel truly seen and validated. My therapeutic style is non-judgemental, warm and curious with sprinkles of humour (because therapy is difficult but it can also be pleasant). I use a holistic lens, believing that your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual parts are all connected. 

Whether we are looking at issues that require addressing the past, or are looking more at present and future goals, my approach is the same. I work with a client centred, trauma informed lens with the intention of helping you process what is getting in the way of you feeling your best. I work holistically meaning I incorporate your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual self. I approach everything with attention to the social and cultural context. I am aware of my own positionality and potential biases and invite feedback from my clients. My intention is to create a safe space for you to explore yourself without judgement and with the warmest regard. 

I incorporate body awareness into our talk therapy sessions because we are more than just our brains. Research shows that our bodies hold on to past traumas, negative beliefs, and emotional and behaviour patterns. That is why we cannot work through them through talk alone. Depending on the client, I draw from somatic work, CBT, DBT, narrative and feminist therapy, mindfulness techniques, and solution focused based therapy. 

Expressing your thoughts and feeling your emotions while being heard and witnessed without judgement by a fellow human can be the most healing process of all. 

To book a 15 minute free consultation please click the button below to access my client booking schedule.

Childless By Chance

 Childless / Childfree

One of my areas of specialization is in the grief and loss that comes with infertility, pregnancy loss, or childlessness by circumstance. This can bring about self-judgement, alienation, trauma, grief, and depression. The impact can be all encompassing, affecting every corner of life including primary relationships, friendships, finances, and self esteem. I include the words childless and childfree because however you self identify is your prerogative. There is room for your own terminology as well. 

While this may be the demographic in which you fall, it is not who you are. Although you may want to talk about what comes up around these issues, you are not limited to that in your work with me. I include this section to create an inclusive space for a population that is widely misunderstood and feels a great deal of pain in a society that puts parenthood on a pedestal. 

There is an astounding number of reasons you may fall into this category of people who are childless by circumstance. Not an exhaustive list but to name a few: infertility, didn’t find a partner you want to procreate with, found that partner later in life, with an abusive partner, financial constraints, pursuit of stability in career, abusive childhood and don’t want to perpetuate that cycle, fertility treatments not working, adoption not completing, constraints of same sex relationships.

• Do you feel pressure to do something big and impressive with your life to compensate for not having children?

• Do you feel like you should do everything possible to make it happen no matter what the cost, physical, emotional, financial?

• Do you have anger towards yourself or your body and blame it for not getting to be a parent?

• Are your relationships feeling challenging as a result of not having children?

• Have you experienced infertility or pregnancy loss?

Being childless despite having hoped or planned to have children can have a tremendous impact on your life. In a society that frames parenthood as the fast track to a meaningful life and right of passage in adulthood, I help those that don’t yet have or never will have children. I help them process where they are at, and find their own purpose and fulfillment.

Shame, failure, lack, selfishness, regret and so many other things come up when faced with the position of not having children. This is internalized societal expectations. Although about a quarter of the population experience never having children, they are greatly misunderstood and judged by others and by themselves. It is important that we are not defined by the very societal structures that misunderstand us. We must write our own script. 

There is an inherent loss in not having children if you had wanted to, and with any loss there needs to be a process of grieving and coming to terms with it. It is through this process that you can eventually embrace it and thrive. 

To book a 15 minute free consultation please click the button below to access my client booking schedule.