PSYCHOTHERAPIST & PSYCHOTHERAPIST EDUCATOR

PSYCHOTHERAPIST

As a psychotherapist, I work from a collaborative and relational stance. While we work with the material brought to therapy, I always have an eye to the past, and where the problems and patterns of today may have been formed in early life. In this way, we can work to change the underlying patterns that maintain issues and suffering.

Ultimately, I believe we are inherently resilient beings who long to be authentic, recognised, deeply engaged in the world, and have an innate capacity to change. Often society, family dynamics, and cultural expectations dictate who we are, and how we are, rather than allowing one to explore who we are and present our true self in the world. With support, we have the potential to realise our true path.

In my work, I hope to support people to learn about, and experience themselves, their histories, and their relationships in an expanded way that encourages them to build genuine, impassioned lives.

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor. My practice is online and I work with folks from across British Columbia.

EDUCATOR

As an educator of psychotherapists, I bring a heart to the complexities of clinical practice, specifically oriented to working with folks with relational trauma – insecure attachment – and, more specifically, on chronic shame and the unseen hand that it creates, which guides and limits all aspects of a person’s life. I am particularly adept at pulling together diverse and complex theoretical material and translating it into accessible practice application. My clinical approach rests upon a foundation of affect regulation, polyvagal theory, somatic and embodied clinical practice, attachment theory and application, and relational/interpersonal psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In my clinical heart, I am an embodied relational therapist and educator.

My intention as a therapist educator is always to deepen therapist understanding and capacity to recognise and witness the nuanced presentations and deep suffering inherent in early attachment injuries. One of the goals in my teaching is to humanize those who suffer with chronic shame. I strive to not only educate therapists but to support their evolution as clinicians as I bringing together the theories of Attachment, Somatic and Embodied practice, Affect Regulation, Interpersonal and Relational Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy into a form that enhances clinical practice, without losing the subtlety and brilliance of the individual psychotherapist.

Currently I teach workshops on chronic shame as well as in the 2 year Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy training. To learn more about my pedagogy and teaching, go to the Bringing the Body into Practice site.

Should you be interested in reading some of my clinical writing on chronic shame, click here to go to the blog section of the BBP site.

Proud supporter of the BC SPCA and Victoria Wild Arc

Bringing theoretical and clinical rigour, humour, and heart to my clinical and teaching practice.

Frequently asked questions on somatic therapy and choosing a therapist

How do I choose a therapist?

It is important to choose a therapist who is well trained and experienced, and you feel comfortable with. You will also want to discern whether the logistics are a match, namely, if they work in person or online, the days and hours they work, etc. To answer this question, in my practice, I work entirely online, weekdays (Mondays, Wednesdays, and some Fridays), during regular business hours, so if you are wanting to see someone in person, or need weekend or after hours appointments, I’m not a fit. Many therapists offer a free meet and greet so you can connect and get a sense of one another to ensure that it is a good fit. I offer a short meet and greet for prospective clients, and feel like this is a really easy way to determine fit.

How long does therapy take?

Unfortunately, there is no answer to that question. The length of therapy will depend on what brings you to therapy. Sometimes people feel shifts early on and get some relief to their symptoms or struggles quite quickly, other times, it takes some time to sort through the complexity of what is presenting and bringing you to seek support. I characterize therapy for many people as fire and fuel- the fire is the present day problem that brings you therapy, and the fuel is generally the longstanding, relational patterns, or early life experiences that (often outside of a person’s awareness) are playing a role in fueling the fire or issues in their life. Many people are satisfied to address the fire, while others want to dig through the fuel, and there’s no right or wrong way for clients to do therapy.

How often should I come to therapy?

What is somatic therapy?

Somatic therapy brings the body into the therapeutic conversation. Our bodies are always providing us with information about what is happening and how we are experiencing life and the world around us, but many people find it difficult or don’t even think to listen for what it is telling us. By listening to and bringing the body and right hemisphere (sensations, sensory motor, images, meaning, metaphor) into the therapeutic conversation, we can get at what is going on neurophysiologically, below the chatter of the mind, expectations, shoulds, etc., which can be an invaluable way of accessing truths, knowing, or what people really want. As a therapist, I find working in this way to be a creative, rich, deeply relational way of working, which can really create meaningful change in clients for whom this is a good fit.

What approaches do you use?

I practice a form of somatic therapy called Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy. This orientation to working therapeutically draws upon somatic therapy, attachment theory and application to practice, neuroscience, affect regulation, the polyvagal theory, trauma studies, embodiment practices, and relational and interpersonal psychoanalytic psychotherapy. All of this theory and research provides me with a very large container to hold a client’s trauma, and a very large field for us to walk through therapeutically, together.