How do I know if I need counselling?
Counselling will help you to navigate through a challenging time in your life by providing you with the opportunity to develop a greater perspective on your life. Counselling will also help you to learn new skills to make long desired changes in self-limiting behaviours you may be enacting; as well, I will support you in the expression and processing of emotions that at times can seem overwhelming and confusing.
About Me
Hello and Welcome! I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. I have over 15 years of supporting both individuals and couples through challenging passages during their lives. I hold a Master of Arts in Counselling from Gonzaga University (2002). I bring both breadth and depth to my clinical practice having worked in the field of palliative care for ten years, as well I have experience supporting clients overcoming drug and alcohol addiction as well as patterns of disordered eating. Currently I also work supporting clients and family members through the Patient and Family Counselling Services at the BC Cancer Agency here in Victoria. I work from both a systems perspective, which acknowledges the impact of culture, gender and class and race on our lived experience as well as from an interpersonal perspective, recognizing our own strengths and resiliency in spite of outside forces and conditions. My passion is in supporting people in removing the obstacles that sometimes block us from pursuing a richer, more creative and more satisfying life, no matter what is happening.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM WORKING WITH ME
I provide a safe and supportive environment that will provide you the space necessary to begin to disentangle the often confusing threads of our life. You will set the pace and choose what areas of focus you wish to work on; perhaps you are struggling with relationship issues, or maybe you are seeking to reconnect with passion to help move you forward in your career. You might love someone who struggles with drug or alcohol addiction and you’re uncertain how to best take care of yourself in this experience. Whichever goals you set, I will help you navigate the passage into a new sense of yourself with respect to any and all of these issues. In counselling, there is no magic wand, however, together you and I will chart a course together to help you connect into your own strengths and resiliency that have served you so well to this point.
Do you need support in any of these areas?
Grief and Loss
Whether it is the loss of a loved one through death, a diagnosis of a life threatening illness or a child moving away from home, all of these experiences are followed by grief, the natural adaptive response to loss.
Addictions Support
If you are recently clean or sober and are seeking added support to help you firm up your foundation of your new life, or a loved one in a relationship with someone who struggles with addiction, counselling can help.
Trauma
As a therapist with extensive experience supporting individuals who have experienced historic abuse and trauma I am able to provide the necessary skills to support individuals seeking to be free from the effects of childhood traumatic abuse.
Life Transitions
Perhaps you are a new parent, or newly divorced or leaving a career for a new one, or your children have moved out, I can help you navigate the passage of change and unfamiliarity that goes along with our most potent life transitions.