Individual Counselling
I offer counselling online, over the phone and in-person for adults ages 19+ seeking support for emotional struggles, attachment trauma or personal growth. Sessions typically build on each other to achieve your goals, but also offer space to honour essential human needs: to be heard, understood and witnessed.
In-person sessions in Squamish, BC are for 50 minutes. Virtual sessions can be 50 or 80 minutes, depending on your needs and preference. I’ve had great success using video and phone with many clients.
Specialties
Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety and depression are like two sides of the same coin: they may develop as a means of coping with stress, old traumas, or a world that feels like “too much”. Our nervous systems learn to be hypervigilant, trying to protect us from threat (anxiety) or shutting down in response to what feels like too much (depression). Exploring the emotional and nervous system foundations, as well as the thought patterns that accompany these, can be a step towards new experiences.
Grief, Loss and Transitions
The grief of experiencing the death or loss of a loved one, or the end of a relationship, can feel scary, dark, heart-wrenching. I can be a support and guide as you work through the inevitable cycles of grief and meaning-making. Big transitions and uncertainty can also be hard to wade through alone. If you’re unsure of your next steps, struggling to adjust to change, or just need support as you move through the uncertainties of life that can’t be ‘fixed’, I’m here.
Self-Worth and Personal Growth
Do you feel like you’re “too much” or “not good enough”? These beliefs can affect our self-esteem and our behaviours. A strong “inner critic” voice might drive you to perfectionism and burnout, or a fear of being abandoned might keep you stuck in people-pleasing patterns. Exploring, naming, and shifting these patterns can help you embrace your inherent worth, and move beyond false limitations. Self-acceptance and space for change can emerge.
Attachment Wounds
Early experiences create patterns around how we try to protect ourselves and get our needs met in relationships. Perhaps you feel anxious in relationships, struggling to feel seen, or worried that you might be abandoned. Or perhaps you struggle with emotional overwhelm or intimacy and find that you shut down or pull away to find safety. Attachment patterns may start early but they’re not set in stone! Together we can help you build the resilience and regulation to create secure attachment.
What to Expect
In our work together, I’ll invite you to:
Develop greater awareness of your thoughts and beliefs
Reconnect to your body’s wisdom and befriend your emotions
Create and integrate new emotional and felt experiences in a safe environment, so that new patterns start to emerge
Build your emotional and nervous system regulation “tool-kits” so you feel more able to take on challenges
Get to know the different ‘parts’ of you that sometimes feel stuck, and help you to work through any ‘internal battles’
Navigate uncertainty, transitions, pain and grief to build resilience
Shift the patterns holding you back from the life and relationships you really want
I’ll make suggestions for exercises or practices that we can do together, but it’s always up to you to decide what feels right for you. Part of the work is learning to tune into what is a ‘yes’ for you, and what is a ‘no’.
Counselling with me can help you to:
Increase self-trust and self-worth
Gain tools to work with stress and anxiety
Identify your needs, listen to your inner voice and set healthy boundaries
Work with your ‘attachment style’ to help you find more ease in relationships and daily life
Feel more comfortable working with difficult emotions and using them as information about your needs
Manage the frustrations and heartache that arise with injury or pain
Take action towards a life path aligned with your core values, meaning and purpose: for yourself, in relationships and/or at work and school.
Reconnect to your resources, supports and community.
“the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own” - Mary Oliver