Counselling Therapy
A foundational aspect of my approach to the counselling process is the collaborative relationship between myself and the client, whereby the client is honoured as the expert in their own life, and I work to understand their lived experience so that I can support them best with my skill set. During the process of counselling therapy, empathetic listening and therapeutic interventions are utilized, along with the client’s innate strengths, to promote growth, wellbeing and wanted change.
Who May Benefit From My Services
An individual may benefit from working with me if they are experiencing emotional and/or physical pain or numbness, relationship difficulties, grief or dealing with loss, chronic stress and/or dysregulation, impacts of trauma, substance dependencies, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, a mood disorder such as borderline personality disorder or depression, non-suicidal self injury, or difficult life transitions. Individuals may also find benefit from my services if they would like to enhance or change aspects of their life relating to career, spiritual exploration or spiritual practice, lifestyle, finding purpose & meaning, family, friends, intimate relationships, physical and cognitive performance, or communication skills.
If you are wondering if I am a good fit for your situation, please contact me through the bookings link below to schedule a free 15 minute phone call.
My Core Approaches to Counselling Therapy
Click the paragraphs below to view more detail about the approaches.
Somatic
Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach to psychotherapy that brings more awareness to the psychophysiological mechanisms of a person in order to foster change. With somatic therapy, the client becomes more aware of the untapped resources that they have within them and information that their body is communicating to them, while also fostering an improved relationship with their mind-body connection.
My approach to somatic therapy is primarily informed by Somatic Experiencing, where interoception (mindful observation and tracking of bodily sensations), education about the nervous system (ie. brain-body connection), trauma processing, and compassionate listening are utilized in order to renegotiate the experience of trauma in the body and mind. The basis of somatic therapy is that our brain-mind-body functioning can be improved or restored from a state of stuck patterning through intentional awareness, responsiveness, working with activated sensations and emotions, and corrective experiences, such as the completion self-protective responses. This method has been found to be especially helpful for people who experience symptoms of trauma, PTSD, an acute stressful/overwhelming event, adverse childhood experiences, or chronic stress as these types of conditions can create a fundamental change in a person’s brain, nervous system and perceptions that can impact one’s sense of safety and connection with self, others and world around them. Somatic therapy accesses and builds upon one’s internal and external resources, and can help support healthier access and relationship to one’s sensations, emotions, cognitions, and behaviours.
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”
Peter Levine
Emotionally Focused
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a relational and humanistic approach to psychotherapy that is rooted in the science of emotion and attachment theory. EFT is an experiential modal where you are supported in identifying patterns within your intrapsychic and interpersonal struggles, accessing and sharing your underlying emotions, and working towards your goals through building a sense of safety and taking risks that lead to lasting change.
My use of EFT is primarily informed by my training in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT); however, I can also provide therapeutic treatment using EFT with individuals and non-traditional relationships (ie. non-monogonmous, polyamorous, etc.). More specifically, in couple therapy sessions, there will be a focus on getting clear about how you and your partner interact during times of distress and building greater understanding and empathy around your cycles of reactivity and/or emotional disconnection. You will also be supported in exploring and sharing more vulnerable emotions and needs, and engaging in new bonding experiences that foster deeper connection, secure attachment and healthier ways of relating to one another. To learn more about how attachment shapes primary relationships, and how a secure connection can be rebuilt between you and your loved one, see video below of Dr. Sue Johnson, the founder of EFT:
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“To be human is to need others, and this is no flaw or weakness.”
Sue Johnson
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamic therapy is a branch of psychotherapy that emphasizes analysis of the psychological forces (conscious and unconscious) underlying present thoughts, behavior, and emotions. The therapeutic process is generally focused on how to overcome or better live with physical, mental, or emotional health challenges by means of understanding a person’s thought processes and how past events may have impacted the present.
My approach to psychodynamic therapy may involve exploring how a client’s past, relationships, culture, lineage, environment and/or societal influences have formed the perceptual lens from which they see the world and interact in daily life. Additionally, we may approach present challenges from an existentialist lens, where conflicts existing within the client’s psyche may be explored through examining aspects of the human condition, such as suffering, death, values, freedom, belonging, loneliness, meaning in life, etc. Psychodynamic therapy can help foster new insights and emotional understanding that support a new way of perceiving and experiencing one’s current life, including having more choice and agency around desired outcomes. This type of therapy requires self-reflection, so that the client can begin to understand and express how aspects of their inner world impact their present challenges. Through gaining a greater sense of self-awareness, the client is more knowledgable about where they stand and how they can shape their future.
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.”
Carl Jung
Mindfulness-Based
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive behavioural therapy (MBCT) is a type of talk therapy integrated with mindfulness and relaxation techniques that focuses on increased awareness of our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and behaviours, as well as how these aspects of self are interconnected and in many cases interdependent. This approach of therapy involves deconstructing problems, emotions, unconscious beliefs, and distorted/negative thinking patterns that are impacting the client’s health, wellbeing and/or relationships, while also finding a sense of relaxation and ease in the nervous system.
An action-based approach is used to begin shifting the cognitions and behaviours that are deemed unhelpful through practice and other forms of reinforcement. My approach to MBCT may incorporate other types of therapy, such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which both incorporate mindfulness and CBT. MBCT has been shown to be an effective treatment for various mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and phobias, among many other concerns. Through integrating MBCT strategies and practices into daily life, the brain’s neural pathways adapt to new ways of thinking and behaving, which can lead to an array of positive life outcomes. This type of therapy can support clients in creating sustained wanted change that leads to a greater sense of mental clarity, emotional balance, control, improved relationships, and choice as they journey through the ebbs and flows of life.
“You have considerable power to construct self-helping thoughts, feelings and actions as well as to construct self-defeating behaviors. You have the ability, if you use it, to choose healthy instead of unhealthy thinking, feeling and acting.”
Albert Ellis
HeartMath® + Biofeedback
HeartMath is a system of psycho-education, mindfulness-based CBT techniques, and heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) that can be used to create synchronization between the brain and heart, as well as greater coherence within the nervous system. HRVB is a tool and therapeutic intervention that provides realtime feedback of heart rhythm patterns so that different cognitive, emotional, and physiological states can be better understood and responded to.
Over a course of treatment using HRVB and a set of therapeutic interventions, thoughts, emotions, physiology, and behaviours can begin to shift in a desired direction through the reorganization of neural pathways and creating a positive and sustainable shift within the nervous system. This type of therapy and training helps clients become more flexible and resilient in response to internal and external stressors, and engages the self-sensing areas of the brain that are responsible for your internal guidance system, helping with discernment and moving towards personal goals. HeartMath mindfulness and HRVB have shown to improve hormonal imbalances, various types of anxiety, cognitive functioning, performance (physical, test-taking, and performing arts), sleep disorders, and depression. This therapeutic method taps into innate mind-body resources and provides clients with easy to use techniques that can support them throughout their life in creating more peace and ease within their body, mind and in the way they interact with the world around them.
“When we’re engaged with our hearts, the mind slows down and our thoughts become more rational and focused.”
Doc Childre
The Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapy (NSCCT) is the public-interest regulator for Registered Counselling Therapists (RCTs) and Registered Counselling Therapist Candidates (RCT-Cs) in the Province. NSCCT registers and licenses counselling therapists, and is mandated by the Counselling Therapists Act and the Counselling Therapist Regulations to accept, investigate and adjudicated complaints brought forward against a registrant of the College. If you have any questions or would like to make a complaint please click the NSCCT Logo Below.
Furthermore, all RCTs, RCT-Cs, and Canadian Certified Counsellors (CCCs) are required to follow the ethics and standards of practice outlined by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy association (CCPA). To view these guiding documents, please click the associated images below.
Counselling & Holistic Therapy 