I am a registered clinical counsellor (www.bc-counsellors.org), originally trained as a Gestalt therapist and then went on to receive my Masters in Counselling Psychology in 1995 from UBC. That same year I opened a private practice in Vancouver, where I worked with individuals and couples on a variety of issues including general life dissatisfaction, trauma, depression, anxiety and grief. At the end of July 2019 I closed my Vancouver practice but continue to work with clients online or on the phone from my home on the Sunshine Coast.
One of my primary areas of focus is supporting wellness and life balance for caregivers: from parents being challenged to find time for self care to staff working with severely traumatized individuals in areas such as the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.
In 2003 I co-founded Windhorse Awareness Program, an Equine Facilitated Personal Development (EFPD) program on Salt Spring Island. Over the last number of years, I have facilitated many EFPD individual and group sessions focused on topics such as leadership, team building, boundary clarity, spirituality and relationships. As well as the EFPD work, I have facilitated and co-facilitated many groups in areas such as women's spirituality, Celtic Shamanism, dancing and dreaming.
My other trainings include the Bader-Pearson Developmental Model of Couples Therapy (www.couplesinstitute.com), Energy Psychology techniques such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), MR (Matrix Reimprinting), EMDR and PSYCH-K. I studied Equine Facilitated Learning with Barbara Rector (www.adventuresinawareness.net) and ongoing horse education with 2 gifted horse people, Josh Nichol (www.joshnichol.com) and Brooke Rempel (www.heartofhorsemanship.ca). Spiritual studies include the Ontogony (self realization) teachings of Carlos De Leon of Mexico as well as meditation, shamanism, Tibetan Buddhism practices and Chi Kung. I receive ongoing meditation practices from Maa Uma-Parvathi Natha http://aforestpath.com/index.html.
The foundation of my work is to offer an emotionally safe environment that encourages individuals to gain a deeper awareness and consciousness of their authentic self. A connection on this level results in an increase in personal freedom leading to an expansion of love, compassion and joy for self and others