I knew from a young age that a large part of my path was meant for being of service. I knew I wanted to help people. This desire was born as a result of having gone through my own childhood trauma and not wanting others to spend their lives constantly experiencing the kind of pain and limitation that I had. Having gotten into therapy myself early in life and returning many times throughout, I learned how to not be in perpetual pain. I discovered that a difficult start to life doesn’t have to mean a lifetime filled with anguish, anxiety, sadness and hopelessness. I still go back to therapy when life pulls the rug from under me. I’m still learning, healing and growing just like everyone else in the world.
Doing my own work outside of my therapy sessions allowed me to build incredible habits and skill sets that made me so much better equipped to deal with all the challenges the universe threw at me. As I started to see results, all I wanted was to show other people how to do this. I knew I wanted to become a healer, and specifically a therapist, because I had gotten so much help from mine. My tough beginnings primed me for a life of service being a therapist because it gave me a deep understanding and empathy for human pain. If there was anything I could do that would help people learn something that could alleviate their pain, I was going to make it my mission to learn how to do that.
In terms of education, conventional psychology didn’t feel like the right path for me, because I feel that it undermines the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit. I believe that having a relationship and connection with the universe, whatever way that may be, is imperative to our healing and becoming whole. For that reason, I chose to pursue my studies at the Transformational Arts College (TAC) in Toronto. This revolutionary program provided me with the skills sets of traditional psychotherapy as well as a psychospiritual approach. Essentially what that means is that I am trained to include a spiritual (non-religious) element to my therapy practice.
My overall approach is a holistic one that focuses on the getting to the ground zero of each of our triggers and healing the original pain that caused it. I’m all about the root cause so that the trigger can be eliminated altogether. I also layer on coping and trigger management skills because the root cause may take time to unpack, heal and reframe, and we still need to be able to function in the world, learn new things, and improve our lives and relationships as we do that healing.
My approach to sessions comes from a place of authenticity and empathy. I work in a connected and intuitive way to meet my clients where they’re at with no agenda. My goal is to create a relaxed and emotionally safe space for people to share their truth and vulnerability. I come at my clients like equals. I have as much to learn from them as they might learn from me. We are all mirror reflections of what and whom we pull into our lives, so there is naturally going to be growth and learning on both ends. I am not the all-knowing clinician sitting behind a clipboard judging and looking down at a client who I believe is some unknowledgeable shmuck. Quite the opposite. The knowledge and power that we each carry inside of us is enormous, and the environment I cultivate in my practice is about learning how to tap into what’s already inside of us. My job is to help people learn how to believe in their own power, stop turning their back on themselves and access the greatness that I believe is everyone’s birthright.
I believe that laughter is an important part of the healing process. Laughter is fun, a great release and so healing! We need humour to allow for reprieve of the heaviness that might occur during the session. Well, you’re in luck on that front ‘cause I’m hilarious. My background in performance and comedy is one of the tools I use appropriately to help people feel at ease, get out of their heads, drive certain points home and find some joy in the healing process. It’s not all supposed to be fire and brimstone catharsis and hard truths. If we can’t laugh at ourselves and at life, we don’t have a balance, and we can’t truly connect to who we really are.
If you resonate with what you’ve read and feel like we could work well together, please click on this link to set up an appointment for a free 20-minute consultation.