Find a Therapist in Bowen Island, British Columbia.

Psychotherapy can be effective and greatly beneficial for couples, individuals and families. We strive to create a safe and understanding environment where we work in a collaborative manor based on your goals and needs. We will work with a variety of techniques tailored to your specific needs providing optimal results. Through psychotherapy you can begin to see yourself and your world through a non partial and neutral lens. Through the clarity and acceptance of your authentic self we will work to build your tools for ongoing personal growth and success, independent of counselling.

Throughout my life and educational career, I have learned the benefits of understanding how our brain and body develop and impact each other. The brain is like any other body part - when injured or not functioning properly, it requires proper attention and care to heal and strengthen it back to a higher functioning state. It is with this knowledge that we can begin to understand ourselves and our own reactions more. My goal is to help you find a path towards self-compassion and a clearer sense of self, while also working together to seek out alternative solutions to create a healthier mindset.

People seek psychotherapy for many different reasons. You may want to heal from a traumatic event, or resolve problems in your relationships or life situation. Perhaps you are looking for support or guidance as you deal with a loss or transition. Maybe you feel “stuck” in a difficult relationship, need help making a tough decision, or feel your life has lost its meaning. In a safe, supportive, and confidential space, I can help you gain new perspectives, improve your relationships, alleviate distress, and learn strategies for dealing effectively with challenges in life.

My psychotherapy approach places emphasis on exploring, understanding and feeling more connected to your emotions. I also work from an attachment-based model which can be really helpful for understand how your past (including childhood) relationships have impacted your current life. Understanding how your past experiences and your emotions impact you is a powerful way to help you make decisions in your life now.

As a psychotherapist, I offer a safe and warm environment to explore your concerns with non judgmental approach. The work will inspire empowering conversations which will foster resiliency and change. The results of counselling can be an overall sense of strength and well being. My counselling style takes into account each persons unique needs, goals, and current challenges to develop lasting change.

Take the courageous step towards personal growth and lasting change by engaging in my unique style of psychotherapy. I've been a psychotherapist for over 30 years and learned what's most effective from the clients I've worked with in the past. Through collaborative sessions tailored to meet your needs we will explore challenges, uncover insights, determine a path to healing, and develop effective strategies for a more fulfilling life. Unlock your resilience and your potential for happiness!

You may be wondering what counselling and psychotherapy looks like. Typically, I will spend some time, perhaps a session or two, getting to know you and your concern in some depth. Then together we decide on a goal and the best way for us to spend our time together. This may involve exploring thoughts, behaviours, and emotions, solving problems, working on skills, or making sense of past experiences. My hope is that, through our work together, you will feel clearer, more focused, and connected with your life and the people in it.

Feelings need to be felt. Stories need to be told. Sometimes, a therapist takes the role of a highly trained audience. I know how to listen, with the curiosity and earnestness of someone newly in love. Listening is not the entire treatment, but it is definitely a necessary part of it. I'll quote Lou Reed here: "I'll be your mirror, reflect what you are, in case you don't know."

A major focus for me is the body-mind relationship and attuning to the wisdom within the person. Besides "talk therapy", I often incorporate tools such as dreamwork and creative expression. Having over twenty years experience as a psychotherapist and having been an instructor of counsellors for many years as well, I am familiar with all of the major approaches to psychotherapy and am therefore able to work with each client according to their individual needs. For those exploring spiritual issues such as meaning, direction, and deeper connection, I bring my training in Interfaith Spiritual Guidance and many years exploring Jungian psychology.

I strongly believe that psychotherapy is an art. This is the reason I integrate different approaches and modalities when working with clients based on their goals and their current situation. In other words, I use my years of training and my clinical experience to make sure what we do is helpful to you. I have done training in approaches that focus on thoughts and cognitions such as CBT, approaches that are more emotionally focused such as AEDP and approaches that are more body focused such as SP. This helps us to give equal attention to all parts of your experience such as your feelings, your thoughts and your body. You will feel more integrated and whole as a result.

The circumstances and issues that you are dealing with are unique to you, but you don't have to face them alone. Every individual has different experiences, perceptions, feelings, thoughts, beliefs, values, attitudes, cultural backgrounds and "upbringings". Counselling sessions are private and confidential, and can provide a way for you to explore your problems and really tune in to your feelings. This is an opportunity to speak freely about your circumstances and release pent up feelings, without having to worry about what others think or feel, and without receiving unwanted advise from family, friends or coworkers. At the root of the problem, there are very real, legitimate and understandable reasons for feeling the way you feel, thinking the way...(view profile to read more)

I use a neurobiologically informed approach to treating trauma. That means I'll use the lenses of the nervous system and brain science to help make sense of how you're feeling stuck or repeating patterns you'd like to grow beyond. Most trauma experts agree that our body stores the residue of traumatic experiences and that it is necessary to include the body in the healing process to experience real and lasting change. I always bring the body into therapy by inviting you to become aware of your sensory experience and nervous system states.

Life can be hard. Help is here for you. Challenges and problems are part of life. It's good to reach out for help. You are the expert in your life, in your goals, values and aspirations. I am here to provide tools, accountability, support, encouragement and help in revealing to you all your inner awesomeness. I have unwavering confidence in your capabilities and potential, even when you find it hard to see them. Together we create a place to step back and gain perspective, test ideas, create solutions and move towards a life that is fulfilling, meaningful and connected.

Many people grow up feeling not good enough in themeselves. Their family of origins have taught them that who they were was not acceptable as they were, or not what their parents wanted them to be. As a result, many clients have buried parts of themselves in order to fit in and survive emotionally in their families. People are often fragmented when they come in for psychotherapy. I help clients uncover and reclaim the parts of themselves that they left behind, helping them to feel whole again and resdiscover their true essences and their core selves.

My approach to Psychotherapy incorporates mind, body, spirit and emotions. It goes much deeper than talk therapy alone. While talk therapy is an essential component, a somatic approach to Psychotherapy allows for the possibility of deeper healing and more permanent change, as the body holds the information we need to heal. Therefore I take a body centred approach to healing while drawing on an extensive range of other psychotherapeutic approaches. Each session is tailored to where the client is at in the moment and from the belief that somewhere in all of us, no matter how deeply we have been wounded, we have the resources we need to heal.

Life and relationships become painful, sometimes paralyzing when our emotions overwhelm us. Emotions are actually intended for good - they are intended to give us motivation and information; specifically they inform us of how to act in the way that is in keeping with who we are. I help people to face their emotions, take from them the lessons that they offer and move forward positively in their lives. You do not have to be stuck, paralyzed and fearful, you can be peaceful, productive and motivated.

Our thoughts have a huge impact on how we view and act in the world. I will work with you to explore how your thoughts have been influenced by your experiences growing up, as well as by significant life events, loss and/or trauma. I use approaches from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Family Systems Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you calm your mind and invite you to consider the possibilty of expanding your perceptions of life experiences as a way of creating changes in yourself and in relationships.

Psychotherapy encompasses many different approaches to helping people heal. EMDR, body-based strategies, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), meditation, hypnotherapy and other modalities are part of the change process. Building the therapeutic alliance is essential, however, to ensure the client feels safe and secure within the counselling environment. Acceptance, counsellor-client alignment and unconditional positive regard are essential.

For every client that I see, I always offer an individualized and tailored approach by draw from a variety of therapeutic approaches in order to enable your mental health healing and functional recovery. Using a collaborative and client centered approach, I will walk alongside you and together, we will explore solutions to overcome life's obstacles.

In my practice as a psychotherapist I assist individuals to understand forces within that cause suffering & confusion. My approach is engaging, compassionate and expansive. I have over 25 years of experience with many types of people from different cultures & backgrounds. I believe most people have a mixture of complex emotions & complicated life experiences. But most everyone is trying to live a better life. People often have ‘scripts’ of who they are & why they came to be living the way they are. I help people develop ways of reflecting on what has been, what is, and what might be. This opens the possibilities for more choices in life. Your life can be different if you want it to be.

In the practice of psychotherapy, I believe in an eclectic approach that considers human beings holistically, taking into account emotions, the body, mind, and social and cultural factors. Everyone embarks on a unique journey; at the core of my practice is a commitment to honor the wisdom within each individual and their right to pursue their own path of healing and self-discovery. In this collaborative process, I assist clients in increasing self-awareness, learning skills to manage and express emotions, processing unhelpful feelings and traumatic past experiences, enhancing emotional intelligence, improving relationship satisfaction, and fostering self-empowerment and personal growth.

Socrates used a question and answer method of teaching --MAIEUTIC TEACHING to help his students find truths within themselves. Psychotherapy, similarly, seeks to help individuals find certain "truths" about themselves. I gently push individuals to explore the various ways they have of knowing and understanding themselves. I will discuss past experiences and explore how the "truths" we have of these experiences influence our present circumstances (work, study, relationships, goals, etc.). Once an individual starts to become aware of how and why they are making the choices they make, they become free to make new, more positive, choices about their future.

Psychotherapy with me will offer you a secure non-judgmental relationship to grow in your goals. Together we will explore what is bringing you into therapy and with compassion and curiousity notice what comes up for you when you seek to make change. As we explore what comes up, we will use tools to get to the roots of those blocks and discover deeper part of you that can provide you with that felt sense of relief and new found energy.

Psychotherapy (or counselling) is ‘talk therapy’ – where you, as the client, share: your experiences, goals, challenges, presenting concerns, both verbally and nonverbally. Through this communication a therapeutic relationship (or alliance) is formed. This relationship acts a safe space for you to explore, excavate, evaluate, take new risks, etc. In a large way, engaging in the therapeutic relationship is ‘practise’ for the real world. I, as the therapist, will work with multiple modalities (or theoretical orientations) within our dialogue and engagement, which will serve to help us reflect, challenge, bear to light, collaborate, as well as model things (such as security, compassion, etc.).