About Me
I am a therapist, researcher, speaker and writer. I love to help see people grow, heal, change, and come into more fullness in themselves and their relationships. I am passionate about the well-being of all people, and want to make psychology and academic research accessible to a wide variety of people.
My passion in counselling is create a relationship built on safety, trust, and hope, where people feel accepted and challenged to grow in new and meaningful ways. I consider it a privilege to be able to walk with someone through their fears, challenges, and hurts, and help them experiencing healing and restoration. For this reason, I see counselling as an opportunity to help people diminish pain and suffering, cope with the challenges of life (both normal and extraordinary), and experience increased joy, purpose, and self-acceptance.
I hold a PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia, as well as Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology. I am a Registered Psychologist (R.Psych.) in good standing with the College of Psychologists of BC, and a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors. I enjoy working with adults with various issues, including anxiety, depression, self-esteem, body image, life transitions, mother-daughter relationships, and perinatal mental health including birth trauma. While I have training as a generalist, I have advanced skills and training in the areas of trauma, eating disorders, body image, and marriage and relationship therapy, perinatal mental health, and psychedelic integration.
I am skilled at using a wide variety of therapeutic approaches, including AEDP, attachment work and depth-oriented psychotherapy, IFS and parts work, cognitive-behavioural therapy, emotion-focused therapy, various trauma and body-based therapies, feminist approaches to mental health and therapy, EMDR, Lifespan Integration, OEI, mindfulness, inner child and parts work, and meaning and insight based therapies. However, I tailor my approach based on the specific goals and strengths of the client, so that each person experiences therapy that is a good fit for them. All the therapy I do is evidence-based and is designed to be empowering, with a focus on de-pathologizing the person.
I find it important as a clinician to be engaged in research which can provide information on how to best help people experience well-being and thriving. This helps me stay updated with current information and approaches, and reminds me that I help other people grow best when I continue to find ways to grow myself. For my research in the area of women’s postpartum mental health, healthy body image development and eating disorder prevention, and women’s sexual health, I have been recognized by the Canadian Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association (Section for the Advancement of Women), the Looking Glass Foundation. In 2017 I was selected for the Young Investigator Award by the Taylor and Francis Publishing group for my research and academic work published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy as a young researcher. I like to conduct research that is meaningful, and then find ways to present that to people in both academic and non-academic ways which are practical, accessible, meaningful and enriching.
Photography credit: Lily Glass