Beginning therapy

You may come to therapy because you feel worried, lost, trapped, isolated, heartbroken, furious, confused, hollow, fearful, betrayed, frustrated, or hopeless.

You may be struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, different aspects of your identity, suicidal thoughts, painful relationships, unwanted thoughts and feelings, grief, addictions, shame, or guilt.

Your mind may disturb, frighten, incapacitate, sadden, or bewilder you.

You may be a survivor of abuse: sexual, emotional, physical, psychological.

Perhaps you want to understand how your early experiences are shaping your life…your family relationships, the visible and invisible forces and systems around you, the context you emerged from, and the context in which you now exist.

Or you may want to explore therapy as a generative creative process…giving light and space and attention to facets of your nature and self and experience that have been misunderstood, that have gone unrecognized, uncelebrated.

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I approach psychotherapy with a mix of great seriousness, and humour; reverence, and irreverence. I understand the work to be fundamentally collaborative, imaginative, non-linear, mysterious, profound, and transformative.

I want our work together to feel sufficiently safe (whatever that means to you) but also challenging; supportive and steadying, but also energizing. What each person needs and wants from therapy is necessarily unique, and ever-changing.

I do not work with generalized treatment plans (though I am open to creating tailored ones, in consultation with you). I do not offer advice, tips, solutions, or short-term symptom management. Each individual comes to therapy with their own unique interior world, and my job will be to discover and understand that world. I promise that I will listen deeply, with curiosity and openness. I will strive to understand your history, and your internal emotional landscape. And I will work with you to create an environment (and a relationship) in which you can fully express yourself, without fear, and come to a place of greater clarity, understanding, and peace.

My clinical orientation is long-term, depth-focused, and psychodynamic. I have particular interest and extensive experience in working with trauma.

I strive to uphold anti-racist, anti-oppressive principles, and I understand the work of doing so to be active, ongoing, and a lifelong responsibility.

I have been in practice for eight years, and I am a graduate of the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy.

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If you would like to see if we would work well together, I offer a free 15-minute consultation. 

My current rate is $170 for a 50-minute session. I require a minimum of 24 hours notice for cancellation, otherwise I charge the full fee.

 

Areas of particular interest

  • Abuse (emotional, physical, sexual)

  • Addiction

  • Anger

  • Body image

  • Chronic illness

  • Depression

  • Despair

  • Fear

  • Gender

  • Guilt

  • Grief

  • Identity

  • Polyamory

  • Sex and sexuality

  • Shame

  • Spirituality

  • Substance use

  • Trauma