"Stories...
... are truer than the Truth,” goes a saying I once heard.
In my experience, counselling is about unpacking a story. Specifically, it’s about your story, your Truth, and what it means to you. It’s also about the story of your future.
Something special- even magical- happens when you explore a painful or delicate story with someone you trust, who listens with openness and curiosity and gives you the space to decide how to move forward with your story. It lifts a burden inside you, letting you proceed in life more freely.
Here, you can find a way through the dark.
What does the crow symbolize for you?
To me, it suggests wisdom, honesty, wildness, and transformation (and perhaps many other things!). It represents what we find in the dark, and from my observations of crows, I've come to respect them deeply.
Specifically, I see crows as teachers and mirrors of our energies and, like the struggles clients bring to counselling, they can reflect the unresolved pieces of our lives. ​That's what a crow did for me one day when, during nesting season when crow mothers are naturally protective of their young, it dive-bombed me with more-than-typical aggression, and I stopped to think, "Oh my goodness! I was feeling and moving aggressively! It reacted to me." In other words, I perceived the crow's action as an invitation to reflect on my relationship with emotions and the world.
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As a symbol, the crow's direction may be uncomfortable, but as they say about the truth, I've found it equally liberating. All we need is curiosity, bravery, and the intention to befriend whatever lessons are revealed.
Therapeutic Philosophy
The first calling of my work is to connect on an emotional, human level with my clients. Carl Rogers, one of the pioneering therapists of the 20th century and a powerful influence on me, believed that the connection between therapist and client is a prerequisite, and one of only a few, for a beneficial change to occur. In my experience, this is never more true than for our stories’ darkest and most frightening moments.
The second cardinal goal of my work is to recognize clients as the experts in their lives and themselves. By analogy, the client is the seed or flower, their life the soil, and therapy, including the therapist, the sunlight and water. Does the seed already know how to grow? Of course it does! Accordingly, the client only needs the sunlight and water of therapy and the supportive soil of a healthy lifestyle and habits to realize their potential.
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What are the sunlight and water I offer? They are, firstly, what Rogers called unconditional positive regard, or unwavering belief in the client’s worth and potential, and secondly, empathy, the (mostly reliable- I’m not perfect!) ability to perceive the client’s world through their eyes and express it to the client.
Excellent! We are all experts in our own growth! What we are not experts in, though, is the obstacles to our growth; for example, experts in navigating addiction, conflictual or distant relationships, or the shame we’ve been unable to shake for, in some cases, most of our lives. This is why they tend to remain obstacles, and this is where I can help. ​
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Like existential therapist and author Irvin Yalom, I view therapy as “one continuous session.” Each session should naturally build on the last. Generally, I will refer to the highlights of the previous session’s discussion to start the next. Sometimes, the client shared plans or upcoming events related to their therapy goals in the last session, which I will use as a springboard instead.
Therapeutic Modalities
Because of my emphasis on clients’ stories, my approach aligns well with Narrative Therapy. At the same time, I draw upon a few specific counselling theories to support exploring a client’s story: Humanistic Psychotherapy (an umbrella label), Solution-Focused Therapy, and Bowen Family Systems Theory. Each client resonates with different therapy styles, and I tailor the approaches I use to whatever suits the client, which may change from session to session since the session’s topic and the context of the client’s life often change.
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Please click on the boxes below to learn more about these modalities.
Counselling Theories
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Education
2020-
Clinical Internship, and Clinical Conferences
Living Systems Counselling, Education, Training and Research
North Vancouver, B.C.
Highlights:
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Completed Yorkville Master's degree practicum through the clinical internship
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Continues to participate in clinical conferences
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Learned the theoretical underpinnings of Bowen Family Systems Theory and the research that led to its creation.
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Earned my R.C.C. designation as an intern under the supervision of Randall Frost, the current Director of the Bowen Center in Washington, D.C.
2019-2022
Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology
Yorkville University
Online
Highlights:
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Studied trauma counselling as an elective course, helping to prepare me to help many of my clients during practicum, who were living with the aftermath of trauma, often family-related, and navigating extremely challenging circumstances
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Guided by my favourite professor, Dr. La Vera Brown, during practicum, who coached and inspired me more than anyone to develop the warm, grounded presence I strive to have as a counsellor.
2017-2018
Community Counselling Certificate Program
Vancouver Community College
Vancouver, B.C.
Highlights:
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Gained the prerequisite courses necessary to apply for my Master's degree
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Benefitted from small classes by local counsellors who served as superb role models and inspiring mentors
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Experienced my first taste of Rogerian Therapy and how to use it in the course "Basic Counseling Skills,"
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Engaged in live exercises in the course "Group Counselling," which taught me what it means to show vulnerability and how to cultivate the bravery to do so
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Learned about the diversity of therapeutic thought from the course "Theories of Counselling," challenging me to be flexible in working with my clients and expanding my ability to understand life from different perspectives.
2023
Male Sexuality Course
Dr. Joe Kort
Mind-Body Institute (Online)
Highlights:
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Provided me with helpful context to understand sexual behaviours broadly
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Focused on normalization, shame reduction, and exploration of the narrative associated with the sexual behaviour and its origin in the client's past, which may involve the client's family of origin
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Dovetailed nicely with the modalities I use and addressed both individual and couples counselling (partners of clients experiencing a sexual problem may play a crucial part in both the manifestation of the problem and its resolution)