Personal Counselling
I work with children, youth, and adults. Expect compassion, warmth, empathy, support, clarity, encouragement and confidentiality (within legal limits.)
My counseling background includes working extensively with children, youth and adults who have experienced sexual trauma and other violence. I have also delivered group therapy to men who have been convicted of spousal violence.
My approach involves meeting the client with compassion and empathy in a place of safety. Clients can expect acceptance, non-judgment and respect for their cultural and religious perspectives, LGBTQ identification if applicable, as well as for their personal experiences and their choices.
Issues that I have training and experience with, for children and adults, include:
traumatic experiences and memories, including sexual trauma
workplace or school-based issues such as bullying, school refusal and test anxiety
self-esteem building
anxiety and depression
Services are client-focused. Clients may wish to integrate the traditional counselling modalities with aspects of The Eden Method or Energy Psychology, depending on where they are in their process. Energy Medicine can speed a process that is inevitable once the client chooses change.
Sometimes, however, what is most appropriate is just to have a listening ear dedicated to allowing you to speak in safety. Change requires clear articulation of what a person desires. Whether or not to use those alternatives is entirely client-driven.
Modalities that inform my practice include Cognitive Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Solution-focused Therapy, Art/Play & Personal Mythology. These can be integrated with Energy Medicine and Energy Psychology, if the client desires.
Think about it differently
Cognitive therapy provides a lot of very useful skills for approaching life differently. It is based on the idea that emotions arise from thoughts, and by changing your thinking you can change the emotions you experience. It has a success rating equal to antidepressants, according to some experts.
Imagine how it could be
Solution-focused Therapy is based on the idea that a person can generate alternative ways of behaving that would provide solutions to problems. By describing how they would behave differently in a preferred reality, they can move from imagining the alternative to performing the alternative behaviour.
Clients are invited to watch themselves as they go through their lives, being alert to moments when they behave differently or break their own mold.
Tell a different story
Narrative Therapy is based on the idea that we have a story about our own experience that is composed of the 'narrative' we and others have generated in relation to the events of our lives. That story tends to control the way we experience new events. By learning to tell a different story about our past, we can learn to experience events from a perspective that helps us function more freely in the world.
I believe that emotions are stored in the body and in the energetic field around it, and that thinking patterns can be affected by habit fields. For this reason, I blend my learning from counselling modalities with Eden Method techniques and Energy Psychology, when the client is comfortable with this. I think this holistic approach allows more fundamental and lasting change and less ongoing struggle. Moreover, these methods can help a client move through issues without having to re-experience the difficulties that gave rise to their problems.
Create
Art and Play invites clients to reenact experiences through media, and thus to re-story experience in a way that allows integration and growth. When working with children and youth, I often use art and play as a container for other modalities, in order to help the child experience counseling as a fun and enjoyable experience rather than a way of seeing themselves as broken.
Re-create
Personal Mythology is based on the idea that we tell ourselves stories in relation to our families and ancestral experiences, and by walking backwards through these stories we can free ourselves from familial and ancestral patterns.
Personal Mythology blends well with chakra clearing and Regression techniques from the Eden Method.
Blend
I tend to flow fairly organically amongst the modalities I have training, practice and familiarity with, fitting the conversation to what might help you the most. Many of the methods blend seamlessly with Energy Medicine.
I always leave you in charge of how much to disclose, what directions you want the counselling to take, who is involved, and how much “Woo Woo” you want to play with.
Please note that I do not have qualifications that entitle me to register as a Certified Clinical Counselor. I do not provide diagnostic services or advocacy beyond supported self-advocacy.
I have an extensive background in counseling with both victims and offenders, but my services are not covered by most Employee and Family Assistance programs. I do not treat psychological conditions better suited to a medical approach except in collaboration with your medical professional.