It is normal to feel apprehensive about sharing your thoughts and feelings with a stranger — but I won’t be a stranger for long. I provide a non-judgemental, accepting environment where you can be assured of confidentiality and empathy. As a therapist, my goal is to listen respectfully and be attuned to your challenges and strengths.

Usually, we begin with a phone call, during which I’ll get a sense of your main issues and concerns. Then we’ll get together for a conversation and begin to build a collaborative relationship that will start you on the path to feeling better.

Your questions and input are welcomed and encouraged. You are not alone. And my goal is that you will leave each session feeling more hopeful.

Our Brains Can Hold Us Back or Set Us Free

For many years, I have worked with the concepts of mindfulness and relaxation, and building on and strengthening those techniques is some exciting new research about neuroscience and the brain.

This research combines much of what we have known for years, as well as what present day technology is teaching us. We are coming to a greater understanding of the relationship between such questions as “what is the mind, what is the healthy mind and what does the brain have to do with the mind?” (Daniel Siegal, 2016)

Neuroscience is teaching us that human beings still retain a skill or instinct that developed eons ago, when it was imperative for our early ancestors – who were often prey to predators — to sense danger and remember it. Even though we no longer require that hyper-awareness of danger, the human brain still holds on to negative experiences far longer and in greater detail than positive ones.

One of the important discoveries is that we can learn how to shift that part of the brain so that we can live with more ease and acceptance, versus the negative self-talk and behaviours we so easily slip into.

In keeping with my commitment to ongoing education and with my particular interest in mindfulness-based therapies, I completed training as a Clinical Counselling Hypnotherapist. Clinical hypnotherapy can be used in various interventions that address issues such as anxiety, phobias, pain management, and stress reduction.