Therapy offers a compassionate personal response to the periods of difficulty you encounter in your life
Counselling Approach
I have been in private practice for over 10 years in Vancouver and in the Comox Valley. I have had the privilege of working with over 500+ clients, from diverse walks of life. I have learned to trust that clients are their own best experts who generate their own insights and create their own solutions. I learn over and over again that the best approach in counseling is a person-centered approach which centralises your agency and choices in a non-coercive and compassion based process.
My theoretical counselling approach integrates Person-Centered and Intersectional-Feminist, informed by aspects of Existential Therapy and Gestalt, situated within a Trauma Informed approach.
This means in our work together, we engage in a therapeutic dialogue that tunes into the unique ways in which you perceive, interpret and articulate your inner and outer worlds. I look for opportunities to connect into your world and navigate it with you; offering opportunities to witness aspects of your life you have not been able to, identify limitations in your capacities, and generate opportunities for growth and transformation around resources and skill sets you have, but have been unable to access.
This work is deeply reliant on generating trust in your process and your own ability to awaken to your lived truths.
Education & Experience
In 2009 I graduated with a Masters (M. Ed.) in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia with a focus on research on youth in transition-to-adulthood issues, and women & later-life fertility and sexuality issues.
While living in the Netherlands I graduated with a Masters (M.A.) of Gender Studies, with Dr. Gloria Wekker as my thesis advisor, from the University of Utrecht in 2000 having written a thesis on systemic issues of racialised inequality in Dutch society.
I earned my undergraduate degree Honours Bachelor of Arts (B.A. hnrs) in Sociology, and minor in Women's Studies with thesis advisor Dr. Dawn Currie, from the University of British Columbia in 1994 having written a thesis on narratives of identity in women and men who identify as bisexual.
I have been the lead instructor and visiting lecturer for the Certificate in Peer Counselling at the UBC department of Continuing Education downtown Campus.
I completed the certificate in Indigenous Studies from the University of Alberta in 2018 which ensures I apply and understand how being a white settler on indigenous land has informed and shaped my world view, moreover ensuring that I am transparent as a culturally accountable and culturally humble counsellor, and that I take mental health issues that arise in colonialism and racism seriously.
I worked for UBC Students’ Counselling from 2016 to 2019 working with various students from over 30 different countries. I developed a depth of practice regarding the diverse cultural and mental health experiences of global youth living in British Columbia.
I currently work as a qualified front line mental health worker for Emergency Health Services and Critical Incident Response Services, BC.
I am a member in good standing & Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) member Number #13013 and I am fully insured by the Mitchell and Abbott Group.
