Trauma
There are challenging events and experiences in our lives that create a long-lasting impact. These events may include:
- Childhood abuse
- Death of a loved one
- Physical pain or injury (e.g. severe car accident)
- Serious illness
- Migration
- Racism and other forms of Oppression
- Parental abandonment
- Witnessing a death
- Rape
- Domestic abuse
- Sexual Abuse
Even though the traumatic event(s) may have occurred years ago, we can relive them as if they are happening in the present. When we have experienced trauma we might develop:
- Anger
- Difficulties with relationships and connection
- Shame
- Numbing
- Flooding of Emotion
- Hyperalertness
- Fear
- Feelings of Hopelessness & Powerlessness
- Pain
- Psychosomatic Illnesses
These emotions and physical and mental states that can linger for a lifetime. In psychotherapy we can work together to process past trauma and work to alleviate suffering and other symptoms. Trauma therapy may also help you to feel safe, to learn to trust and to restore your sense of wellbeing.
Depression, Anxiety, Mood Disorders
Depression, fear, and anxiety are some of the most common and uncomfortable physical, mental and emotional states that people may experience at some point in their lives. Left untreated these conditions can interfere significantly with our daily lives. If some of the symptoms listed below are affecting you for more than a few weeks, you may benefit from speaking to a psychotherapist.
- Fatigue
- Low energy
- Overwhelming grief and/or sadness
- Poor concentration
- Difficulty making decisions
- Low self-esteem
- Feeling worthless, hopeless or helpless
- Disturbed sleeping patterns
- Disturbed eating patterns
- Anxiety
- Loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed
Women's Mental Health
I have extensive knowledge and experience working in the area of Women's Mental Health, particularly around the issues of:
- Self Esteem & Confidence
- Body Image
- Experience of Trauma
- Racial Identity
- Pregnancy and Postpartum Experience
- Caregiving & Motherhood
- Career Issues
- Fertility/Infertility
- Aging & Life Transitions
I strive to see you as a whole person and understand the full context of your life, as opposed to simply seeing the problem. I work from a strength-based model and centre the therapy around your goals and objectives.
Treatment Approach
I am trained as a psychodynamic psychotherapist, which means that building a strong therapeutic alliance and working collaboratively with you is key to my approach. Together we will work to understand the impact of unconscious dynamics on your patterns of thinking, feeling and relating to others. From the psychodynamic lens, it is important as well to look at how experiences from the past, such as your childhood, may continue to impact your adult experiences in the present.
However, we are all different and as a therapist it is my role to be flexible and adapt to your needs. Therefore, I also draw from a range of other therapeutic approaches as listed below.
Types of Therapy
I am trained as a psychodynamic psychotherapist, which means that building a strong therapeutic alliance and working collaboratively with you is key to my approach. Together we will work to understand the impact of unconscious dynamics on your patterns of thinking, feeling and relating to others. From the psychodynamic lens, it is important as well to look at how experiences from the past, such as your childhood, may continue to impact your adult experiences in the present.
However, we are all different and as a therapist it is my role to be flexible and adapt to your needs. Therefore, I also draw from a range of other therapeutic approaches as listed below.
Types of Therapy
- Client-led
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Compassion Focused
- Culturally Sensitive
- Emotionally Focused
- Mindfulness-Based Therapy
- Multicultural
- Person-Centered
- Psychoanalytic
- Psychodynamic
- Strength-Based
- Trauma Focused