I provide individual counselling for adults and specialize in the following:

• Emotional dysregulation: anxiety, depression, and anger.

• Prenatal, postpartum, and motherhood

• Relational and interpersonal trauma

• Body-image and diet culture recovery

• Chronic mental health conditions including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Emotional dysregulation is a more clinical term for saying you are experiencing unpleasant emotions that are frequent, distressing and over a long period of time. I have experience working with people with persistent sadness, apathy, anxiety, and/or anger in ways that are uncomfortable and unhelpful to them. Please note, you do not need a formal diagnosis for your emotional dysregulation to be valid.

Pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood bring unique mental health challenges that are often underestimated and under-supported. I work with women across all stages of this journey, from pregnancy through the many stages of raising children. An important part of what shapes my approach is that I am a mother who lives with a chronic mental health condition.

Relational and interpersonal trauma refers to trauma that happened within relationships with other people: caregivers, romantic partners, family, friends, peers, coworkers, healthcare providers, etc. In short, I work with people who have been profoundly wounded in relationships with others.  

Body image and diet culture recovery is an area of work that is deeply important to me. I take an anti-diet, weight-inclusive approach to supporting people of all sizes in building a more peaceful relationship with their bodies.

Chronic mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are an area I support from both a clinical and personal place. I live with a chronic mental health condition myself, and bring that lived experience into my work with people navigating life with one.

I began my career working as a social worker within inpatient psychiatry with adults that had been hospitalized for acute mental illness. I became intimately familiar with the difficulties of individuals and families trying to access mental health supports. After this position I worked on a mobile crisis response team. In this position we would provide on-site support to individuals experiencing mental health crises like plans to die by suicide, self-harm, panic attacks, outbursts of anger, and the like. Beyond my work in the healthcare system, I ran a small non-profit that sought to tell personal stories of mental illness to reduce stigma. This position involved compiling the stories of diverse groups of people and learning from the experiences they shared.

I began Oaks Mental Health in May of 2018 and my private practice as a therapist in January of 2020. As the owner and lead educator of Oaks, I create and provide training opportunities on diverse mental health topics. As a therapist, I continuously seek professional development through ongoing supervision, clinical consultation, and relevant training opportunities. In regards to my education, I completed my Bachelor of Social Work in 2015 and my Master of Social Work in 2020.

Most recently, I have 140 hours of training specific to treating trauma in the areas of Somatic Therapy and Internal Family Systems.

Somatic Therapy: Most talk therapy focuses on thoughts and feelings. Somatic therapy also pays attention to what is happening in the body, recognizing that stress and trauma are often stored physically, not just mentally. It looks at things like tension, breathing, posture, and physical sensations as part of the healing process.

Internal Family Systems (IFS): IFS is based on the idea that we are all made up of different "parts" of ourselves, such as the part that is self-critical, the part that avoids difficult things, or the part that is fiercely protective. Rather than trying to get rid of these parts, IFS helps you understand and build a better relationship with them, so they don't run the show in ways that are unhelpful.

My style is unstructured, conversational, and relational. I want to meet you where you are at and put aside any agenda of my own. I want you to define what healing looks like for you. Rather than lead you, my role is to come alongside you in this journey towards wellness and recovery. I believe the therapeutic relationship (i.e. relationship between therapist and person coming to therapy) is one of the most powerful mechanisms of healing in counselling. As a result, l will actively work to cultivate a healthy, supportive relationship with you as you seek to make sense of your world and how to move forward. I will strive to be collaborative with you while being responsive and attuned to your emotions moment by moment. Throughout our sessions I will explore with you the stories you’ve learned about yourself and others, your emotional experiences, how emotions feel within your body (every emotion is a physiological experience), and how you might cope or adapt to the hardships before you.

I believe people need safe spaces where they feel seen and heard while knowing they are not alone in the midst of their struggles. Shame, fear, and aloneness seem to be at the heart of most of our pain. A crucial component of feeling seen and heard is having a non-judgmental presence that helps you process and experience your emotions in a healthy way. Many of us have not had opportunities to learn how to be with and tolerate intense or difficult emotions. This leads to many of us suppressing, numbing or denying our emotions - which I believe is at the root of many of the problems we experience.

“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.” - Brené Brown