Approach
A core focus of therapy is helping you to develop a secure sense of self which includes identifying and meeting self and other needs and setting appropriate boundaries. I am your guide, facilitator and support for this process.
Initially, a primary focus of our work together may be symptom alleviation. However, I will also encourage you to explore the context in which your symptoms have arisen, as well as the underlying issues, such as developmental challenges and/or limiting belief systems, that condition your responses.
I adopt a strength based approach to therapy which means that I consider your habitual beliefs, behaviours and relational patterns as adaptations to your early environment as you attempted to get your needs met and make the world safe. It is this attention to a larger frame, particularly your developmental and familial history, that defines a psychodynamic approach to therapy.
I am trained as a sensorimotor psychotherapist so I am interested in how your body holds and expresses your early memories and learnings about the world and your place within it. The body is an entry point to understanding your unconscious beliefs, needs and desires, as well as an important access route for self regulation. I encourage body awareness and the use of mindfulness meditation as a tool to aid us in our work together.
Therapy is collaborative process that requires both the therapist and the client to be curious, compassionate and non judgmental. As a therapist, I strive to cultivate an empathetic and honest presence. It is important that there is a good fit between therapist and client because our relationship becomes the vehicle for enhancing self-exploration and strengthening self-compassion.
My role is to support you but also to gently challenge you. Therapy is effortful and therefore most effective when you are able to take risks and actively work to apply what you learn in sessions to your everyday life. I will encourage you to set goals for yourself and to define what it means to you to be successful in therapy.
I am committed to an anti oppressive practice that is respectful of difference.
