We Begin With Relationship

I approach counseling and psychotherapy with a simple foundation: healing happens within relationship. Research has shown for decades that the quality of the therapeutic alliance—the trust, safety, and collaboration between therapist and client—is the single most important factor in meaningful outcomes. My work begins with that alliance, and everything else builds from there.

Within that relationship, my role shifts depending on what is needed: sometimes a listener, sometimes a teacher, counsellor, mentor or guide, sometimes a therapist in the more structured sense. What stays constant is my commitment to attunement—to meet you where you are, in each moment, and to work collaboratively with you toward healing and change. 

My Professional Orientation (where I’m coming from)

My professional orientation is rooted in a depth-oriented understanding of human suffering and healing. I view many of the challenges people bring to therapy—such as anxiety, depression, addictions, relationship difficulties, shame, emotional overwhelm, or a sense of disconnection—not as signs of pathology, but as meaningful responses to life experience. These struggles often reflect adaptation, protection, and the long-term impact of experiences that shaped us before we had choice or language.

I work from an integrative framework, at the heart of which is the belief that human beings are inherently oriented toward wholeness, and that symptoms arise when parts of the self have been burdened by experiences that were too much to process alone. My clinical lens is strongly influenced by an understanding of early attachment, developmental trauma, and nervous system organization. I am particularly interested in how early relationships, unmet needs, traumas, and implicit beliefs become embedded over time and continue to shape identity, relationships, and emotional life—often outside of conscious awareness.

Underlying my work is a deep respect for the psyche’s intelligence and for the ways people survive, adapt, and carry on—even when those adaptations later become limiting. My orientation is guided by the belief that healing involves integration rather than correction, and that growth emerges through understanding, compassion, and reconnection with one’s inner life.

My Therapeutic Approach

Rather than approaching distress as something to be eliminated, I understand it as carrying information. From this perspective, therapy becomes a process of meaning-making: helping people understand how their internal world formed, why certain patterns persist, and what those patterns may be asking for now.

I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all therapy. People come with different experiences, needs, and ways of learning, and therapy should reflect that. I draw from a range of approaches, including:

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) — working with parts of the self to find harmony and healing

• Compassionate Inquiry — exploring the beliefs and patterns that often run beneath awareness

• Depth Psychology & Psychodynamic Therapy — understanding how unconscious forces and early experiences shape the present

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) & Schema Therapy — identifying and reshaping thought and behavior patterns that no longer serve you

• Dream Work — exploring symbols and messages from the unconscious for insight and growth

• Wild Mind (Bill Plotkin’s framework) — reconnecting with the wholeness of the psyche and the natural world

• Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) — addressing the deep, body-based imprints of shock and trauma

Sometimes we work primarily within one of these modalities; other times, elements are interwoven. What guides the process is not a rigid model but what fits you best, and what the therapeutic moment calls for.

What Therapy Can Offer

Clients often come to therapy because of symptoms—anxiety, depression, insomnia, relationship conflict, or simply a sense of being stuck. While symptom relief is important, therapy is also about something deeper:

• Developing practical tools and strategies to handle challenges in daily life

• Understanding the roots of current struggles in past wounds and patterns

• Gaining freedom from self-protective habits that no longer serve you

• Building confidence in facing difficult emotions and triggers with compassion

• Reconnecting with a stronger, more authentic sense of self

In short, therapy can help you not only manage what feels overwhelming but also open new possibilities for growth, vitality, and wholeness.  

Professional Commitment

Beyond methods and techniques, my professional commitment is to provide a space of respect, compassion, and curiosity. Therapy is not something done to you; it’s something we create together. My role is to offer knowledge, guidance, and presence, while honoring your pace, your choices, and your unique way of healing.

I also hold deep respect for the many teachers, mentors, and colleagues—past and present—whose devotion makes this work possible. Their influence continues to shape me as a therapist and enrich the work I do with clients.