My Story

My journey began in a home where chaos was normal. Here, I learned that expressions of anger and shame were acts of love. Growing up in this environment, I learned to embrace anger; it kept me safe and protected - and I depended on it for survival.

At 13 years old, my anger deepened after I lost the only person who had shared those childhood experiences with me. From there, I unknowingly built a narrative about the world:

Life is unfair and unjust.

People are untrustworthy and dangerous.

I can count only on myself.

To get through life, a part of me held up a facade; one that would keep me away from confronting my reality. That he was gone, and I was alone.

I had built an armour that kept me safe.

But, like two sides of the same coin, the very thing that protects us can also hurt us the most.

I was detached from the world, others, and many times, with myself. It was isolating and exhausting. Often, the wash of loneliness that took over my body was paralyzing and scary.

I started to wonder if life was always going to be like this and I grew curious:

What was all of this armour for?

Who was I protecting?

Who am I without the armour?

Gently, I opened myself up to the curiosity and the armour I had carried for so long began to soften. Underneath was a place that held all the pain of the child I had been. As I stayed with her, she slowly began to share her memories, fears, wishes, and pain she carried.

Piece by piece, the armour continued to soften, and healing became an exploration of the wounded child within me. The more I listened and learned to stay with her, the more there was calm and peace inside.

In unmasking and being with these vulnerable places inside, we are can build a new and different relationship with them. One that connects us internally, and in turn, changes how we are with others.

There is peace in reclaiming the parts of us we’ve had to disown and turn away from - it allows us to embody ourselves wholly.

The energy that once embodied my anger now fuels my passion to help clients go beyond recovery from what was to the discovery of what’s possible.

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My Philosophy

I believe that who we are is often buried beneath the patterns, habits, and ways of being we’ve had to take on in order to adapt to the world around us. And while that’s a great way to keep us safe and protected, we lose parts of ourselves along the way.

I also believe that doesn’t have to be that way. That we can reconnect to the things that make us us, and in so doing, move from just getting by, to living in wholeness as ourself.

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My Career

My personal experience with mental health inspired me to pursue a career in the field. I received my Master of Education in Counselling Psychology at the University of Toronto and am registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.

Since graduating, I have continued to deepen my knowledge base, and am trained in EMDR, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Ego State Therapy and Emotion Focused Therapy.

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My Passions

Grief & Loss

People Pleasing Patterns

Attachment & Developmental Trauma

PTSD & Complex PTSD

Highly Sensitive People

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My Expertise

Anxiety

Depression

Relationship Attachment & Concerns

Trauma

Dissociation

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My Approaches

EMDR

Somatic Psychotherapy

Deep Brain Reorienting

Internal Family Systems

Ego State Therapy

Emotion Focused Therapy

Mindfulness

My Story My journey began in a home where chaos was normal. Here, I learned that expressions of ... Read More