Services | psychologist

I provide individual counselling for young adults and adults who are dealing with the following issues.

Stress & Burnout. After being an intern at Student Counselling Services (SCS) at the University of Alberta, this an area of expertise. SCS provided a thorough education re. how to help individuals handle/recover from extraordinary cumulative stress and burnout.

Depression that involves longstanding feelings of sadness, emptiness, and hopelessness and/or a loss of interest or pleasure in most or all activities (especially ones that you're normally find enjoyable).

High Anxiety (e.g., Generalized Anxiety Disorder) that involves persistent and excessive worry that is difficult to control and that may coincide with feeling exhausted as well as difficulties with sleep.

Relationship Problems that may involve emotional abuse, controlling behaviours, frequent conflict, assertiveness and boundary setting, communication issues, partnership, needs not being met, breakdowns in trust, and/or subjects that are off-limits with friends family.

First Nation / Inuit / Métis Issues. I have extensive experience with helping First Nation, Inuit, and Métis people with overcoming and/or healing from the many issues that stem from their experience of racism and intergenerational trauma. In full agreement with the National Truth and Reconciliation's 'Calls to Action,' I use culturally safe counselling approaches and prioritize traditional First Nation, Inuit and Métis spirituality, healing practices, and coping practices: They Work.

Traumatic Experience & Intergenerational Trauma - I am highly specialized in helping people to understand how trauma might be impacting their life and derive a huge amount of joy from moving them towards resolving it.

Significant Loss, Grief, or Bereavement. This may involve intense yearning and emotional pain related to the death, emotional numbness, feeling that life is meaningless, intense loneliness, and/or difficulties with engaging with friends, pursuing interests, and planning for the future.

Coping with Serious Illness and Chronic Health Conditions. This may involve the process of moving towards acceptance, establishing self-care and stress-management, grieving a previous lifestyle, enlisting support, establishing communication and assertiveness with loved-ones/supports, dealing with worry, self-advocating while navigating through the medical system, expressing or coping with negative emotions (.e.g, feeling defeated, scared, or hopeless), learning how to respond to your body/symptoms, and occasionally, pushing your limits (to see what you can take back). List not exhaustive.

Self - Esteem, Self - Worth, and/or Self - Acceptance: Getting to that place of "liking yourself."

ECO-Anxiety: I am increasingly helping others to deal with extraordinary existential issues and anxiety that stem from the unfolding climate crisis. I stay up to date with related science.

Quotes & Influnces

"That which we are not aware of ... we pass on to our children."

~ Dr. Gabor Mate.

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. “

~ John Lennon.

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."

~ Dr. Abraham Maslow.

"I have not failed ... I have just found 10,000 things that do not work."

~ Thomas Edison.

"People are running about following their little tracks. I am one of them. But we've all gotta stop ... just stop following our own little mouse trail. People can do anything. This is something that I'm beginning to learn."

~ Joe Strummer, The Clash.

"Everything can be taken from [you] but the last of human freedoms ... the freedom to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances."

~ Dr. Viktor Frankl.

"Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

~ Ghandi.

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something."

~ Neil Gaiman

"I think that this person is suffering from memories."

~ Dr. Sigmund Freud (c.1895)

"When I look at the world I'm pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic."

~ Dr. Carl Rogers

List to be continued.....

Please click here if you would like more information on whether or not you should consider therapy, what to consider when making the choice, questions to ask, and credentials to look for (as provided by the Psychologists' Association of Alberta).