My Story

 Three attributes have been consistent throughout my life: curiosity, creativity, and confidentiality. Even in the darkest of times, these attributes have helped me overcome the distress of unfinished business, life and career confusion, and many horrible fears. Complex trauma, grief, and a serious battle with cancer pushed me to my limits at various points in my life. There were many moments, hours, days, and months when I felt powerless until I made the choice to give more power to my faith than the countless battles I faced with fear. When I began to do things or be around people that helped me feel better, my thoughts about myself and my life became stronger. Faith is an ongoing labour of love. It’s hard work, and each new day that I’m here, makes it all worthwhile. 

Therapy is a  second career for me, and it is one I chose after a 20+ year career in human resources, leadership and organizational development. As a lifelong-learner and lover of personal development, I wanted to blend my passion for helping others, my strength for designing new ways of doing things, and my personal insights from life battles to support others enduring their own. 

 It all started because of my mom’s love for a well-deserved Friday evening cocktail after a long hard workweek. She would take my brothers and I out for dinner every Friday as a treat (my dad was always working!) and the cocktail of her choice, usually a Mai Tai or a Singapore Sling, always came with a colourful drink umbrella. I was fascinated with them, the design, the functionality, the colour, and the application to play with my barbies and beach castles. I imagined the umbrellas as having magical protection power. 

My imagination as a kid was always running wild, hence my curiosity and creativity. Later in life, I realized how my mom’s desire to reward herself / us for hard work every week was her way of finding a healthy balance between pleasure and pain. You can’t really appreciate one without having experienced the other. This is a significant lens I bring into the therapeutic work.

 My openness to new experiences and fascination with people, concepts, and things is a benefit to the therapeutic process since I am more focused on discovering all the things that are right about a client and crafting ways with them to harness their strengths in overcoming the aspects that are hard. The possibilities are endless despite the roadblocks being faced. Even though we may only be used to using or thinking about something in one specific way, looking for alternatives is a key in therapy. And it can be fun!

My skill in designing new ways of thinking or doing things lends itself well to the therapeutic process. As a partner to my clients, I ask questions that spark new insights and ideas, and I use tools to support planning and goal setting in many aspects of a client’s life. My approach is practical and grounded and may involve creative expression techniques to tap into right-brain thinking, especially for individuals who over-rely on their left brains! In therapy, this is called experiential balancing. 

I’ve always offered comfort and compassion to build trusting relationships. As a child I loved the safety provided by backyard blanket forts. I would spend countless hours in them seeking solace with my books, my dogs, my dolls, and some neighbourhood friends. We’d make up stories and get lost in our imaginations all the while strengthening our friendships. Throughout my life and my career, I have been a confidante to many. I approach therapy in the same way. While I don’t do much of my own story telling, I embrace the life stories of my clients in the safety of the space we create together.