Helping children, teens & adults through hard times.
Listening and being listened to is the foundational principle of all my work.
In this day and age of social media, anxious scrolling through devices, and being constantly on call thanks to cellphones, texting and emails, the basic experience of feeling listened to and learning how to listen to others is more important than ever. I aim to provide a sense of really being listened to and understood. To do this I offer both counselling and psychotherapy. While these terms are often used interchangeably they are different approaches.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy focuses on patterns in a person’s life and how to alter unhelpful ones in order to prevent falling into the same traps repeatedly. Some common traps are pushing people away when we need help, getting stuck in strong feelings and unable to calm ourselves, and boiling with frustration when things don’t go our way or how we expected. Psychotherapy is aimed at reducing the impact of these patterns on our lives.
Counselling
Counselling focuses on alleviating immediate symptoms. Specific issues are identified such as difficulty sleeping, struggles making or keeping friends, or learning how to cope with the impact of a chronic illness. A plan is made with the person, and their family for children and younger teens, and worked towards together. This tends to be more short term than psychotherapy.
