Is Counselling for you?

WHAT can YOU EXPECT FROM COUNSELLING

For many of my clients I am the first counsellor they have ever seen, and a counsellor's office can be such a mysterious place when you haven't experienced it yet.  The two main things I've discovered that people wonder are what kinds of things I am going to ask them and how they will feel during the session and after. 

Those are both really important questions and they prevent a lot of people from making that first appointment for literally years, which makes them very important to demystify.

In our first session I ask you a lot of questions so that I can get a general view of you.  I am curious about things that have been challenging, and I'm also curious about things that have gotten you through and given you some resilience and joy.  None of us are exactly the same, and all of us deserve personalized care, so that first session is a way for me to start getting a good idea of who you are.  Sometimes people have admitted that at first they wondered if I would simply sit there and wait for them to talk.  I think that sounds really anxiety-provoking too, so I will tell you now that you won't be getting that from me.

The other common curiosity people have is how they will feel during and after counselling sessions.  I wish I could give you a better answer to this, but how you feel will likely be different each time we have a session and it will be different than how any of my other clients feel.  I always aim to be respectful of your limits, and my approach to therapy is gentle.  I don't think it's therapeutic to push people beyond their limits, so if you're in distress I aim to lighten the load on your nervous system before going further into an area of stress.

My aim in counselling is to help you discover the roots and keys to your healing, equip you with skills to help when you are in some form of discomfort, to unleash your inherent wisdom, and to help you with your long-term growth and change.  

You can expect to be treated with respect, to have our sessions kept confidential within the limits of confidentiality, and to have a plan for our sessions that we create and modify together.

If you have more questions on what to expect, head to my contact page and let me know what they are and I will respond via private email. 

You Know Your Life Contains SO Much Possibility

The question becomes, where do you want to go? What do you want to focus on?

In a one-on-one counselling session, the focus is on you.  We work through things together, but we go at your pace and we focus on the areas you want to focus on most.  You can trust me to dwell in the spaces with you that will be beneficial for healing as well as celebrating your successes alongside you.  I bring all of my knowledge to each session so I am able to bring questions, insights, new ways of looking at old problems, and support for where you're at on that given day.

What are the general goals people have in therapy?

It seems to me that we are all on a quest to become someone.  What I have come to discover over and over again through my work with hundreds of people is that everyone already is that person that they are striving to become.

One of the best feelings is uncovering and awakening that person, because what I've come to know is that the person we're all trying to become is the best version of ourselves.  We aim to be the person who can go through with the anxiety-provoking meeting, who can put up a boundary, who can say yes or no and mean it with their whole heart, who can ask for connection when they're feeling lonely or depressed, who can be a great parent and partner, who can have difficult conversations with their loves ones, and who achieves their ambitious goals with gusto.

It is my life's mission and joy to help people just like you bridge the gaps in life from where they are to where they want to go.  

So How Can I Help You?

I'm a Registered Clinical Counsellor and my education is highlighted by a Master's Degree in Counselling Psychology.  I've taken my education to a high level because I want to offer the best service I can to my clients, and I believe a solid education is a good first step.  It is not the only step, but it has provided me a solid foundation to build off of.  I take Continuing Education regularly. Some highlights to my training include Advanced Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy with Lisa Mortimore (1 year training), Basic Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy (2 year training), Occupationally Aware First Responder Health Training with Matt Johnson, Energy Editing with Michelle Lowbridge, Reiki, Clinical Hypnosis, Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy, and Applied Suicide and Intervention Skills Training with Shannon Hecker.

BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT

I see clients online and on the phone.  My rates are $170/session.  If you have benefits that you are planning to use to claim the sessions, you can check to see if a Registered Clinical Counsellor is covered.  I always aim to return messages within the week, but please do understand that life comes up for all of us and sometimes it takes longer for me to respond.  You are a priority, and I will be in touch as soon as I am able to be.

When you click the link below you will be redirected to a page where you can send me a message directly.