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Who I Am...

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors.  I have a Master of Arts degree in Counselling Psychology from Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, a Diploma of Professional Counselling from The Vancouver College of Counsellor Training (VCCT), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Biological Sciences from King's College London in London, England.  My counselling background is comprised of a combination of professional, educational, and personal training, and I specialize in healing trauma-, and grief-based mental health concerns. 

 

I have worked with children, youth, and families at various community care providers, creating a safe, non-judgmental, and harmonious place for clients to explore life challenges without feeling stigmatized or isolated.  I am trained in trauma-, and grief-informed practices such as Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (TF-CBT), and Complicated Grief Therapy (CGT). 

 

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Trauma & Grief Experiences...

My path into counselling began following a series of tragic losses in my life.  In 2001 around the time of 9/11 in the United States, I experienced my own "twin tower" losses.  The love of my life - my fiancé died suddenly, and then my beloved dad passed away five weeks later.  I was completely debilitated by the trauma and the grief, but managed to move forward.  Following these painful losses, my beautiful mother succumbed to a short battle with blood cancer in 2013.  In 2019 I lost my fraternal (non-identical) twin brother, and with barely enough time to recover my lovely cat "Gingy" died.  Then, my second fiancé passed away in 2021.  Despite my trauma and grief I have created a path forward that allows me to move through life with deep appreciation for everything I experience.  I have learned to recognize that a full-life is only achieved when we experience the sorrow with the joy.  I truly understand emotional pain, but while trauma and grief rob us of our life force energy, we can learn to replenish it.  We can also integrate the pain of loss, the lessons learned, and the adaptive skills that helped us survive our suffering.  When we do this, we increase our own wisdom - the cherished quality of being wise, and we step out of darkness and into the light once again. 

 

What I Value and Believe...

 

I greatly value people from all different backgrounds and all walks of life.  Having grown up in the diverse and vibrant city of London in the United Kingdom, I developed a distinct curiosity about people and their biology at a very young age.  I wanted to know why human beings are different, how they function, and what makes them unique.  I also wished to learn about the roles of culture and the environment on human development.  I believe our environment plays a key part in how we perceive and experience trauma; not just our physical environment, but our emotional environment, our psychological environment, our spiritual environment, and our religious or non-religious environment.  

 

I believe that personality is formed as a result of both early childhood and caregiver experiences together with genetic factors, but that socioeconomic, educational, political, religious, climatic, and technological advancements have a significant impact on mental health trajectory, trauma pathways, and self development. 

 

I value life experiences be they positive or negative, and believe that all material-world/physical-world experiences are linked to a greater spiritual experience/existence.  I believe trauma is raw and painful, but offers us the opportunity to develop empathy, compassion, and familiarity for ourselves and others, therefore trauma can increase positive human connections. 

 

I value being patient and respectful, especially during trauma work.  I believe feelings and emotions are important aspects of trauma and may take time to be fully expressed.  I believe healing from trauma is possible, and that Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) can be achieved.

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My services support and empower members of society

to grow and flourish

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