Counselling

Who I work with:

Adults
Couples
Children & teens
Families
LGBQT+

I help people with…

Anxiety
Depression
Relationships: communication challenges, conflict, infidelity, separation or divorce, substance abuse, intimacy, or a crisis
Stress
Phase of life, transitions
Abuse: emotional, physical, or sexual
Work life balance, burnout
Managing emotions like anger
Addiction
Parenting
Parent-child conflict
Career finding or changing
Confidence or self esteem
Grief or loss

See below for more examples…

Adult Therapy – Individual

Are you finding yourself troubled by…

Sadness?
Worry?
Frustration or anger?
Your relationship(s)?
Your childhood?

I provide counselling for a variety of troubles such as…

Anxiety
Depression
Relationships
Stress
Phase of life
Grief or loss
Abuse or Trauma
Work/life balance
Transitions
Anger
Addiction
Chronic fatigue and/or Chronic pain
Self esteem/acceptance

Adult Therapy – Relationships

Want your relationship to be as good as it can be?
Trying to decide if you have a future together?
Want to work out some differences?
Are you afraid of what s/he might do to you?

I offer relationship counselling to anyone experiencing any kind of relationship challenges such as…

Communication
Conflict
Estrangement
Separation or divorce
Infidelity

Adult Therapy – GLBQT

I provide counselling to people who are questioning or know they are..

Gay
Lesbian
Bi-sexual
Queer
Transsexual, a cross dresser, trans-identified, or two-spirited

Are you having troubles…

Adjusting to life in your town, village, city, or school?
In your relationship?
Feeling isolated?
Deciding whether or how to come out to family, friends, or co-workers?
With pre or post-op concerns?
Accepting yourself?
Fitting into the community?
Fitting in at work?
With drug and alcohol use?
Taking lots of risks sexually?
With sadness or worry?

Children & Adolescent Counselling

Is your child or teen having troubles with friends?
Does your child’s behaviour seem out of control?
Are you and your partner planning to separate and want to tell your kids?
Is your child having a problem letting go of a pet that died?
Is your teen getting into trouble with alcohol, drugs, or crime?
Has your child or teen been abused or gone through something traumatic?

I offer services to children and adolescents and use talk and playful approaches with kids depending on their ages and reasons for coming.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.”
~ Plato

I use a number of playful approaches with children to help them find solutions to their troubles. I build safe, therapeutic relationships with children using things such as:

Drawing
Sand tray
Construction toys
Crafts
Puppets
Toy people and animal figurines
Castles and Dollhouses
Musical instruments

Some examples of the reasons you may want your child
in counselling may include that…

S/he is having troubles with kids at school
S/he is not fitting in
S/he is having attention difficulties
You and your partner are separating or divorcing
There has been a loss of a family member, friend, or pet
S/he has had some traumatic experiences such as sexual, physical, or emotional abuse.

Family counselling

Are you wondering how to effectively parent your child or teen?
Do you and your child/teen keep butting heads?
Are you wondering how to help your child focus better?
Are you planning to separate from your spouse and wonder how to make the transition as easy as possible for the kids?

I work with families in regards to a variety of concerns such as…

Parenting
Parent-child conflict
Behaviour
Attention difficulties
Separation or divorce
- Are you wondering how to effectively parent your child or teen?
- Do you and your child/teen keep butting heads?
- Are you wondering how to help your child focus better?
- Are you planning to separate from your spouse and wonder how to make the transition as easy as possible for the kids?
I work with families in regards to a variety of concerns such as…
- Parenting
- Parent-child conflict
- Behaviour
- Attention difficulties
- Separation or divorce
- Grief and lossGrief and lossFamily counsellingFamily counselling
- Are you wondering how to effectively parent your child or teen?
- Do you and your child/teen keep butting heads?
- Are you wondering how to help your child focus better?
- Are you planning to separate from your spouse and wonder how to make the transition as easy as possible for the kids?
I work with families in regards to a variety of concerns such as…
- Parenting
- Parent-child conflict
- Behaviour
- Attention difficulties
- Separation or divorce
- Grief and lossFamily counselling
  - Are you wondering how to effectively parent your child or teen?
  - Do you and your child/teen keep butting heads?
  - Are you wondering how to help your child focus better?
  - Are you planning to separate from your spouse and wonder how to make the transition as easy as possible for the kids?
  I work with families in regards to a variety of concerns such as…
  - Parenting
  - Parent-child conflict
  - Behaviour
  - Attention difficulties
  - Separation or divorce
  - Grief and loss

Frequently Asked Counselling Questions

What can I/we expect in counselling?

You can expect in counselling to build a vision—a clear vision of what you want to have in your life and ways that you can get it. We’ll build on what you’re already doing that’s working and figure out the things that you need to do differently. Counselling will be collaborative. We’ll talk about things that you can do to move past obstacles so that you truly can live the life that you want.

What is the structure of counselling with you?

The structure of counselling I use is very respectful and empowering. I will help you to develop a clear vision of what you want and will help you decide upon actions you can take to realize your dreams. We will regularly measure your progress towards your goals and reassess and tweak steps along the way.

What are the indicators or benchmarks of success?

During each meeting we assess where you’re at in terms of reaching your goals. We’ll also talk about your commitment in reaching these goals, your confidence, and the importance that they play in your life. One of the main ways we do this is through scaling questions. For example, I might ask, “on a scale of 0 to 10 if zero is you have no confidence whatsoever and 10 is you are completely confident, how confident are you currently that you can reach your goals?”

Do you have the expertise to help me?

Often I find when people ask me this question, they are really wanting to know if counselling will be helpful, if it will make a difference in their lives, and whether or not I think I can help them. Although no one can claim counselling or a specific therapist will absolutely be helpful, I can tell you I have 20 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and adults. My goal has always been to support a person or people to develop a vision of what s/he wants to have happen in his/her life and to help her/him develop tangible steps to get there. My goal is also to support a person in taking action and monitoring her/his progress towards success. I know from working with many people that things can be different in a very rich and meaningful way.

What can you do to help my child/teen when s/he doesn’t want to meet with a psychologist?

Building a safe and trusting relationship is of utmost importance in working with children and teens. I work very hard at developing a good rapport with the child or teen so that she or he feels comfortable meeting with me. I might do this through talking, playing games, or doing some other fun activity.

Why use playful approaches or play therapy?

Children learn through playing. They also communicate what they’ve experienced or witnessed through play. Using play therapeutically helps children express what may be troubling them using a natural and comfortable medium. It can help children learn to move beyond troubles and live normal, happy lives. More and more researchers are recognizing how important play is to a child’s cognitive and emotional development.

Why would I choose you over other therapists or psychologists?

I have 20 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and adults. I use a respectful and empowering approach to help you make tangible changes. I’ll support you in realizing your dreams. I work well with a variety of concerns and a variety of people. I offer prompt appointments during the day, evening, and on weekends on a face-to-face, on-line, or phone basis. If you live in the mountains in the Bow Valley, it’s helpful to have someone to speak with that understands what life is like here.

Is counselling going to be worth the cost?

Suppose you are able to live the life you’ve always wanted to live. Would it be worth the cost? I will do my best to help you develop a vision of what you want to have different in your life, will help you figure out what you need to do to get there, and support you in moving past obstacles along the way. It is possible to live a very rich and meaningful life period.

How do counselling and coaching compare?

There are lots of similarities between counselling and coaching. Counselling and coaching are both a commitment to yourself, a way to be proactive — to feel like you can handle whatever comes your way, and to feel like you have the energy and motivation to make a difference in your life. Both counselling and coaching give you a snapshot of what success may look like. Counselling and coaching help you develop a rich experience of success by enabling you to see, feel, and hear what it may look like. In coaching you often feel a real sense of excitement and motivation to get going right away to reach your goals. In counselling there is often an affirmation of your competence and a growing confidence that you can deal with whatever may come your way. Counselling is often about growing your feelings of confidence and competence in living the life you want.

Counselling would be recommended over coaching if you are a risk to yourself, someone else, or have an ongoing mental health concern—i.e. depression.

I would be happy to discuss with you whether you think counselling or coaching would be more beneficial.