My Services

Harm reduction = An act of radical love

I work from a harm reduction and trauma-informed orientation to help clients connect with their inner healing intelligence as they work towards their definition of recovery. I am dually qualified as a Registered Clinical Counsellor and a Nurse Practitioner, with two decades of experience in mental health and addiction. My training includes solid grounding in mainstream psychiatry and psychopharmacology, and full prescriptive authority. This allows me to incorporate prescription medications as needed, including medically supervised tapers off antidepressants for adults who wish to try other approaches, including psychedelic therapies.

Although I initially trained within mainstream psychiatry, I came to view this approach as lacking, and in some cases, the diagnostic labels and medications prescribed can be harmful. That lead me on a path of personal and professional exploration into alternative ways to understand and work with experiences of mental and spiritual distress. Since humans are relational creatures, a great deal of mental distress and constriction stems from experiences of disconnection and reactions to events in the social and cultural world. A supportive and authentic therapeutic relationship can offer an opportunity to correct relational wounds and explore a wider range of behavioral options. Just as a plant will naturally grow towards the light if planted in the correct conditions, people will naturally move towards states of greater wellness and integration when the relational conditions are favorable.

Counselling

My work is grounded in the principles of harm reduction, attachment, and trauma informed care. My primary approach is non-directive, Person-Centered psychotherapy, with an anti-oppressive and Transpersonal lens. I incorporate Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) into my work, which includes body-centered methods of building resources, moving stuck energies, communicating with ambivalent parts, and working with trauma. I am also skilled in Motivational Interviewing, which is a non-pathologizing style of working with ambivalence around substance use and other behaviors.

Counselling is an opportunity to explore the patterns of thinking and behaving that may be keeping you stuck so that you can create more space and consider new options for coping and thriving. I believe that all behavior has meaning, and even seemingly destructive patterns can be understood as valiant attempts to self-regulate and survive. Because individuals are inextricably embedded in the socio-cultural, natural, and spiritual world, recovery may include community building, exploring transpersonal and/or spiritual experiences, and challenging oppressive or limiting forces.

My training as a Nurse Practitioner includes solid grounding in psychopharmacology and full prescriptive authority. This allows me to incorporate prescription medications into counselling as needed, including medically supervised tapers off psychiatric medications for adults who wish to try other approaches, including psychedelic therapies.

Counselling Focus Areas

• Addictive behaviors and Substance Use Concerns
• Depression and mood disturbances
• Anxiety
• ADHD
• Trauma
• Psychedelic Harm Reduction, Preparation, and Integration

Modalities

• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP)
• Internal Family Systems Informed Therapy (IFS)
• Inner Healing Intelligence
• Motivational Interviewing
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy Informed (DBT)
• Harm Reduction Therapy
• Supportive Psychotherapy
• Psychedelic Assisted Therapy 
• Mental health medications

Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy