round

 Learning about relationships has been a lifelong journey. I started out in a family with parents who were absorbed in their own problems which taught me that I had to take care of myself. I found it difficult to trust people and consequently relationships were a struggle. My background also primed me to be sensitive to others difficulties and entering the counselling field was a natural progression. Early in my career I had very little clue about healthy relationships, often getting into relationships where I was the caretaker or with people who were emotionally abusive. This period of my life involved a lot of learning and personal work. I did many years of my own counselling to understand myself in relationship and heal from childhood neglect.

Professional training and experience has provided me with a varied background. I started out in social work which I found unsatisfying and frustrating. I found the role to be too bureaucratic and I did not feel I could facilitate the kind of personal change I was interested in - so I started to train in Gestalt Psychotherapy and from there went on to complete my graduate degree. I have had the fortune to train with highly experienced mentors in the counselling/psychotherapy field. I have worked in agencies for family counselling and trauma and started my private practice in 1990. I also worked as a Counselling Instructor for a Vancouver Counselling Institute in the late 90's. I have worked in EAP for the past 5 years. These experiences have given me a wide experience ionto the kinds of struggles we encounter in life.

Focusing on relationships in my practice has been a natural progression of my personal and professional experience. Throughout my work in trauma and individual counselling I found that the majority of people were struggling with relationships in some way or another. During my years of working for EAP(Employee Assistance Programs) I found myself working more often with couples and enjoying the challenges and rewards of this work.

As a person who values open and honest communication, I am constantly interested in what is not being said as much as what is being said. The biggest complaint from couples is communication issues and this often boils down to an inability to talk about what is really going on between them. I am interested in helping people to identify and express what is real and authentic. Intimacy is the space between us and deepening our intimacy takes courage to speak with compassion to one another about the ways we affect each other.

In addition to Relationship Counselling I work with individuals and groups. Group psychotherapy is an extension of relationship work. We live our life in groups, and they are often problematic. Group work is fascinating to me in terms of the complexity, and as a result, the opportunity to learn about ourself in relationship.