I am a Registered Psychotherapist and a member of the Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. I have been in practice for 25 years.  I earned a Master’s degree in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Guelph in 2000, and continue to upgrade my skills and knowledge through research and training.

Though I grew up in the suburbs, for most of my years in Ontario I was a farmwife, mother, and small business owner.  I  have lived in Bruce County for 50 years – minus a four-year hiatus in the Yukon working with non-profit organizations and Indigenous communities.  I know what's great about small town life, and what's hard about it too.  I have learned it's all about context -- who we are, where we come from, and the horizon we're looking at. Concepts like 'resilience', 'good enough', 'happy' and 'intelligence' have no meaning outside the context in which they are framed. As such, I am always curious about what else a person brings into the room with them, besides their experience of a problem.  
    
My style as a therapist is gentle, non-judgmental, and collaborative.  Therapy is about honouring the courage to make change; it can be hard work. I view painful feelings like depression, anxiety, anger, or despair as signals that something needs to change.  And because I see the mind, body and spirit as intrinsically interwoven, I work with all of these parts of you to help create that change. 

Therapy for me is also about discovering the meaning of things, because we all tend to stumble around blindly until we can make sense of what’s happening.   My expertise is in supporting you to develop a better understanding of your life, to invite your strengths and to be compassionate with your struggles. Change can be confusing, even intimidating . . . but less so with someone to walk it through with you.

A particular interest of mine is the overlap between physical and emotional health.  Who knew that the health of our gut could be so important to the health of our brain?  The work of doctors such as Datis Kharrazian and Mark Hyman in examining the influence of foods and nutrition on our emotional lives, and the new understandings about trauma Dr. Bessel van der Kolk shares in his latest book, make it an exciting time to be a therapist.  

I am also deeply moved by the trauma people can experience when the psychiatric medications they've been prescribed are not helpful. The work of Drs. Heather Ashton and Peter Breggin can bring a light into the darkness, and I'm hopeful there will be paradigm shift soon about the uses of these drugs.

Other interests I bring to the work are about healing from head traumas, and the epidemic of sleep disorders and their impact on modern life. (see my Recommended Reading list)