My initial training in social work gave me an opportunity to work closely and intimately with people. The primary learning I received from this work is that people are most at ease when they are in touch with their true nature, and that this state of ease and true nature will manifest only in an environment of respectful and kind relationship.

My Master’s degree is in human development and applied psychology. From this I learned to see the bigger picture, especially our human attachment needs and our profound need for relationship. As I’ve worked with people over the years, my thinking and practice has evolved toward an appreciation of mindfulness. When we are mindful we are able to connect most deeply with ourselves and with others.

“Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest,
to be completely present to the moment,
to taste the here and now,
to be where we are.”

-Henri Nouwen

I completed my training in psychotherapy in 2003 at the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society. Since then I have continued to broaden and hone my approach to incorporate a deep belief in the healing qualities inherent in relationship. I believe, in other words, that we become our true selves only in relationship with others. I believe in life-long learning. I am a Certified Practitioner of the Hakomi Method, a somatic, mindfulness-based method of assisted self-discovery. Hakomi enables us to study how you organize your experience in the present so that we can begin to understand the core beliefs that may be limiting you, getting in the way of a more satisfying experience of life. This is therapy as learning together rather than therapy that tries to fix something about you. It is a gentle approach that needn’t take a long time since even a little learning about ourselves can create change. I both organize and attend workshops and I seek regular supervision from a registered psychologist, practises which deepen my work immensely. As well, I have spent many hours in the client’s chair in psychotherapy, so I know viscerally what it feels like to be a client.

I am registered with and licensed by the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. I work with individual adults.