Description
The journey of life can often be a very difficult road to take. However, the journey also brings about many joys, moments of bliss, and feelings of contentment. I believe that there are two key challenges humans need to overcome to be able to fully enjoy this journey: (1) To be able to manage and cope with the many negative and difficult emotions of life and (2) To be attentive, aware and present in the moments of happiness to ensure we reap the benefits of these moments.
The idea of 'Ride the Waves' comes from Mindfulness practice. In life, we can have moments of sitting on a beautiful and peaceful beach that we have chosen to go to. Some may choose to sunbathe, play in the sand, or jump in the water for a dip; and some may sit at the edge of the water waiting for the waves to crash into them and take them for a fun ride back out into the water.
At different times of the day, the size and intensity of waves will vary based on the earth's rotation. What never changes though, is that the waves will always come. If we are not careful when playing with the waves, we can get swept under and pulled into deep waters. When things do not work out, we hope that we have the skills to swim back to safety, the tide magically brings us back to the beach, or we have someone to help bring us back in.
Our emotional lives have a similar story - we may choose to go to peaceful places, and the positive and negative emotions will always follow and stay with us. If any of these emotions start to overwhelm us, our lives can get very chaotic and difficult to manage. Counselling can be one tool people utilize to help them: develop the skills to stay afloat of those emotions; develop the skills to swim and cope with the emotions; and most importantly, develop the skills to be okay with those emotions and to learn to ride out all the emotions we have, no matter how bumpy the ride may be.
Areas of Specialty:
• Justice-related matters (I.e., dealing with charges)
• Emotions management (anger, depression, anxiety)
• Aggression & violence
• Substance abuse
• Relationship difficulties (family, peer, dating)
• Trauma
• Stress & self-care
• Finding meaning & meaning making
• Improving mental health
• Exploring future life paths (I.e., relationships and personal identity)
Additional areas that we may deal with in therapy:
• Bullying
• Shame
• Grief
• Abuse & domestic violence
• Exploring life purpose (Existential work)
• Education & employment assistance
Counselling can be a place that helps us ride, (and if you're adventurous, surf), the waves of emotions.
Practice Modalities:
• Solution-Focussed Therapy
• Motivational Interviewing
• Strengths-Based
• Mindfulness
• Trauma-Informed
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
• Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Psychoeducation
Fees and Availability:
• Hourly Rates for in-person session: $130/hr
• Hourly Rates for teletherapy sessions: $110/hr
• Note: Teletherapy sessions use Doxy, a PIPEDA/PHIPA compliant platform
Hours of Availability: Contact me to discuss options
Service Location: Yonge & Sheppard and Online
Location