My Approach to therapy
The most important part of the therapeutic relationship is our connection. You should feel heard, seen, and feel safe within the therapeutic space. As we explore your goals for therapy and start to look at all the important intersecting factors in your life, I will point out things along the way that may help you see connections between your past and present.
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Learning how our early years have shaped how we see the world around us and how we move through that world can be incredibly important for helping us understand how and why we do things. Sometimes, the things we do are a result of trauma, and sometimes, they are because we did not have certain needs met when we were young. This can show up in unwanted thoughts, feelings, or behaviours that can cause us or those around us distress.
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Mental health is physical health. When we cannot express our distress, trauma, anger, or other emotions in healthy ways, our bodies and our subconscious will ensure that we pay attention. This can show up in physical ways, through depression, anxiety, migraines, and body aches and pains. Other times, it can show up in impulsive behaviour, addictions, or feelings of extreme distress. Either way, our brains are trying to send us a message.
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I approach therapy from a person-centred, trauma-informed approach, and I use a variety of approaches and techniques in session.
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Below I have listed a few of the techniques that I use. I tend to use multiple within a session and am not loyal to one or another.
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While I bring the ability to help you move towards your goals, you bring the hard work!
Common Approaches
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
"EMDR" is an approach that uses bilateral eye or body movements to help someone process traumatic events or intrusive thoughts. The technique has been around for several decades with a mountain of research behind it along with improvements in its approach to the treatment of C-PTSD/PTSD/Trauma. It has been further proven to treat anxiety, sexual dysfunction, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, social anxiety & gender dysphoria.
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​It is about connecting the mind and the body. The brain wants to self-soothe and process trauma. While our lives may be filled with amazing accomplishments and people who love us, sometimes our internal voice or unwanted thoughts try to convince us that those things don't matter. Emdr can help to replace the pain and intrusive thoughts with the real strength and resilience that you have within you so you can be your authentic self.
Trauma is often stored in the body and while we can rationalize our experiences with our mind we need to check in with how those memories have affected our bodies.
Cognitive Behaviroal Therapy
"CBT" is a form of therapy that has been around for a very long time. When we get stuck in unhepful thinking patterns or are expressing behaviors that bring ourselves or others distress, CBT can help us recognize how and why this happens. Being aware of what we are doing and why we are doing it is the first step in changing that behavior and allow us to create new ways to think and behave.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
"DBT" is very similar in style to CBT, however it is a more gentle way of validating, recognizing and changing the thoughts and behavors. This style of therapy is very effective for those who find that their emotions can swing widely.
Narrative Therapy
This form of therapy is a way for you to tell your story from your own lived experience. Several people can experience the same situation or event and come away from that event with very different experiences. Sometimes the story needs to change so you can move on with various aspects of your life. NT can help to deconstruct and reform your story.
ACT Therapy
ACT is accepting your reality, feelings and situation while also committing to change. By identifying and embracing areas in our lives that we avoid due to distress, and identigying the big feelings that we often have, we can gain a sense of why we do what we do. Often we are not living a life that is central to our values and what is important to us. By understanding what drives us, it can help us adjust our path to bring more of what we hold dear into our lives.