Psychotherapy

Individuals generally seek psychotherapy services when they are struggling with some type of emotional, behavioural, or relational issue in their lives, are navigating a period of transition, and/or are looking to engage in personal reflection and growth. Typical concerns of clients I see include difficulties with mood, anxiety, emotion regulation, stress, loss, anger, disruptive behaviour, acute and complex trauma, relationship issues, and parenting concerns.

Types of psychotherapy I provide include:

• Individual psychotherapy for adults
• Individual psychotherapy for youth
• Play therapy for children
• Family and dyadic parent-child therapy
• Parent consultation/guidance

Rooted in a relational/attachment perspective, I provide an individualized, evidence-informed approach employing techniques from a variety of therapeutic modalities, including psychodynamic (relational/insight-oriented) therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), motivational enhancement, supportive psychotherapy, person-centred psychotherapy, and behaviour management.

Psychotherapy may be short- or long-term depending on your goals and our mutually agreed upon approach of working together. Generally speaking, psychotherapy may involve:

• Exploring and expressing thoughts and feelings
• Learning new skills and ways of coping
• Developing a new understanding of emotions, behaviors, and personal patterns
• Making meaning of past and current experiences and relationships
• Exploring new ways of experiencing, reacting, and relating to oneself and others within the context of the therapeutic relationship

Assessment

When individuals are struggling with their emotions, behaviour, relationships, or some aspect of their mental health, it may be helpful to pursue a clinical diagnostic assessment. The goal of an assessment is to provide a better understanding of the difficulties, to identify their context, scope, severity, and origins, and to provide treatment recommendations.

An assessment generally takes place over a number of weeks. Clients will be asked about their concerns and other aspects of their lives and experiences. An individual’s difficulties are understood as occurring in the context of their environment (e.g., family, school, social network, community). As such, with permission, information may also be gathered from other relevant people in clients’ lives. For example, it is often very helpful and informative to speak with a child’s teacher. Information is gathered in a variety of ways (e.g., interviews, observation, standardized questionnaire completion). Feedback is provided at the end of the assessment and will include a formulation or conceptualization of the difficulties, a clinical diagnosis (where appropriate), recommendations, and a potential plan for intervention.

Please note that at present, I am not conducting comprehensive psychoeducational assessments.