a little more about me
For the last 8 years I have worked in the mental health field, offering supports and care to folks who are navigating multiple systems of oppression. This has included anti-violence work addressing sexualized and gender-based violence, frontline harm reduction addressing houselessness and the toxic drug crisis, child and youth mental health care, and most recently, anti-oppressive therapy centered on queer, trans, and neurodivergent communities.
I have always identified as a big feeler, and have been told by many that I ask good questions. I suppose this is driven by an innate curiosity about how others experience -and survive - the world, and a genuine desire to hear more of the stories that shape us into who we are, where we come from, and where we might be going. I came to this work through recognizing the therapeutic potential of improvisational play, character development in clowning, and through a deep dive into other therapeutic practices such as meditation and generative somatics. What I offer to the people that I work with is inevitably informed by my life experiences, mentorship and learning along the way- and the influence of the many activists, advocates, organizers, writers, educators and healers who came before me, working to better our collective futures.
my identities
I am a queer, white, currently non-disabled, straight-sized femme of Ashkenazi Jewish and Irish/Scottish decent. I identify as an anti-Zionist, and believe in the self-determination and liberation of all people.
As an uninvited guest on the ancestral lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, I continuously grapple with my own coloniality, and role in land and resource dispossession and occupation.
My intersecting identities shape the way I show up both in my work as a clinical counsellor, and the way I move through the world as a human being.
professional development and education
I hold a Master of Counselling degree from City University of Seattle and am a registered clinical counsellor in good standing with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (RCC #21846). Continuous learning has and will forever be a passion of mine.
Trauma & Somatic Therapies
AEDP Immersion – AEDP Institute
AEDP Essential Skills Level 1 – AEDP Institute
EMDR + Parts Work for Treating Complex Trauma – Arielle Schwartz
Complete IFS Therapy Immersion – Frank Anderson
Trauma-Informed Practice – Trauma Informed Practice Institute
Couples & Attachment-Based Work
Emotionally Focused Therapy: Intensive Course – Sue Johnson
The Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Level 1 – The Gottman Institute
Liberatory & Identity-Affirming Practice
Gender Affirming Hormone Readiness Assessment Training - J. Matsui De Roo
Surgical Care Planning for Gender Affirming Care - J. Matsui De Roo
Leaning into Liberatory Practice – Prospect Counselling
Feminist Therapy for Trauma Healing – Jennifer Hollinshead
Neurodiversity Affirming Care: Planning and Implementing Affirming Therapy – Jennifer Kemp
Advanced Gender Affirming Care – Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA)
Crisis Intervention Training - Providence Health
San’Yas Indigenous Cultural Safety - PHSA
Reconciliation through Indigenous Education - University of British Columbia
Education
MA of Counselling - City University of Seattle
BA Anthropology and Environmental Studies - University of Victoria