I have been working in the Social Service Industry since 1996 when I started at the 49th Street Youth Shelter in Red Deer, supporting teens and their families in crisis situations. Since then I have worked in the United States and Canada, in a variety of different social service roles, and started my own Clinical practice in 2016.

 

Since my own autoimmune diagnosis in 2006 my focus has been on persistent pain, disease, and illness. I currently contract for Dr. Gabor Mate’s program, Compassionate Inquiry. I was part of the development comity for the Primary Care Network’s Persistent Pain program, which is an 8 week Psychoeducational group focusing on alleviating the suffering connected to persistent conditions and taught in that program for several years.

 

My training was in family and marriage counselling. My focus for my clients is in supporting their wellness within their family system but also other relationships and work environment.

 

I am a Certified Compassionate Inquiry Practioner which is an approach developed by Dr. Gabor Mate. It is a modality that I believe in at my core, and have myself experienced personal freedom from the disease and in my life from doing the work. I am part of the inaugural class of Dr. Mate and I am thrilled to be able to offer this method of therapy to my clients. I am also an IFS (Internal Family System) informed therapist.

My approach is largely somatic, which means I focus on working with the body’s experience of the stories the mind tells. We can access the body in using the Compassionate Inquiry, Eye Movement Desensitization and Repossessing (EMDR), IFS and breath techniques to name just a few.

 

In my personal life, I have been married since 2001 and have two adult children. We count our dogs and horse as part of the family. We have been part of the Red Deer community since 2005 and have enjoyed raising our kids here.