My Therapeutic Approach
I believe that mental health exists on a continuum between mental illness and mental wellness and that everyone deserves more than just “coping”. Above all else, my goal is to help individuals thrive, live authentically and find joy in every day life. My approach focuses on more than just helping people “get through the day”. Therapy shouldn’t be like playing a game of Whack-A-Mole which is just hitting the mole that pops up first. Therapy is about identifying the underlying issues and challenging them at the source, rather than just what is on the surface.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment that explores the interconnection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. While our brains are wonderful and work hard for us to thrive, sometimes our thoughts can become unhealthy and unchallenged, leading to complications in our lives. CBT has proven to be an exceptional therapeutic approach for a variety of mental health needs and is often highly sought after.
My goal is to utilize behavioural and cognitive strategies to manage and treat various presenting concerns. This approach helps you to identify and manage your thoughts and behaviours that may get in the way of you living the life that you desire to have both in and out of the therapy room. CBT can help to improve your mood, widen your window of tolerance and develop new skills in your every day life.
Attachment Informed Therapy
Attachment-informed therapy is effective in establishing a trusting relationships between the therapist and client, which then allows space for positive change to occur. Attachment informed therapy looks at your attachment style, which is based on the connection between an infant’s early life experiences and relationships (usually with their primary caregiver) and how this impacts your perception of yourself, others and the world around you. This can then determine how we form emotional and physical relationships with others throughout our life.
The importance of understanding this is to then identify your own attachment style to recognize your maladaptive emotional and behavioural patterns. These patterns can lead to struggles such as relationship conflict, emotional dysregulation, and behavioural difficulties. I often use attachment informed therapy with families and individuals of all ages. Attachment informed therapy can be used for a variety of presenting concerns such as emotion regulation, low self esteem, trauma, unresolved parental issues and often shows up in relationship stress. This approach is to focus on building a trusting, supportive and secure relationship between client and therapist so that the client can repeat this with loved ones in their lives.