• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (with Distinction)

• Athabasca University Master of Counselling

• City University of Seattle

Psychologist Association of Alberta (Student Membership)

Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (Professional Membership)

My personal grief journey began in 2013 after the death of my only sister and best friend who had been suffering from a traumatic brain injury following a motor vehicle accident. This event shook me to my core and resulted in an innate pain, unlike anything I’d experienced before. Several years later, stuck in my grief, I realized that I had allowed others’ perspectives of grieving to impact how I thought I should feel–I should be ‘over it’ by now. As I began to educate myself more on the mourning process, it became apparent that there is no right or wrong way to grieve. By pushing grief down or engaging in avoidance-type behaviors, we are only prolonging the process. As David Kessler says, “What we run from, pursues us”. There is no getting over the death of a loved one, but we can learn to grow and heal around our grief and find meaning after the death of a loved one. This experience is one of many that inspired me to pursue an education in psychology in 2018 to better understand how our life experiences shape how we view the world and impact our emotions and behavior. We can learn to lean in toward those uncomfortable feelings and sit with them without judgment. While completing my master's program, my dear grandmother died and my son’s father was tragically killed. Although each death and grieving process is unique, I believe it is because of my knowledge and experience of grief and traumatic death that I was able to find both peace and strength, resulting in the ability to complete the program while actively mourning and embracing all of the complex emotions in the grieving process. 

I have been a volunteer grief support group co-facilitator since 2022. Additionally, I have experience working with traumatized, high-risk youth in government care; adults, and seniors faced with challenges in several areas including grief and loss, complex trauma, intergenerational trauma, childhood abuse & neglect, sexual trauma, interpersonal relationships, anxiety & depression, and attachment disruption. I am able to work with a diverse range of presenting problems and tailor interventions to suit the client’s unique needs.

My therapeutic approach embodies a holistic biopsychosocial perspective that aims to better understand the client by exploring their entire life experiences and how these experiences can contribute to current challenges. I believe that every individual has the capacity for growth and reaching their highest potential and that, often, it is through some of our greatest struggles that we can realize our greatest strengths.

The interventions most often applied when working with me include Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), humanistic person-centered, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), and Mindfulness. I may also integrate varying Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Polyvagal (PVT) techniques to aid in nervous system dysregulation. However, I fully believe there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to treatment and that there can be no predetermined method of change. Positive change and growth rely heavily on a collaborative therapeutic relationship built on trust in which clients are encouraged to vocalize if something doesn’t feel right for them.