Relational Psychotherapy

After working as an Occupational Therapist in physical medicine and psychiatric settings in British, then Toronto teaching hospitals since 1985, I established a successful private practice with clients who had experienced physical and emotional trauma related to car accidents.

I feel so fortunate to have had such rich working experiences, including in a multi-organ transplant unit; a palliative care team; geriatrics; in & out-patient psychiatry (adolescents/adult); with people with HIV/AIDS; co-leading an addiction support group and working with chronic pain.

The thread has been my passion for supporting people in difficult times and honouring how they chose to navigate their journey, despite physical, psychiatric, emotional or social limitations.

My respect for the diversity and dignity of the human spirit led me to explore and integrate traditional healing methods, as well as various forms of mindfulness and meditation, into my practice.

As my interest in psychotherapy became a calling, I embarked on the Gestalt Institute of Toronto's renowned five-year psychotherapy theoretical and experiential training program.

I strive to co-create a space of grounded, embodied compassion with clients, so they feel safe exploring any issues and I am excited to bring my relational, non-judgmental style to my psychotherapeutic practice.

I am a mother, an artist and a lover of animals and nature.

I have always sought deeper learning and connections in life.

After studying Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, and enjoying a long career in Advertising (which I left to raise my children), I entered into training to become a Psychotherapist. In 2011, I earned a Diploma in Spiritual Psychotherapy from Transformational Arts College and started a Private Practice. In 2013, I enrolled at the Gestalt Institute of Toronto to further blend and enrich my Humanistic approach with Relational Gestalt. I am a Registered Psychotherapist and member of the CRPO.

Psychotherapy is a technique to support you in your exploration of emotional health and balance. It does not claim to ‘heal’ emotional disturbances, but is meant to help you understand, change and balance behavioural and cognitive patterns. Humanistic Psychotherapy is a client-centered therapy working out of, and with, the client’s immediate experience. I can and will not give advice on how to live your life. Rather, I will act as a neutral guide and witness, to sit with you in whatever emotion you may need to feel or express in the moment.

Many of us have forgotten how to feel our emotions, how to let them move through our bodies like pure energy forms – letting anger churn, hope to blossom, grief to contract, disappointment to gut us, or sit with unmet longing as if it were an old friend. My approach is to simply be with what’s true for you, moment to moment, through supportive listening, exploration of your emotions and holding a container of safety to help bring awareness to long-standing patterns. I will not fix, compare, judge, or give advice, but be a present, compassionate witness.

People come to see a Gestalt therapist for a variety of reasons. Maybe you’re in a life crisis and simply need support.

Maybe you just want “more” out of life, or a new approach to old patterns. Whatever your motivation, I will help you to explore and expand your sense of self.

My practice is rooted in the Gestalt principle that change can only occur when you allow yourself to be what you are and not what you would like to be. Mine is a holistic, embodied, experiential, relational and present-centre approach that facilitates awareness of behaviours that limit your potential for growth. I provide an open, receptive, non-judgmental environment built on a foundation of acceptance and support.

As a 4th year Therapist-in-Training, I have trained at the Gestalt Institute of Toronto since 2013. As part of the training, I have delivered a variety of presentations and have had the opportunity to lead and co-lead workshops. I have also completed Level 1 & 2 of the Embodied Gestalt program, a somatic approach to psychotherapy, focusing on embodied contact. What I have learned from my course of study is the importance of listening to the body and “staying at the table” to meet the other in an honest and authentic way.

How can we keep expanding as we age: living fully in all aspects of ourselves, even as we face inevitable loss? Self-acceptance is essential, and I can support you to find it.

Building on resources you already have: this is my aim for our therapeutic journey.

To my psychotherapy practice, I bring the polarities of a “Gestalti” steeped in psychoanalysis. Our inner disturbances can often be tracked at the surface, embodied in posture and movement. My training in both modalities equips me to meet clients at any depth.

My studies began at the Toronto Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis where I completed the Four-Year Training Program (Academic Stream) in 2010. Manning a telephone crisis line exposed me to an epidemic of people craving contact. These experiences in tandem inspired a strong desire to occupy the therapist’s chair.

Casting about for psychotherapy training that would combine talk therapy with body awareness, I discovered the Gestalt Institute of Toronto. I am thrilled to be part of the Five-Year Training Program as it shifts toward a more relational way of practicing.

I’ve been a Corporate Relations Manager, a poet (Bonding with Gravity, 2000), and am a life-long practitioner of yoga. I have two daughters.