Since I was a teenager and getting into a lot of trouble, I found myself curious about why people behave the way they do - including myself!  The more I studied, the more I wanted to learn.  The more I learned, the safer I became. The safer I became, the more mental health gains I made. Now I use that perspective to help adolescents find ways to notice safe feelings to improve the trajectory of their own mental health.

 

I have been practicing as a Registered Social Worker since 2010 and was a Youth Counsellor before that (since 2000). For 25 years I have worked with hundreds of teens and families in minimum and maximum security jails, residence/day treatment, community agencies (including high-risk forensics), medium risk hospital forensics, high-schools and alternative education.  My specialized focus now is being intentional with building awareness and safety, mind-body integration, and strengthening relationships to help pre-teens, teens, young adults and parents deal with sometimes really scary, possibly unsafe and pervasive problems such as anger, aggression, mood, self-harm and trauma.

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My lifelong experience as a trained dancer both competitively and professionally, and as a dance coach shed light on the significance of the use of sound and movement to connect with my inner self and destress.

 

I am highly sensitive and intuitive and can relate to those with big feelings; I am also heavily impacted by the environment and other people. Talk therapy did not work for me.  Integrating my mind and body through awareness, sound and movement became the most effective means to find healing from my own trauma, and continues to be the way I practice self-care.

 

I spend so much time outside as a means to self-soothe and nature is safety for me.  I find peace in my connection with animals and living things like plants and even insects.  And music makes my soul smile every single day.

 

I bring my experiences with me and combine what I've learned personally with educated, professional evidence based treatment.  My therapy model focuses on you as a whole to give the unsaid a voice, because I know what it feels like to be labelled, misunderstood and lose hope.

 

 

Therapy is my way of giving back to teenagers that are in need because I was one.