About Me
I received my Masters in Counseling Psychology (1991), and worked as a psychotherapist in Quebec, British Columbia, and Washington State. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington.
The approach I take towards counseling is eclectic, drawing on individual client needs, and integrating various frameworks, and techniques such as Jungian, psychodynamic, cognitive therapy, meditation and mindfulness, body oriented psychotherapy, guided imagery and clinical hypnotherapy, EMDR, energy psychology, astrological insights and my own personal self-exploration.
My original training was working with the trauma of sexual abuse, both historic and more recent abuse. This I did at the Montreal Sexual Assault Center, with a focus, at that time on feminist psychodynamic psychotherapy, and crisis intervention.
Training and learning continued at community mental health centers in both British Columbia and Wasington State. Here I worked with adults, families, and children in the areas of: childhood maltreatment, sexual abuse, crisis intervention, depression, anxiety, and major life changes.
Alternative training and experiences involve 27 plus years of astrological study and practice, and general metaphysics. The Jungian approach and framework is deeply embedded in my style of therapy. My road to psychology came through the astrological door by studying Jungian analyst’s and Jung’s astrological insights into the psyche.
Meditative practices over the years have helped me integrated these tools into my therapy practice. Awareness, and expansion of one's awareness of self and experience in the world being a prime directive here.
I have always been sensitive to energy and its importance in the fabric of life. A natural evolution to this learning lead to an exploration of what now falls under the rubric of Energy Psychology.
Energy Psychology involves, Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Energy Medicine, all techniques which use blending of clinical psychology and eastern medicine involving meridians.
Additionally I have my Usui and Karuna Reiki Masters training, and have studied different forms of sound healing, such as Acutonics, and brainwave technology. I am a a Registered Hatha Yoga Teacher, using Yoga, sound, and meditation as part of my personal practices. I have completed Family Constellation training with Francesca Mason Boring in 2013, and continue with additional training. This systemic work now informs all aspects of my work.
Other equally useful techniques I integrate are Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting, and Clinical Hypnotherapy. These are very powerful techniques in my healing tool kit. I welcome discussion of their uses and applications.