Frequently Asked Questions

I work with individual adults who are ready to engage in their own inner work.

I also work with adults in relationships, including couples and people in alternative relationship structures. This may include romantic partners, siblings, friends, or a parent and adult child who want to better understand and shift the patterns between them.

I do not work with children, teens, or families. If you are looking for counselling for a child, teenager, or family system, it is best to seek out a counsellor who specializes in that area.

I tend to be the best fit for people who read through my website and think, “This sounds like the kind of therapy I am looking for.”

My work is grounded in values of openness, acceptance of difference, freedom of expression, anti-oppression, anti-racism, and LGBTQ2S+ affirmation.

You can expect psychotherapy to be a collaborative process where we work to understand you more accurately.

Therapy is not about being judged, labelled, or told what to do. It is a private, thoughtful space where we slow things down enough to notice patterns, make sense of what has been happening, and explore what might help you feel more choice in your own life.

You can expect respect, care, and honesty. I will bring curiosity, steadiness, and a belief that when you understand yourself more accurately, more choice becomes possible.

Therapy can feel relieving, clarifying, challenging, or uncomfortable at different points. We will pay attention to the pace, and we will talk openly about what is and is not feeling useful.

We will work together to understand what is going on, what shaped those responses, what keeps certain patterns in place, and what kind of support or change might be most useful.

Counselling is one of the few truly private spaces available to us. Professional and ethical guidelines protect your privacy as you learn more about yourself in a safe and trustworthy context. There are a few rare exceptions to confidentiality, which we will review together.

You do not need to arrive polished, certain, or already knowing what you need. Therapy gives us room to understand how you have been struggling, protecting yourself, adapting, and trying to get through.

This is a respectful and affirming place to be queer, trans, questioning, kinky, poly, imperfect, uncertain, or otherwise fully human.

You are welcome to ask questions along the way, and I will do my best to be open with you about our process.

Counselling, also called therapy or psychotherapy, is a collaborative process where you work with a counsellor to better understand yourself, your relationships, and the patterns that shape your life.

In counselling, we slow things down enough to notice what is happening beneath your first reactions. You may begin to understand why you respond the way you do, why certain patterns keep repeating, what you learned about yourself, relationships, and the world, what you value now, and what might be getting in the way of feeling more steady, connected, or able to choose.

Counselling is not a one-size-fits-all process. Therapy should be shaped around who you are, what you are struggling with, what you want to understand, and what kind of change feels meaningful to you.

Counselling offers a private, respectful, and supportive space where you can understand yourself more accurately — and from there, have more room to choose how you want to live, relate, and respond.

Yes, counselling can be effective.

Research has consistently found that psychotherapy helps many people reduce distress, improve functioning, strengthen relationships, and make meaningful changes in their lives. The American Psychological Association recognizes psychotherapy as an effective, evidence-based practice, with benefits that often last beyond the end of treatment.

That said, therapy is not magic, and it is not the same experience for everyone. It tends to work best when there is a good fit between you and your counsellor, when the work feels collaborative, and when you are ready to participate actively in the process.

You do not need to arrive with everything figured out. But counselling usually works best when you bring some willingness to reflect, be curious, try things between sessions when useful, and talk openly about what is or is not helping.

In my view, counselling works by helping you understand yourself and your patterns more accurately. When you can see more clearly what is happening, why it makes sense, and what keeps it going, you usually have more room to respond differently.

I became a counsellor after experiencing, firsthand, how much it can matter to understand yourself more accurately.

I struggled with anxiety and depression for many years, and my own therapy was an important part of how I began to change my relationship with myself, my thoughts, my emotions, and my patterns.

That experience stayed with me. It helped me understand that meaningful change is often not about trying harder, criticizing yourself into improvement, or forcing yourself to be different. Often, change begins when you can make sense of yourself with more honesty, compassion, and clarity.

That is a big part of why I became a counsellor: because I know how powerful it can be to be understood well, to understand yourself differently, and to discover that old patterns do not have to be the only way forward.

My approach is collaborative, curious, and grounded in the belief that accurate self-understanding creates more choice. We look at your present struggles, your early learning, your nervous system, your relationships, and the patterns that keep showing up. The goal is not to label you or tell you who to become, but to help you understand yourself more accurately so change becomes more possible.

Read more on My Approach page.

Yes. I am Queer/Bi+/Pansexual, on the gender-non-conforming side of cis. I currently write articles about the complications of being on the Bisexual Spectrum for the benefit of therapists and therapy clients.

Most clients do not need to know the theory behind therapy. They want to know whether the work will feel useful, respectful, and relevant to their lives.

My approach is integrative, which means I draw from several therapeutic models rather than using one rigid method with everyone. The theories that most influence my work include attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, emotion-focused therapy, parts work, somatic and nervous-system-informed approaches, cognitive and mindfulness-based therapies, and trauma-informed practice.

In plain language, this means I pay attention to your thoughts, emotions, body responses, relationships, early learning, protective patterns, and nervous system. I am interested in how your struggles make sense, not in reducing you to a label or a technique.

Therapy with me is collaborative, curious, relational, and practical. We may explore patterns, build emotional awareness, work with your nervous system, notice protective strategies, challenge unhelpful beliefs, strengthen boundaries, and look for new ways of responding that fit who you are.

The theory matters because it gives us useful maps. But the work itself should feel human, thoughtful, and connected to your actual life.

Read more here.

The number of sessions you need depends on what you are coming to therapy for, what you are hoping to understand or change, and what role you want therapy to play in your life.

Some people come to work through a specific issue, decision, or period of difficulty. Others are looking for a longer-term therapeutic relationship where they can keep understanding themselves more deeply, notice patterns as they unfold, and have steady support over time.

I tend to work best — and often witness the most meaningful growth — in longer-term therapeutic relationships. Over time, we get to understand not only what you are struggling with, but how your patterns show up, how they shift, and what supports real change in your actual life.

I see therapy as something you actively choose: a regular place where you engage with your own important inner work, rather than something you feel pressured or obligated to do.

For many people, therapy becomes less like a one-time intervention and more like a place they return to as they keep growing, changing, and meeting new parts of life.

This does not mean you need to come forever, or that therapy has to be constant. Many people come weekly or biweekly for a period of time, take a break when life feels more settled, and return later when something significant comes up or when they are ready for another layer of growth.

At the beginning of counselling, I usually recommend weekly or biweekly sessions. Meeting regularly helps us build momentum, develop trust, understand what is happening, and keep the work connected to your day-to-day life.

As therapy progresses, we can talk together about what rhythm makes sense. Some clients continue regularly because the ongoing support feels useful. Others shift to less frequent sessions, take planned breaks, or return later when they need support again.

There is no required number of sessions. We will pay attention to what is useful, what is changing, and what kind of support makes sense for you over time.

My Therapy Prep Package is a free resource you can download right now. It is a super helpful set of tools that can help you identify if you are ready for therapy at this time and some ideas regarding how to prepare to begin therapy.

Every therapist is different, and fit matters. I encourage you to find someone whose approach, values, and way of working feel right for you.

My work brings together clinical knowledge, psychological curiosity, lived experience, and a strong belief that people change when they understand themselves more accurately.

Before becoming a counsellor, I spent many years in creative, design, business, and arts communities. That background continues to shape how I work. I am interested in patterns, meaning, identity, expression, relationships, and the ways people try to create lives that feel honest and sustainable.

My work is also shaped by my own experience of therapy and personal change. I know what it is like to struggle with anxiety and depression, to sit in the client’s chair, and to discover that understanding yourself differently can change how you relate to yourself, other people, and your life.

In therapy, I bring warmth, curiosity, directness, humour, and a whole-person perspective. I pay attention to your emotions, thoughts, nervous system, relationships, history, values, and the practical realities of your life.

I tend to do my best work in longer-term therapeutic relationships, where trust and understanding can develop over time. This allows us to notice patterns as they unfold, return to important themes, and understand change as it happens in your actual life.

I am not interested in reducing you to a diagnosis, a technique, or a quick fix. I am interested in helping you make sense of yourself in a way that is honest, compassionate, and useful — so that you have more room to choose how you want to live, relate, and respond.

The terms counsellor, therapist, and psychotherapist are often used in overlapping ways. They generally refer to professionals who provide talk therapy or counselling.

A Registered Clinical Counsellor, or RCC, is a counsellor who is registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. RCCs have met BCACC’s education, clinical experience, supervision, and ethical requirements. RCC is the professional designation I hold.

A psychologist is a regulated mental health professional with advanced graduate training in psychology. Psychologists can assess, diagnose, and provide therapy for mental health concerns. In BC, psychologists are regulated by the College of Health and Care Professionals of British Columbia.

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental health. Psychiatrists can assess mental health concerns, diagnose mental disorders, prescribe medication, and provide treatment. In BC, seeing a psychiatrist usually requires a referral from a doctor or nurse practitioner, and medically necessary psychiatric care is typically covered by MSP.

Private counselling and psychotherapy are not usually covered by MSP, although some extended health plans cover sessions with RCCs, psychologists, or social workers. Publicly funded mental health services may be available through hospitals, clinics, schools, or health authority programs.

Yes. Therapy is a private and confidential space.

We will talk about confidentiality in more detail when we review informed consent. In general, what you share in therapy stays private. There are, however, a few rare exceptions where I may be legally or ethically required to share information.

These exceptions include situations where there is serious concern about immediate safety, such as risk of harm to you or someone else; reason to believe a child is being abused or neglected; concern that a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected, or unable to seek support; or a legal requirement such as a court order or subpoena.

Like many counsellors, I may also consult with a clinical supervisor or colleague when it is useful for your care. When this happens, identifying details are removed or limited as much as possible, and the other professional is also bound by confidentiality.

If a situation ever arose where confidentiality needed to be broken, I would make every reasonable effort to discuss this with you beforehand, unless doing so would increase risk or interfere with a legal responsibility.

These situations are rare, and I am happy to talk through any questions you have about confidentiality before we begin.

Fit matters a great deal.

Therapy asks you to talk about personal, vulnerable, and sometimes difficult parts of your life. It makes sense that the relationship with your counsellor would matter.

In therapy, the relationship is not just a container for the work. It is part of the work. A steady, respectful, and trustworthy therapeutic relationship can help you feel supported enough to notice patterns, explore difficult material, experiment with new ways of relating, and experience being understood more accurately.

A good fit does not mean you will always feel comfortable or that therapy will never feel challenging. But you should have a sense that your counsellor is respectful, attentive, trustworthy, and interested in understanding you well.

Fit is personal. A therapist can be skilled and still not be the right therapist for you. Sometimes you may get a sense of fit in a consultation; other times it becomes clearer after a few sessions.

If something does not feel right, it is okay to talk about it, ask questions, or look for someone who feels like a better match.

I offer a free 15-minute phone or video consultation so you can ask questions, get a sense of how I work, and see whether it feels like we might be a good fit.

No. You do not have to talk about anything before you are ready or before you choose to.

Therapy is a collaborative process. We will make choices together about where the conversation goes, what feels useful to explore, and what pace feels right for you. Sometimes it may be important to talk about your past, but it will not be forced.

That said, your past can offer helpful context. Many of the ways we respond to life now were shaped by earlier experiences, relationships, environments, and adaptations. Sometimes these patterns are so familiar that we do not notice them until we slow down and look more closely.

Looking at the past is not about blaming your family, getting stuck in old stories, or making everything about childhood. It is about understanding how certain patterns developed, why they made sense at the time, and whether they are still serving you now.

If talking about the past feels difficult or unappealing, we can also be curious about that, without pushing.

When we understand where a pattern came from, we often have more room to choose how we want to respond in the present.