Classification Talk.

As a graduate of the Master of Counselling program at the University of Calgary, I was fortunate to have studied a variety of theoretical counselling orientations and their respective applications in therapy with individuals, families, and couples, such as solution-focused and cognitive-behavioural interventions, as well as narrative, emotion-focused and somatic interventions.  Over the course of my studies and my counselling practice, I have been influenced by many of these theoretical orientations in my own supportive and client-centred therapeutic approach to counselling. I completed clinical internships at the Nova Scotia Community College - Institute of Technology and within the public school system in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which allowed me the opportunity to work with an extremely age-diverse population base from various cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

I have worked within public and private secondary and post-secondary institutions as a Student Services Counsellor, and have also offered services as a Child and Family Therapist in Northern Ontario, where I provided individual, family, group, and couples’ therapy. I have also offered trauma-based counselling services to women who have been in abusive relationships. I have experience working with clients presenting with a wide variety of challenges, including anxiety, addictions, early psychosis, PTSD, eating disorders, depression, abuse, relationship issues, grief, discrimination, suicidal ideation, mood disorders, and academic challenges. I also have experience in working with complex cases of clients suffering from co morbid illness (e.g. alcohol use disorder and anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia and depression).

My counselling practice to date has provided me with opportunities to pursue further clinical training in cross-cultural and trauma-based approaches. I recently completed the Refugee Mental Health - Focus on Syrian Refugees course offered by the CAMH Refugee Mental Health Project, as well as the Trauma Assessment and Treatment certificate program through Safeguards Training for Children and Adult Services, which included a particular emphasis on sexual assault trauma in children and adolescents. Additionally, I completed previous trauma training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Somatic Experiencing. These professional learning opportunities have provided me with a rich theoretical framework for understanding and addressing trauma physiology; they support mood regulation, the reworking of addictive patterns, and the prevention or resolution of PTSD.

Prior to my counselling training and graduate studies, I completed Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees from Queen’s University. I previously worked as a secondary school teacher and a college/university instructor in Nova Scotia and Northern Ontario for eleven years, which has provided me with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of child /adolescent / emerging adult development, as well as common mental health and substance use challenges among this population.