In my practice, I work with adults and focus on four areas:  anxiety, trauma, stress & substance use.

:: Anxiety ::
Each of us has our own unique, unpleasant experience being anxious. It can range from temporary tension, to being nervous with constant worry, to feeling like you are unable to function. Let’s talk about your type of anxiety…
General anxiety causes you to worry about lots of various areas of your life like family, health, finances, work, the future, relationships, daily hassles, and more.
Social anxiety produces feelings of tension, discomfort and perhaps shyness around other people and social situations. You may be bothered about what others are thinking about you or concerned that you might experience embarrassment.
The main type of therapy I practice, called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the first-line recommendation for treating anxiety.

:: Trauma ::
Trauma is anything bad or any hurt you have experienced in your life.  Trauma is a spectrum from mild, medium to severe experiences.  If you find yourself triggered by things, situations or people in your life, and you react in a way where you feel some unpleasant emotion, you freeze or want to run and escape, then you may have some unresolved trauma.
One of the main forms of trauma-based psychotherapy I have been practicing since 2009 is called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).  This method uses memories associated with your trauma to soften their impact bringing relief to the distressing symptoms.

:: Stress :: 
There are chapters in our life when we feel things are smooth…you are managing and able to juggle the various responsibilities in life.  Then there are other times when life throws an unexpected curve ball and we get hit hard.
Here are some examples of what I mean…
Common work stressors are adjusting to a new job, changes at work, interpersonal tension/conflict, workload strain, feeling unfulfilled or workplace toxicity.  
Common personal-life stressors are when a relationship ends, parenting challenges, caregiver stress, troubles adjusting to some major life change, tension/conflict with your partner, you feel overwhelmed with life’s busyness, finances, health problems, etc.
Let’s talk through the details of the stressful situation you are going through and get some perspective.  This will allow space for you to process the emotions attached to it.  Then we’ll work as a team to set a plan of positive change.

:: Substance Use,  Addiction, Recovery ::
I would describe my approach to recovery work as a caring coach who supports you to tap into existing services for treatment.  
Thunder Bay is fortunate to have a number of the best recovery programs and facilities in Canada.  Our preliminary goal is to focus our work so that you feel as ready and safe as possible to select the best treatment plan for your recovery journey.  Once you have made those choices, I’m here to support you through the experience so you will have the most success while in a program.