HOW I WORK:

I am passionate about assisting my clients to learn about themselves and how they interact in their relationships, as well as how their relationships relate to how they interact in the world. In my work I use Family Systems Therapy as my primary guiding theory alongside other methods I have found best assist clients.  I believe that looking at the family system we come from and our current system assists people to make change in their lives. I believe that people have within themselves the resources and abilities to make change and I work with them to see and utilize these abilities. Clients will work with me to understand patterns within their lives, where these patterns may have developed and how they are impacting their lives and relationships. It is important that this work is done within a safe and supportive environment, where individuals, couples and families can be challenged to think in different ways about their issues.

I have been working with individuals, couples, children and families for over 20 years, across 3 countries. I received my training in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) from Arizona State University and hold a current licence in Arizona as a Marriage and Family Therapist. I have trained in many therapeutic models over the course of my career.  My early work assisting children, adolescents and their parents began in the schools in Arizona, and I then worked as a Marriage and Family Therapist and clinical manager at non-profit agencies. I worked for 2 years in Sydney, Australia as a clinician in a Family Relationship Counselling Program. In 2011, I moved to Vancouver and began my therapy practice in Canada.  Along with my private practice I am also the Executive Director and faculty member with Living Systems Counselling, a non-profit in the Lower Mainland specializing in Bowen Family Systems Theory. 

www.livingsystems.ca

I work with individuals, couples and families. I see people together as couples and family groups but also believe people can work on relationship issues individually. People in my practice present with a broad range of concerns from all cultures, religions and sexual orientations. In my practice I see couples at all phases, from dating and pre-marital to marriage difficulties and divorce. I also work with families across the life cycle, and believe the best outcomes for children are when parents are involved in the therapy as they are the most influential people in their child's life.