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Treatment that integrates thoughts, feelings, and body sensations to promote healthier and happier living.
I approach each person with an open-mind, warmth, and compassion. Everyone is unique, therefore I tailor my approach differently, depending on your needs, goals, and how to ultimately help you feel better.
To overcome anxiety, depression, fears, as well as other afflictions, I believe in treating the whole person through therapy, not just the symptoms we see on the surface. I draw from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), as well as Mindfulness-based approaches to help adolescents and adults understand the relationship between their thoughts, emotions, behaviour, and body sensations. CBT is an evidence-based approach that equips people with the skills they need to effectively manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, and fears. Applying the tools of CBT in our daily lives can empower individuals to understand new perspectives and insights, and make positive changes that lead to feeling happier and healthier.
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Sometimes 'talk therapy' is not enough to create lasting change. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an integrative therapy that goes beyond talk therapy. EMDR is an evidence-based approach recommended for the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Additionally, EMDR can be used for anyone who has experienced adverse events which were distressful, such as relationship losses, injuries, bullying or harassment, sexual, emotional, or physical abuse. If you are experiencing feelings of anxiety, fear, depression, phobias, loneliness, or low self-esteem, you may benefit from EMDR treatment.
The process of EMDR works to unblock frozen memories and integrate them into your wider memory network in a healthy and adaptive way so they no longer hold the strong and painful emotional charge that often causes suffering, negative thoughts and emotions, as well as unpleasant body sensations.
One way to think of EMDR treatment is to picture a kitchen sink that is attached to plumbing underneath. Imagine that your sink is blocked, but all you see is that the water in the sink floods and does not drain properly.
You only see the accumulation of water in the sink but you do not know what is happening below. This concept is similar to the symptoms of anxiety or fear we feel, for example, knots in our stomach, trouble sleeping, headaches, or heart palpitations.
Now imagine you have a bottle of liquid plumber that you pour down your drain. It works to unclog your drain and addresses the issues below the surface. As a result, the sink no longer floods and the water drains properly again.
This clogged sink metaphor is one way of understanding how EMDR works - except the liquid plumber is the process and it is done with our own minds.
Difficult experiences that we go through in our lives are often processed naturally by our brains in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. However, some experiences that are too painful may become ‘stuck’ and as a result, cause distressing symptoms in many areas in our life.
Through the treatment of EMDR, a trained therapist guides a patient through identifying ‘frozen’ memories, and facilitates the patient to process the memory, using a structured approach, so that the memory moves into the adaptive part of our brain.
The result, similar to the unclogged sink, is a reduction in symptoms and a healthier life. What is more, EMDR focuses on the past, present, and future, with its goal being to help people achieve a mentally and emotionally healthy and happy life.
