I help anyone locked inside conflict, including the internal kind.

You might be trying to navigate an issue with someone close to you — like your partner, parent or friend. In those moments, it helps to have a safe and constructive space to talk things through. Old patterns can be replaced with new tools; old wounds can lead to new healing.

For others, the focus may be individual. In solo sessions, we can explore scenarios that keep coming up, like people-pleasing, loneliness or unsatisfying relationships. We might also look at experiences with burnout, shame, or past hurts from childhood. Then, at some point, we’ll harness all that new-found awareness so you can start taking supported steps toward a life you’d much prefer.

For Partners:

If you’re stuck inside the same old cycles, same old fights, same old resentments, you’re probably exhausted and feeling like you’re out of options. My truest passion is in helping people tackle this kind of relationship messiness. And there is no shortage of possible scenarios: maybe you’re bickering about the schedule / house / (step) kids / money / in-laws. Maybe you’re dealing with the aftermath of a betrayal, or working through a divorce or co-parenting plans. Or maybe you’re just trying to get back to a time when you felt loved by each other (and had fun!). For all this, I can help. I welcome 2SLGBTQIA+ folks and relationship structures of all sorts, including blended and poly families.

For Individuals:

My clients often say they feel misunderstood in this world, that they feel different. Maybe they’re anxious, angry or highly sensitive. Or they’re navigating neurodiversity or identity questions and they want insight and support. Others feel like they’re struggling inside friendships, romantic partnerships or families that feel more draining than uplifting. Together, we can peel back the layers to uncover a truer self and more aligned ways of living. This gives clients more stability and choice in their lives — and like an 800-pound elephant has been lifted off their hearts.

For Parents & Families:

Clients often come in feeling overwhelmed or dissatisfied as parents, siblings, or adult children. I get it — I’ve been all those things. For some, I support them with practical skills and fresh approaches that fortify them in this wild time of raising kids and teens. Others are looking to mend family relationships that have gone off the rails (or have never felt awesome in the first place). Still others are looking for a deeper, nuanced understanding of their childhood and family dynamics to shed light on how they can show up differently today.

Together, our work might focus on:

Managing Ongoing Stress:

This is code for “things suck and have for a while — and can I even turn things around?” The answer is: yes. Yes, you can. This could involve individual or relationship work and a variety of approaches. Some clients want clarity like a hot-knife-through-butter approach so they can start choosing different things. Other clients need patient, gentle trauma interventions to calm their nervous system and begin trusting their feet beneath them. I do both of these, and everything in between.

Big Transitions:

Certain periods in life are just more taxing than others, like when you’ve lost somebody important, had a big breakup, or introduced a new child into the family. In times like this, you’ll want support from someone who has experienced the same. Other areas where I can help: if you’re changing jobs, wavering on having kids, getting back into dating, adjusting to an empty nest, or feeling the dumpster fire of peri-menopause rearing its ugly head.

Mediation:

Clients choose my mediation services when there’s a particular issue that needs a neutral third party. Think: disagreements among neighbours, families fighting about estate issues, or co-owners of properties / companies who can’t agree on a direction. That’s all within my wheelhouse. Some matters can be resolved in just one or two sessions.

Discernment Counselling:

Couples counselling is a significant focus of my practice — but not all couples are clear about where they’re headed. Discernment counselling is a specialized form of decision making. It helps people understand the process of couples counselling, explore their options, and decide whether to stay in a partnership (with or without counselling), or leave. A full course of discernment counselling is typically five sessions in length.

Divorce Coaching:

If simple conversations with your ex are always turning into arguments, it might be time for a divorce coach. I help clients create co-parenting plans and adjust to post-separation life, even in high-conflict situations. My training as a therapist, mediator and Divorce Coach through Collaborative Divorce Vancouver, combined with my insistence on keeping all parties safe throughout the process, lets clients find some breathing room as they peacefully re-design their lives.

Blending Families:

The counselling world often treats step and blended families like every other family. They’re not — they have different challenges and needs. Given their more complex relational structure, blended families often include adults who feel lost in their roles and kids who feel torn between important grown-ups in their lives. As a step-mother and step-daughter, I know this family style intimately. I can provide clarity and countless strategies to lessen conflict and improve family ties.

Estrangement (or not):

Family estrangement is a subject that’s particularly close to my heart. I work sensitively and empathetically with this (wildly painful) reality from both perspectives — those initiating estrangement and those being estranged from. I have researched and written about this topic extensively. As a result, I can support you in whichever direction you choose: trying to reconcile or remaining estranged. In either case, ending the negativity and starting to heal remain my top priorities for you.