Internal Family Systems (IFS) / Parts Work/ Inner Child Work: Nobody is completely unified inside at all times. We may argue with ourselves, engage in harsh inner dialogue, or do things we don't actually want to do (even when we try hard not to!). IFS allows us to become acquainted with our inner world so we can bring it back into harmony. This theory allows us to work deeply and safely to unburden from trauma and hardship, and to restore a greater sense of inner unity and ease.

AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy): AEDP and parts work are the perfect pair. AEDP is relational, experiential, somatic, emotion-centred, and present-focused. What does this mean? It means our job is to get below the "talk" therapy, into the "do" therapy. When we work with parts in an AEDP framework, permanent shifts happen in the inner landscape because we're not trying to think our way out of the problem, we're actually letting the body, emotions, and moment-to-moment experience - within a supportive therapeutic relationship - be the catalyst for change.

Somatic/body-centred Therapy: You'll hear me ask a lot (like, a lot a lot), different versions of, "where do you feel that in your body?" This is because, as Tara Brach says, "Our issues are in our tissues"! Our mammalian bodies carry the story of our hurt (and our joy!), in our muscles, in body-based symptoms like headaches, in our posture, our nervous systems, our guts. Our bodies can also tell us how to heal, when we learn to understand and speak 'body language'.

Attachment Theory: Our earliest relationships form the basis of our worldview. How we're parented has a lot to do with whether we see the world as fundamentally safe, fair, and predictable, or chaotic, uncertain, and even frightening. We then act accordingly to keep ourselves safe. As we get older, sometimes we keep acting from that original worldview despite new circumstances, and we can push away people who try to love us, or feel anxiety and fear within a stable relationship. The good news is these patterns are learned and can be unlearned. We do that using the therapeutic relationship.

In our free 20-minute discovery call, we will review what's happening in your life that's bringing you to counselling, see if we're a good fit to work together, and make space for you to ask any questions you have. At the end of the call, we can either book together, take some time to think about it, or chat about which referrals might better help you.

Our first session together will be an intake session, where we will review your form and get more clarity about what it's like to be you! At this stage, we're learning about each other, building rapport, clarifying the problem, and co-creating our goals and plan.

Sessions are 50 minutes in length. The final 5 minutes are for wrapping up, checking in about rebooking, payment, and other logistics.