My approach is grounded in authenticity, trust, and often humour. I believe you have the wisdom to navigate life’s challenges and I strive to help empower you to facilitate change in therapy. Therapy can serve as a great space to change the relationship you have with your body and your sense of self. I work with individuals, couples, children and families offering a free consultation to ensure we are a good fit. I carry a systemic lens, exploring the way culture, community and family shape our experiences and aspirations. I am committed to strength-based and anti-oppressive practice in my work. I recognize the importance and responsibility I have as a therapist, to address the systemic inequalities impacting clients in their lives.
Registered Psychotherapist, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), MACP, BA
Do you find yourself comparing your appearance to others, or spending time on social media wishing you had what they had? Does your body image get in the way of doing the things you'd like to be doing? Let's change that - Get in touch for a free 15-minute consultation today.
I am passionate about working with folks experiencing body image concerns. With lived experience coping with body image issues in the fitness industry, as well as additional training in the field of eating disorders, I can help you make peace with your body by approaching it with acceptance and self-compassion instead of criticism and self-punishment.
I have borrowed Andrew Seuber's approach to working with a negative body image, that is from the inside out.
He suggests that "The negative image is understood as a dissociated and shame-based “part” of the personality in need of understanding and compassion, achieved via mindful awareness, “parts” dialogue and trauma processing.
The first step is to create healthy separation between the "observing" or aware Self and the part(s) absorbed in the eating disorder via mindful awareness.
Once this separation between the "whole" self and part of self is established, the Gestalt polarity tradition (empty chairs) is utilized to develop understanding of the shame-based part.
Understanding leads to compassion for the eating disordered part from a non-enmeshed state of consciousness, aka the aware self, the experiencing self, the observing self.
Healing of the eating disordered part occurs when that part no longer feels exiled as a "not-I" and is assisted in processing the traumatic roots of the disorder."
I believe the path to healing body image issues involves understanding the root of how our current relationship with our bodies developed, as well as setting a new foundation based in a new narrative about our bodies that is firmly planted in acceptance and values-based self-knowledge, self-care, enhanced self-esteem, and loving kindness.
One of he deepest beliefs which we carry about ourselves is our view of our body and appearance. Far from being a surface concern, these beliefs have the power to shape our emotional selves and deeply impact our personal happiness. We support clients as they face these concerns by unpacking he roots of their self-beliefs and discovering pathways to personal happiness which exist beyond their thoughts of acceptability and appearance.