Jess Erb

In my clinical practice, I work with adolscents and adults in a broad range of issues such as depression, anxiety, abuse (relationally, emotional and self-abuse/self-harm), eating distress, body positivity, sexuality and gender-related issues. I also work with those who are wanting to build self-confidence and self-esteem. I am blown away by the resiliance and dedication towards health that I see in every client I work with. You are the expert of your own life, and I work to empower you to find resources within yourself rather than provide simple fixes that may not last. Working from a Relational Psychodynamic framework, it is through the therapeutic relationship that we start to tackle these issues together. Specifically, I look at the interwoven nature that most problems are placed within - showing how our pasts, our coping mechanisms, family backgrounds and social relationships are all interconnected. Through making these links we can not only address your presenting issues, but also be able to prevent these issues from being so overwhelming in the future. In my work with adolescents: We work together to start to unpack some of the stressers you may be facing at home, with friends or at school. With me, you will find someone that understands and listens to what is going on for you. Together we can come up with coping strategies and ways to help you be able to face all that is happening at home/school/with your relationships. We can also use counselling as a place to start to explore what future goals you may have. In my practice, I have specialised in helping young adults come to navigate school and social related anxiety, friendship and family issues, depression/loneliness and romantic relationships. I have also worked with many young adults questioning sexuality and gender. In my practice with adults: In our First Phase of work together, we will start to explore and identify the problems that you are facing and where these may have started from. From there, we will get a clearer picture of how these have materialised, often looking to our past relationships and ways of coping that may now be hindering our health. I then work with you in this Second Phase to see why some of these issues are still present, making connections to see how our interpersonal relations, personal history, and current problems are interwoven together. Through this process, real change and healing can happen! In the Final Phase of our work, we start to strategise to find better ways of coping, handling stress, and relating to both ourselves and others - often using the therapy room as a place to try out new practices and strategies. In this way, my approach does not provide a 'band-aid' fix to your problems, but seeks to get to the heart of what is happening so that lasting change can occur! Check out our practice, Centred Self at: www.centredself.ca