About Me
Since graduating with my MSW in 2000, I have been working in the field of health and mental health with a particular interest how mindfulness and emerging neuroscience can be applied to direct practice with clients. In 2017 I moved from a part time to a full time private practice, offering counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and couples. Prior to this, I worked for over 15 years as an employee of St. Michael’s hospital in the departments of psychiatry, family practice, cancer care and palliative care. I am a registered Social Worker in good standing with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Workers and also a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers.
My specialization is in mental health and I have extensive training in evidence based psychotherapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Emotionally Focused Therapy.
My approach to therapy is collaborative and integrative based on the needs of the individual. Sometimes people require just a few targeted sessions to address a specific issue, while others are embarking on a longer journey to understand and resolve deep seated issues. Together we will find an approach that suits your needs and situation.
My specialization is in mental health and I have extensive training in evidence based psychotherapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Emotionally Focused Therapy.
My approach to therapy is collaborative and integrative based on the needs of the individual. Sometimes people require just a few targeted sessions to address a specific issue, while others are embarking on a longer journey to understand and resolve deep seated issues. Together we will find an approach that suits your needs and situation.
In addition to my counselling practice, I am constantly engaged in education as a student and teacher. I have served as a Faculty Field Liaison at the Faculty of Social Work, U of T, a previous lecturer for the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and provide psychoeducational workshops on topics related to mental health for students, staff and clients.
I am also passionate about body oriented approaches to psychotherapy and wellness and am trained as a mindfulness and yoga teacher. I offer a course on mindful yoga for clinicians through the Applied Mindfulness Meditation program at U of T and was a volunteer yoga instructor for the YMCA for a number of years.
I am also passionate about body oriented approaches to psychotherapy and wellness and am trained as a mindfulness and yoga teacher. I offer a course on mindful yoga for clinicians through the Applied Mindfulness Meditation program at U of T and was a volunteer yoga instructor for the YMCA for a number of years.
My Story:
For most of my life I have been interested in exploring and seeing the world from different perspectives. My undergraduate degree was in cultural anthropology from McGill University and after graduation I lived in Japan for almost 3 years where I worked as an English teacher in a junior high school for girls. In Japan I came to appreciate a different way of seeing the world from the one I grew up in and it is where I learned about mindfulness through studying Japanese arts such as Aikido.
In my twenties I was looking for a life direction with meaning and focus and sought out answers in non-traditional paths. My experience with the Zen arts led me to live as a resident at the San Francisco Zen Centre where I studied Zen for three years with my primary teacher Paul Haller. It was there I became interested in “Engaged Buddhism”, bringing my practice out of the zendo and into the community. During this time I worked at the Zen Centre in the foundation office and was participated in the Buddhist Alliance for Social Engagement (BASE) program, run through the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Some of the outreach activities I was involved in included: teaching mindfulness and stress reduction in jails, working in a family shelter, and distributing food to the homeless.
Realizing I needed a professional path of service, I left the Zen Centre to go get my Master’s in Social Work at the University of Toronto. Since graduating in 2000 I have worked at St. Michael’s Hospital as a Clinical Social Worker in various departments and currently work part time in outpatient psychiatry where I run mindfulness based psychotherapy groups for depression, anxiety and trauma. My professional skills have allowed me to translate the insights learned from my Zen practice into a practical language that is accessible to people I work with in the hospital setting and in my own private counselling practice. I continue to develop and upgrade my skills through ongoing continuing education in counselling and psychotherapy.
With more of my time committed to professional endeavours over the years, I have had to adapt my own mindfulness practice to reflect the reality of being a “householder”. Each stage of life brings new opportunities and challenges to continued engagement with the practice. As a mother of three young children, the focus of my practice is on family and being present with the busyness of everyday life. The pace of life has increased so much since I was first introduced to Zen practice at the beginning of the digital age. Now, more than ever, the reality of our wired world demands that we benefit from the insights and wisdom of mindfulness practice to help settle our distracted minds.
One of the consequences of our fast pace of life is a profound disconnection from our bodies and the ability to slow down and heed the signals of our nervous systems. For many people, sitting still in meditation is next to impossible and the practice of movement through yoga is a more accessible path to mindfulness. For this reason I completed 500 hours of training as a yoga teacher and offer a weekly yoga class at the YMCA for the past 3 years with a focus on body awareness. I bring a body oriented approach to enhance my psychotherapy practice using techniques gained from my training as a yoga teacher and in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy integrates top down (e.g. cognitive therapy) and bottom up (e.g. yoga, movement, etc.) approaches to healing self and relationships. I have completed the Level 2 training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and continue to work with this path as it integrates mindfulness and self study.
More recently I have added EEG neurofeedback to my psychotherapy practice and trained in the Othmer method in California. This is another approach that facilitates change in the body by training the brain to self regulate in an optimal way. Please see my webpage on neurofeedback for more information.
My path of service has led me to an ongoing commitment to mindfulness and psychotherapeutic practice. I am committed to working with individuals, couples, and organizations who want to make positive changes in their lives and offer my unique background integrating the various paths of social work, mental health, Buddhism, psychotherapy, yoga, and being a student of life to help make that change.
In my twenties I was looking for a life direction with meaning and focus and sought out answers in non-traditional paths. My experience with the Zen arts led me to live as a resident at the San Francisco Zen Centre where I studied Zen for three years with my primary teacher Paul Haller. It was there I became interested in “Engaged Buddhism”, bringing my practice out of the zendo and into the community. During this time I worked at the Zen Centre in the foundation office and was participated in the Buddhist Alliance for Social Engagement (BASE) program, run through the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Some of the outreach activities I was involved in included: teaching mindfulness and stress reduction in jails, working in a family shelter, and distributing food to the homeless.
Realizing I needed a professional path of service, I left the Zen Centre to go get my Master’s in Social Work at the University of Toronto. Since graduating in 2000 I have worked at St. Michael’s Hospital as a Clinical Social Worker in various departments and currently work part time in outpatient psychiatry where I run mindfulness based psychotherapy groups for depression, anxiety and trauma. My professional skills have allowed me to translate the insights learned from my Zen practice into a practical language that is accessible to people I work with in the hospital setting and in my own private counselling practice. I continue to develop and upgrade my skills through ongoing continuing education in counselling and psychotherapy.
With more of my time committed to professional endeavours over the years, I have had to adapt my own mindfulness practice to reflect the reality of being a “householder”. Each stage of life brings new opportunities and challenges to continued engagement with the practice. As a mother of three young children, the focus of my practice is on family and being present with the busyness of everyday life. The pace of life has increased so much since I was first introduced to Zen practice at the beginning of the digital age. Now, more than ever, the reality of our wired world demands that we benefit from the insights and wisdom of mindfulness practice to help settle our distracted minds.
One of the consequences of our fast pace of life is a profound disconnection from our bodies and the ability to slow down and heed the signals of our nervous systems. For many people, sitting still in meditation is next to impossible and the practice of movement through yoga is a more accessible path to mindfulness. For this reason I completed 500 hours of training as a yoga teacher and offer a weekly yoga class at the YMCA for the past 3 years with a focus on body awareness. I bring a body oriented approach to enhance my psychotherapy practice using techniques gained from my training as a yoga teacher and in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy integrates top down (e.g. cognitive therapy) and bottom up (e.g. yoga, movement, etc.) approaches to healing self and relationships. I have completed the Level 2 training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and continue to work with this path as it integrates mindfulness and self study.
More recently I have added EEG neurofeedback to my psychotherapy practice and trained in the Othmer method in California. This is another approach that facilitates change in the body by training the brain to self regulate in an optimal way. Please see my webpage on neurofeedback for more information.
My path of service has led me to an ongoing commitment to mindfulness and psychotherapeutic practice. I am committed to working with individuals, couples, and organizations who want to make positive changes in their lives and offer my unique background integrating the various paths of social work, mental health, Buddhism, psychotherapy, yoga, and being a student of life to help make that change.
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