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Centered & Collaborative Therapeutic Services in Edmonton
The Approaches I Use in Therapy
My approach to therapy is client-centered and collaborative. The names below matter less than what they feel like in the room, so each page describes a way of working in plain language: what it is, what a session looks like, and when I reach for it.
Everything starts client-centered. EMDR and CBT are things we can add, with your agreement, when what shows up asks for them. And if people-pleasing or a quiet voice is what brought you here, you can see how these approaches come together in Speak Up Skills.
I see people in person in Edmonton and by video across Alberta.
My Services
The three I use most
01 · The foundation
Client-Centered Therapy
Where almost everyone starts with me. You're the one who knows what your life is actually like, so you set the direction. My job is to help you hear what you already know, and to be honest with you along the way.
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02
EMDR Therapy
For experiences that talking alone hasn't reached. EMDR is a structured way of working through what happened so it can sit differently in your memory. We go at your pace, and you stay in control the whole time.
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03
CBT
For the thought patterns and behaviours that keep looping. We slow them down, look at what you're telling yourself, and practise responding in ways that line up with what you actually want.
Learn more →I also draw on emotion-focused and solution-focused approaches when they suit the work. Not everything I use needs its own page. What matters is that it fits you.
How I Choose
How I choose what we use
“It's honesty with compassion.”
People often arrive with a version of the same question: which type of therapy is right for me? My honest answer is that you don't have to know. That's my job.
We start client-centered, every time. In the first few sessions I'm mostly listening: to what you're carrying, to what you've already tried, to what happens in your body when certain topics come up. What shows up there tells me what we need.
If it's a thought pattern that keeps looping no matter how clearly you can see it, I'll suggest bringing in CBT. If it's an experience that stays raw however many times you've talked it through, EMDR may be the better route. Sometimes we need neither, and being accurately heard is the work itself.
The mix can also change over time. Something we set aside early on, because it felt like too much too soon, can become exactly the right work a few months in, once trust has had time to build. We revisit as we go, and nothing is sprung on you.
Whatever I suggest, I'll tell you what I'm noticing and why. Nothing gets added to our work without a conversation first, and "not yet" is an answer I can work with. You decide where we go. I'm honest about what I see along the way.
You don't have to pick
If reading about therapy types feels like homework, you can skip it. Matching the approach to the person is work I trained for, and it's mine to carry, not yours.
You bring what's going on. I'll bring options, explain them in plain language, and we'll decide together. If we start one way and it isn't fitting, we change course. Nothing is locked in because a page on a website said so.
And if you arrive already knowing you want EMDR, or you're curious about one of these, say so. That interests me, and it's a good place for the conversation to start.
Come as you are. We'll figure out the rest together.
You don't need the right words tostart
A consultation is a conversation. No preparation needed.