People-pleasing therapy in Edmonton, at Good Carma Therapy, is built around one question: what is actually going on for you?
That question sounds simple. For someone who has spent years tracking what everyone around them needs, answering it honestly can be harder than it looks. The habit of putting yourself last tends to run quietly in the background. Naming it out loud, in a room with another person, is often where the work starts.
This post walks through what that work looks like here, in the order it tends to unfold: the first conversation, what gets tracked between sessions, what CBT is used for, when EMDR comes into the picture and when it does not, and what client-centered means in practice for someone whose whole habit is guessing what other people want. It also covers what this work does not involve. No timelines, no outcome promises, no client stories. Just a clear picture of what you can expect before you decide whether to book.
What the first conversation covers
The first step at Good Carma Therapy is a free 15-minute call. You describe what is going on. Carly states honestly whether she can help. There is no commitment on either side.
If you decide to move forward, the first full session is about getting a clear picture of what brought you here. This is not a checklist worked through in order. It is a real conversation about what your days actually look like, what you are carrying, and what you would want to be different.
For most people coming in around people-pleasing, this part of the conversation covers patterns that feel completely automatic by now. Saying yes when you mean no. Softening what you are about to say until the original point disappears. Staying quiet in a meeting or a relationship because speaking up feels like too much of a risk, then spending the rest of the day replaying what you wish you had said. Feeling responsible for how everyone around you feels, even when that responsibility was never yours to carry.
You do not need to arrive with everything mapped out or with the right words for it. The first session is about starting to name it, not resolving it.
One thing that gets established early is what you want to be different. That question shapes where the work goes, and it keeps coming back.
What gets tracked between sessions
What happens between sessions is part of the work, not a separate category of it.
You will not leave with a long list of tasks. But you may leave a session with something specific to pay attention to before the next one. This might be as simple as noticing the next time you feel the urge to apologize for something that is not yours to apologize for, and pausing before you do. Or noticing when you change what you were about to say because you are already guessing how someone else will react.
These are not dramatic moments. They are ordinary, everyday ones. The point is to slow down enough to actually see what is happening, because people-pleasing patterns tend to move fast. They feel like instinct. They can feel like just the way you are. Tracking them in real situations, between sessions, is part of learning to recognize them as patterns rather than fixed facts about yourself.
What you bring back shapes the next conversation. Between-session noticing is not compulsory homework, but it is where a lot of the real-life material comes from.
How CBT fits the work
"CBT helps you understand how your thoughts, feelings, and actions are connected, then gives you practical tools to change the patterns that keep you stuck."
For people who people-please, those patterns usually run through specific kinds of thoughts. If I say no, they will think I am selfish. It is easier to just go along with it. Keeping things smooth is more important than what I actually want. Disagreeing will make things worse. These thoughts can feel completely true. They can feel like accurate observations about the world rather than patterns that developed for particular reasons and can be looked at differently.
CBT looks at where these thoughts come from and what they are doing for you now. It also looks at the actions that tend to follow from them and the feelings that sit underneath. The three are connected. When you start to see the connection clearly, working with one of them tends to shift the others.
The practical tools that come out of CBT work are real. You might leave a session with a specific way to approach a conversation you have been putting off, or a way to catch a thought pattern before it runs all the way to the end. But those tools come out of your own situation and your own thinking. They are not handed to you as a script.
When EMDR comes into it, and when it does not
EMDR is a structured therapy for trauma and PTSD. It works with memories that still feel raw by using bilateral stimulation in short sets. You set the pace and decide what gets opened and when.
EMDR comes into people-pleasing work when there is something underneath the pattern that conversations have not fully reached. Sometimes people-pleasing is connected to a specific experience or period of time when saying what you needed felt genuinely unsafe, when the cost of speaking up was real. When that is the case, the habit is not just a habit. It is a response that made sense at the time and has stayed in place long past the point where it is still protecting you. In those situations, EMDR may be worth considering.
It is not a fit for everyone who comes in to work on people-pleasing. A lot of this work moves entirely through CBT and the client-centered conversation, and that is the right path for many people. Carly will say directly if she does not think EMDR applies to your situation. You are not steered toward it by default.
Therapy for people pleasers in Edmonton
Therapy for people pleasers in Edmonton and people-pleasing therapy in Edmonton describe the same kind of work. If you searched either phrase and landed here, you are in the right place.
The work is not about transforming you into a different kind of person or training you to stop caring what others think. It is about getting clear on your own needs, building boundaries that feel solid rather than fragile, and learning to speak up in a way that is honest and calm. Assertiveness is not about being demanding or difficult. It is about having a voice and being able to use it without feeling like you are doing something wrong.
Adults come in at different places with this. Some have never been able to say no without a wave of guilt following immediately. Some know something is off but cannot quite name it yet. Some have been operating this way for so long that it feels like their personality rather than something that developed in response to circumstances. Wherever you are coming from, the work starts from where you actually are.
Sessions are available in person at the office in Edmonton and by video across Alberta.
What client-centered means in practice for someone who guesses what others want
This is worth spending some time on, because it applies directly to people pleasers.
"My approach to therapy is client-centered and collaborative. I offer a supportive and empathetic environment where you can explore your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences without fear of judgment."
Client-centered means that sessions follow your lead, not a fixed program or a standard sequence that everyone works through. The direction comes from what you bring, what you notice between sessions, and what feels most important to you at any given point. There is no module to complete.
For someone whose habit is tracking what other people want and shaping themselves to fit it, a client-centered approach asks something genuinely different. You have to start saying what you actually think. What you want to focus on. What landed from the last session and what missed. That is not a small thing when the instinct is always to read the other person first.
This is often one of the first places the real work shows up: not in a difficult conversation you have outside the session, but in the quieter act of practicing your own voice inside it.
You can read more about how this approach works on the client-centered therapy page.
What this work does not involve
No scripts. You will not leave a session with a memorized line to use the next time someone asks you for something you do not want to do. Scripts tend to break down the moment the conversation does not follow the expected path, and they do not address what is sitting underneath the pattern.
No instructions to be more assertive. Assertiveness is often part of what people are working toward here. But it is not something Carly tells you to be. It comes out of the work, from understanding your patterns and building a different relationship with your own voice. Not from being directed to change your behavior.
No outcome timelines. This post does not promise what you will be able to do by a certain point, and neither does Carly. That kind of claim is not made here.
No judgment about how you got here. People-pleasing tends to develop for reasons that made sense at the time. Whatever yours are, this is not a space where you will be told you should have figured it out sooner.
Common questions about people-pleasing therapy in Edmonton
Is therapy for people pleasers in Edmonton the same thing as people-pleasing therapy?
Yes. These two phrases describe the same kind of work from two different directions. Both land here, and you do not need a specific phrase to get started.
How do I confirm a psychologist is registered in Alberta?
Any psychologist practising in Alberta should be registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists. You can verify current registration yourself by searching the public register at cap.ab.ca. Carly Colasimone, MA, is a Registered Psychologist regulated by the College of Alberta Psychologists.
Is this available if I am not in Edmonton?
Yes. Sessions are available by video across Alberta, including Calgary.
What does a session cost?
Sessions are $235 for 50 minutes or $352.50 for 80 minutes. A sliding scale is available on request. The first 15-minute consultation is a call by phone or video, with no commitment either way.
What if I am not sure people-pleasing is the right word for what I am experiencing?
That is fine. The first call is the place to describe what is going on in whatever words you have. Carly will tell you honestly whether this is a good fit.
You deserve to hear your own voice again.
If you are ready to start that conversation, the contact page is where to do it. The first call is free, and there is no commitment either way.