Psychotherapy and Counselling
"I would rather be whole than be good."
Carl Jung, Psychoanalyst
“Pain is an unavoidable part of the human experience but suffering is optional.”
Many Wise Beings
Areas of Specialization and Interest
Short-term and in-depth psychotherapy for adult individuals and couples
- Anxiety (generalized, phobic, existential) and Panic Attacks
- Depression
- Relationships, Sexuality & Intimacy
- Obsessions & Compulsive Habits
- Internet “Addiction”/compulsion
- Traumatic Events (accident, assault, fall, abuse)
- Healing from a dysfunctional family experience
- Spirituality & Search for Meaning
- Personal Growth & Self-Knowledge
- Life & Career Transitions
- Grief and Loss
- Sexual, Ethnic & Cultural Identity
- Assertiveness
Philosophy and Therapeutic Approaches
As a psychologist, I am committed to helping people live their lives in ways that support and facilitate their growth at various levels including personal, relational, social and spiritual. Individuals come to me for varied reasons and intentions (clear or unconscious). Most people seek relief from temporary pain or lasting suffering that leave them discontent, confused, anxious or depressed. They may be reasonably happy yet dissatisfied with aspects of their lives. I explore with my clients their capacity to better understand themselves; to develop the coping skills they need to face challenges, and to learn to accept or surpass the limitations they face.
Four main beliefs inspire my work:
- People seek psychotherapy and counselling because they know that something in their life is no longer working for them. They may not know if they are ready to change their ways or how to do so, yet they long for a new way of being.
- Even people who want to change face resistance from the conditioning and habits of their brain and nervous system. We have learned ways to survive that can limit our ability to live fully. Learning to recognize the mind’s tendency to live in a storytelling mode makes it easier to be aware of what is truly happening. Awareness is key to experiencing newness as opposed to staleness and repetition.
- People get more out of a psychotherapy that is well suited to them. I use my experience and knowledge of different approaches to develop with a client a distinctive experience.
- People want to connect with others in a way that preserves their dignity and integrity while supporting their personal growth. They may find it difficult, however, to let go of learned patterns no longer useful to them. A first step consists in noticing if one’s primary impulse is to move toward, away from, or against others.
Short-Term Therapy: Some people benefit from more concrete and problem-solving approaches at a particular time in their lives. That is especially true when the problem can be clearly defined and resolved within a limited number of sessions. In that context, therapy focuses on changing how someone thinks and behaves, without looking too deeply at motivations. In simple terms, it rests on the assumptions that we can feel different if we change how we think and that our actions often speak louder than our words. Similarly, being mindful of impulses, thoughts and reactions can create the space needed to observe the working of our minds without identifying with it.
Long-term In-Depth/Exploratory Therapy: In that framework, the therapeutic relationship is a unique tool for my clients and me to discover how change can occur. The relationship that develops between us becomes an instrument that we use to establish together a respectful and collaborative environment. We identify patterns being re-created in the therapeutic relationship and we examine them to develop more fulfilling ways of connecting with oneself and others. By the end of an in-depth therapeutic process, my clients have often voiced how they could not have imagined the transformation that ended up taking place for them. They also noted having a new understanding of what psychotherapy is about. It is a joyful moment for the client and the therapist when they see that, together, they have created a space in which their experience of self, relating, mutuality, and life have been redefined. Click on the “Main Therapeutic Approaches” page to learn more about in-depth therapy.