Part getting to know you, part detective work.
Warm and relational, but never vent-and-listen-forever.
Here's exactly what a first session looks like, how the therapy models I use translate into plain language, and the practical details of working together virtually across Alberta and Ontario.
No interview. No wondering what you got out of it.
We get to know each other
How you've been doing, where you feel stuck, what you've already tried, so we don't spend months redoing what you already know doesn't work.
I start connecting dots early
The detective work begins in session one. I'll reflect patterns back to you as I notice them, and check whether they land. You get to correct me. I like being corrected.
I'll interrupt, kindly
If the session starts circling, or a couple slips into the same fight in front of me, I step in, reframe what I'm hearing, and keep us on track. Clients tell me it's a relief.
You leave with something
An insight, a bit of language for the thing you've been trying to explain for years, or one small thing to try before next time. Every session. That's the deal.
Therapy speak, converted to actual English.
- EFT, Emotionally Focused Therapy: we slow down the pattern between you and the people you love, get underneath the frustration to the softer stuff (the loneliness, the fear, the wanting to matter), and build new ways of reaching for each other.
- IFS, parts work: clear language for the argument in your head where no one's winning. Different parts of you want different things, all of them are trying to protect you, and none of them are the enemy.
- DBT, woven in: practical skills for intense emotion, integrated naturally into our work rather than delivered as a curriculum.
- Values-based work: when you're at a crossroads, we get clear on what actually matters to you, so decisions stop being tug-of-wars and start being choices.
- Attachment-informed, always: the through-line of everything. How you learned to do closeness shapes how you do it now, and understanding that is where change starts.
- Insight AND tools: coping strategies alone keep you coping. Understanding why the pattern exists is what makes the tools finally stick.
Virtual, unrushed, and built around real life.
Sessions are 60 minutes for couples and 50 minutes for individuals, by secure video, wherever you are in Alberta or Ontario. Pajamas are fine. Coffee is encouraged. “I don't know” is a full answer. My cockapoo Frankie and my cat Luka occasionally wander through, they consider your session their business.
I hold hours Monday to Thursday from 11am to 6:30pm Eastern (9am to 4:30pm Mountain), and Friday from 11am to 3pm Eastern, which means evening-leaning spots exist for Alberta clients and daytime coverage for Ontario. Booking runs through Jane, my secure practice platform, and the first consult is always free, twenty minutes, on video.
Quick answers
- Where: virtual only, Alberta & Ontario. If you move between provinces, I can keep seeing you.
- Length: 60 minutes for couples, 50 minutes for individuals.
- Frequency: we decide together; most people start weekly or biweekly.
- Referral needed? No.
- Insurance: most extended health plans cover Registered Social Worker services. Details on the fees page.
The consult is where this starts.
Twenty minutes, free, by video. Bring your questions, your doubts, or your “I don't even know where to start.” That's a perfectly good place to start.
Book your free 20-minute consult