Areas of practice:

I draw from a variety of therapy styles including:

  • Adlerian Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • EMDR Therapy
  • Lifespan Integration
  • Mindfulness Approaches
  • Gottman Method
  • Nonviolent Communication

Click here to view my Social Media Policy

Anxiety, Stress & Perfectionism

It seems like millennials are no stranger to anxiety, stress and perfectionism. These 3 are often related, but sometimes therapy will focus on a specific topic despite the overlap. Individual therapy plans are going to vary greatly depending on what is relevant to your needs, and limitations like short-term counselling for third-party billing will be taken into account. When short term therapy can't meet all your needs, you'll be provided with community resources to continue your process after counselling comes to an end.

Therapy for Anxiety

The types of anxiety that I work with most often are: panic attacks, generalized anxiety (excessive worry), and moderate to low social anxiety. If you experience moderate to severe OCD, trichotillomania, specific phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I recomment to work with a psychologist or counsellor who has specialized training in therapies used to treat your specific concern. I always recommend to address your most severe symptoms with a therapist who uses a specialized approach.

Anxiety Treatment

Treatment for anxiety is going to focus on symptom management first so that you can learn to distinguish anxiety symptoms from non-threatening and natural responses to stress and other stimuli. This includes creating a lower-stress lifestyle, reducing and eliminating anxiety triggers, challenging negative thoughts and building confidence and self-esteem to manage anxiety. Anxiety remission is also possible!

Example treatment plan for anxiety:
Relaxation and stress reduction
Self-care
Exposure*
Self-talk & automatic thoughts
Mistaken beliefs
Expressing feelings
Assertiveness & boundary setting
Strengths building

*Exposure therapy is used in specific conditions like panic attacks and social anxiety.


Therapy for Stress Management

Everyone experiences stress, but what is too much stress, and how do you know when you're not managing stress well? Symptoms of high stress can include (and is not limited to): poor sleep, changes in appetite, feeling restless, irritability and frustration, difficulty relaxing, feeling on edge, uncontrollable crying, fits of anger, intolerance of mistakes, frequent arguments, headaches, back pain, neck and shoulder pain, upset stomach, muscle tension and anxiety. Sometimes the body expresses stress before the mind is aware of it. If you experience these symptoms, it's time to focus on stress management.

Stress Management Treatment

Example treatment plan for stress:
Stress reduction and relaxation techniques
Self-care routine
Self-talk & beliefs
Expressing feelings
Values exploration
Assertiveness & boundary setting


Therapy for Perfectionism

People often come by perfectionism honestly rather than intentionally. Although attention to detail can be a type of perfectionist behaviour, perfectionism as a lifestyle is based on deeply held beliefs and patterned behaviours that focus on gaining approval by not messing up. Perfectionism is faced by more people than you might expect, and there are some early patterns that can predict later perfectionism. 

A common pattern I've noticed in perfectionism is family experiences where a family member's emotions and behaviours were unpredictable. The child learns that peace in the home (stability) requires the perfection conditions so that (insert family member) is not upset and distrupting the family atmosphere. As an adult, this child applies the rules learned in their childhood home to try to figure out how to have harmonious relationships and feel a sense of belonging and significance (importance). Perfectionism can also come from environments where there was a lot of criticism and judgment. It can also come from an environment where you were encouraged to "do your best," "never settle," "try harder next time," or where there was frequent comparison between you and others. Perfectionism can also come from role modelling.

Beliefs and behaviours maintain perfectionism (e.g., "I can't mess up"). Each person will different conclusions along the lines of: high standards, high expectations, high productivity, and sometimes even pleasing others, seeking approval, and needing reassurance. Perfectionism can become problematic when you experience stress in your life because of high standards and expectations, when you feel resentful towards others because of seemingly one-sided relationships, and when you have burnout. It's also problematic when you have a negative mindset, feel irritable, frustrated, easily angry, and are overly argumentative and critical or judgmental or yourself and/or others.

Perfectionism Treatment

Example treatment plan for perfectionism:
Self-care
Identify and explore values
Lifestyle beliefs and mistaken beliefs
Shame and productivity
Boundary setting

 

Ready to tackle anxiety, stress or perfectionism?