You don’t need to have everything figured out before coming to counselling.
Many of the people I work with simply know that something isn’t working anymore. They may feel anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted, stuck in patterns they can’t seem to change, or disconnected from the person they used to be.
Others have spent years taking care of everyone around them while quietly struggling themselves.
I work with adults aged 19+ in Victoria and throughout British Columbia who want to understand themselves better, feel more at ease in their lives, and develop healthier ways of coping with stress, emotions, relationships, and the demands they place on themselves.
You don’t have to identify as a Highly Sensitive Person to work with me. But if you do, you’ll find a therapist who understands firsthand what it’s like to experience the world deeply.
You May Recognize Yourself Here
Perhaps…
- You feel things deeply and have been told you’re “too sensitive.”
- Your mind rarely switches off, and you spend a lot of time worrying or overthinking.
- You become easily overwhelmed by stress, conflict, other people’s emotions, or too many demands at once.
- You’re exhausted from trying to keep everyone else happy.
- You have trouble setting boundaries or saying no without feeling guilty.
- You’re much kinder and more compassionate toward other people than you are toward yourself.
- You expect a lot of yourself and struggle with perfectionism or self-criticism.
- You’ve been feeling depressed, unmotivated, numb, or unlike yourself.
- You turn to food for comfort, distraction, or relief even when you’re not physically hungry.
- You’re tired of dieting and want to understand what’s underneath your relationship with food.
- You keep finding yourself in relationships or situations that leave you feeling hurt, resentful, or depleted.
- You’re going through the menopause transition and finding that changes in your mood, sleep, energy, anxiety, or sense of yourself are harder to navigate than you expected.
- You’re grieving a person, relationship, or important part of your life and are having difficulty finding your way forward.
You may recognize yourself in several of these, or only one.
You don’t need to fit neatly into a category or arrive with a diagnosis. We’ll start with what’s happening for you.
Areas I Often Help With
My work includes:
Highly Sensitive People (HSPs)
Learning to understand and work with your sensitivity rather than constantly fighting against it.
Anxiety and Depression
Finding practical ways to work with worry, fear, low mood, negative thinking, and the physical effects of anxiety and overwhelm.
Emotional Eating and Food Addiction
Exploring what’s underneath your relationship with food and developing ways to respond to difficult emotions without relying on eating to cope.
Menopause Transition
Support with changes in your mood, sleep, energy, anxiety, or sense of yourself which are harder to navigate than you expected.
People-Pleasing and Boundaries
Learning to recognize your own needs, say no when you need to, and stop feeling responsible for everyone else’s happiness.
Perfectionism and Self-Criticism
Beginning to loosen impossible standards and develop a kinder, more realistic relationship with yourself.
Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout
Understanding what your mind and body need when you’ve been pushing yourself for too long.
Relationships and Life Transitions
Working through difficult relationship patterns, loss, change, and periods when life no longer looks the way you expected it to.
You Don’t Have to Be “Good at Therapy”
There’s no particular personality or “attitude” you need to have before we can work together.
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to change. You don’t have to promise to completely transform your life. And you certainly don’t need to arrive ready to share everything in the first session.
You just need enough curiosity and willingness to begin looking at what’s happening.
Change takes effort, and sometimes counselling can be uncomfortable. We may notice patterns you’ve relied on for years or explore feelings you’d rather avoid.
But we’ll do that at a pace that feels manageable for you.
My job isn’t to push you into becoming someone else. It’s to help you understand yourself more deeply, develop practical tools for the things you’re struggling with, and find ways of living that feel healthier and more sustainable.
Not Sure if I’m the Right Therapist for You?
Finding the right counsellor matters.
Experience and training are important, but so is feeling comfortable with the person you’re talking to. You should feel that your therapist listens to you, understands what’s important to you, and creates a space where you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not.
That’s why I offer a free 15-minute consultation.
It gives us a chance to briefly talk about what brings you to counselling, what you’re hoping for, and whether working together feels like a good fit.