About the Doctor

I first started counseling at the Toronto East General Hospital Walk-in Crisis Centre in 1981, and have continued learning ever since.

I've had plenty of academic training, at three different schools--York University in Toronto, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Much of that training involved discussing clients with senior clinical psychologists. There is great advantage to being educated at different locations--one is exposed to more views and approaches.

My doctoral research examined how seniors considered being in the last stage of their lives--whether their perspectives on life had altered, whether they felt they'd mellowed and changed, deepened, gotten more compassionate. This was revealing work.

I believe that in the therapy field, more years of experience do count. I interned for a full year at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto in 1993-94 in General Outpatient Psychiatry and in their Family Court Clinic. Back in B.C., I worked full time for two years each at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, and at Vancouver General Hospital. I began private practice in 1996. I have worked with many individuals, couples, adolescents and families.

I have been a meditator since the seventies and Buddhism is part of my outlook and practice. This practice helps develop a serene and more resilient centre. My theoretical orientation is eclectic, but draws mainly on psychodynamic, cognitive, and humanistic approaches. I also have training in behavior therapy. I don't care for generalizations about therapy. But I do believe it's a therapist's job to possess self-knowledge, and to accept people as they are while gently propelling them forward to face challenges, risks and growth for greater success and wholeness. I like working with highly sensitive people.

In 2002 I acquired additional training in family therapy and in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a powerful method that can help people put painful memories and experiences into perspective, often fairly quickly. This method can, also, install more useful, powerful ideas about oneself.

In summer 2004 I studied at an intensive training workshop in Emotionally Focused Therapy, now the best-researched and most effective couples therapy, which has enhanced my already strong practice in couple work. Since then I have attended professional workshops on Supervision of other therapists, Professional Ethics, and I have upgraded my skills in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.