Emotion-focused therapy was the modality I was first drawn to in my graduate training, and informed my initial post-graduate training choices. Some of the main trainings I completed are:

EFT for Couples Therapy Externship, Vancouver Couples and Family Institute

Intro to Emotionally Focused Therapy with Couples, Vancouver Couples and Family Institute

Emotion Focused Therapy for Individuals, Level I and II, Vancouver Couples and Family Institute

I find my foundation in emotion-focused therapy supports my deeper work in the somatic attachment realm.

I completed a two-year intensive somatic attachment psychotherapy training program with Lisa Mortimore (PhD) and Stacy Adam Jensen (MEd) in 2023, and joined their training team as a facilitator in 2024. This modality is described as the “reparation of early attachment injuries through a framework that weaves together: attachment theory, trauma studies, affect regulation, interpersonal neurobiology, interpersonal/relational psychoanalytic practice, somatic psychotherapy, and deepening connections to the sentient world” (https://somaticattachmentpsychotherapy.ca/)

I also trained with Stacy Adam Jensen on Chronic Shame in Clinical Practice in 2024, deepening my capacity for working with disassociation, dysregulation, and dysfunctional relationships to self- and others.

I resonate with the concept that we develop protective ‘parts’ within ourselves in response to traumatic or wounding experiences. Sometimes, these protective parts play a role in experiences we no longer want to have. In reading a series of books, manuals, and taking some workshop-style trainings on Internal Family Systems, I have found ways to integrate the language of parts into my practice, and can weave it into our work where it feels resonant.

Notable workshops I’ve taken through IFSCA are:

Polyvagal IFS: Exploring the Relational Intelligence Model (Francois Le Doze)

What IFS Therapists Should Know About Trauma (Janine Fischer)

Firefighters & Addiction (Bob Falconer)

Resourcing From Source - Bringing More Self to your Life and Work (Loch Kelly)

IFIO-informed EFT Workshop (Liz Phillips)

IFS/IFIO Treatment Methods for Sexual Trauma in Couples (Dr. Nancy Wonder, PhD)

Trauma treatment - both developmental and acute - has been woven into most of my professional training, as well as my extracurricular reading & research. To consolidate some of this learning, I am currently in the midst of Janina' Fisher’s Trauma-Informed Stabilization Training.

Janina Fisher is the author of (what I consider to be) the seminal text “Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors”.

Another important writer and researcher on trauma, Staci Haines, recently wrote another book encompassing deeply important facets of what I considered to be best-practice trauma work: “The Politics of Trauma”.

I have many more recommendations for books - both clinically-focused and intended for a wide audience - please don’t hesitate to reach out and discuss what sort of supplementary reading could compliment your work.

My first job as a therapist was with a sex therapy clinic (2020-2023), where I was able to learn from in-service programming, workshops, my colleagues and plentiful online resources - I also completed three significant trainings during that time:

Intensive Sex Therapy Training Program, University of Guelph

Sex Therapy Certificate, The Buehler Institute

The Sexually Competent Therapist, Allura Sex Therapy Centre

I have also completed a Sexual Attitude Reassessment training, meeting all of the course requirements for AASECT certification - I chose to not pursue sex therapy specifically, but my chapter in the sex therapy world and the training/education I received during this time has allowed me to work with clients more deeply re: intimacy, desire, pleasure, consent, boundaries, sexual dysfunction and pain, and with folks exploring kink/fetish/BDSM and non-monogamy.

I started seeing couples during my practicum internship at The Adler Centre. I went on to train with the Vancouver Couples and Family Institute between 2020 - 2022 (see: emotion-focused therapy), which laid the foundation for my relationship work. My sex therapy training also included significant training on working with couples, particularly with desire discrepancy, expanding intimacy, and sexual communication. I also weave in IFIO (Intimacy from the Inside Out), supported by my learnings in the world of Internal Family Systems, which prioritizes vulnerability and Self-leadership in the dyad dynamic.

My work with dyads (partners, friends, siblings etc) focuses on deepening your shared understanding of each other, practicing unblending from our protective and defensive adaptations, safely communicating from more honest & vulnerable places, and allowing space to name hurt & harm in order to facilitate movement towards repair. 

My own healing journey has included walking alongside plant medicine to facilitate the softening of defences (“Protectors”) to make way for spiritual and primary wisdom to emerge.

After taking an Introduction to Psychedelics with Numinus,‍ I decided to expand my professional clinical knowledge of working with these medicines. I went on to complete Therapsil’s Fundamentals of
Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy in-depth training program in April 2026.

Reach out if you’re needing support identifying and exploring intentions (‘set’ of set and setting), and/or are looking for support integrating an altered state experience. I can also offer information that supports harm reduction, and safer use.