Choosing to explore counselling shows you care about your experience, and know things can get better. Whether it’s completely new to you, or a familiar avenue of self-care, welcome!
The first step in supporting a journey of growth or healing is to provide a safe enough space to explore together the sparks of life that are uniquely you.
My overarching goal is to help my clients feel connected to themselves, at peace and at ease, confident about the natural flow of their own life energy.
There may be anger, curiosity, sadness, laughter, frustration, relief, fear, joy, hopelessness, pride... the endless ways we experience ourselves. I genuinely enjoy helping people integrate the many truths that make up who they are.
I am a white settler born of immigrant settler parents from the Netherlands who lived through WWII as children. I live and work on the lands of the Lkwungen People also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations communities. I acknowledge that this land was occupied by force and without consent and that the harm caused by colonial practices, systems and structures continues to this day.
I followed my master’s degree in Counselling Psychology (University of Victoria), with a 2 year training in Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy with Lisa Mortimore. SAP helped me extend and apply the knowledge gained from 19 years of body awareness meditation to helping clients re-integrate mind and body after trauma. I joined the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre (VSAC) in 2017 where I continue to work with and learn from colleagues and clients alike. From 2005 to present I’ve been learning and practicing Non Violent Communication (NVC) and use it to help clients identify the needs behind their feelings as a tool for healing, self-compassion and empowerment.
I identify as genderqueer/femme and was designated male at birth (DMAB). I am grateful to count myself among the Radical Faeries, a community that has affirmed and nurtured my authentic gender expression since I first stumbled into their welcoming, celebratory arms. I meditate daily (since 2003), guided by Theravada Buddhist teachings. I have a simple, regular Yoga practice and dabble in kayaking, cycling and camping.
