Registered Psychologist

“Being the 'best you can be' is really only possible when you are deeply connected to another. Splendid isolation is for planets, not people.”

– Dr. Sue Johnson 

Today’s increasingly demanding world presents us with many stressful and challenging situations. We can lose hope and a sense of direction. Sometimes we are able to handle these challenging situations on our own or with the help of our friends and family. Sometimes we need to ask a professional for help when life’s strains and stresses become too much for us to handle. Reaching out for support is a courageous step towards the life you want to live. 

Through therapy, I help people live healthier, more productive lives. As a psychologist I apply scientifically validated procedures to help people change their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. Counselling is a collaborative effort between an individual and a psychologist; it provides a supportive environment to talk openly and confidentially about concerns and feelings.

About

I am a Registered Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists and a member of the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta. I have been in a role of a support giver to others for more than 25 years. Be it through my years of working as a teacher or as a psychologist, I have a tremendous passion for helping others. For as long as I can remember I have always had a natural ability to connect with people. We are a social species and hardwired to seek not just social contact, but physical and emotional proximity to others. Through the secure therapeutic alliance, we are no longer alone in the exploration of new and difficult emotions. I freely offer respect, compassion, and nonjudgmental regard, and normalize any struggles that a client may have. 

I have an extensive background and understanding of child and adolescent development. I have a Bachelor of Elementary Education with a focus on Early Childhood Learning and taught Kindergarten for more than 10 years. My teaching experiences along with over 25 years of working with children and adolescents have allowed me to work with individuals and families with diverse needs. As well, I have both training and experience utilizing art, play, and sand tray therapy with children and adolescents.

I have had the opportunity to provide therapy to individuals in a variety of settings. I have owned and operated my own psychology private practice for over 13 years. There I worked with individuals from diverse backgrounds and held contracts with companies such as the Primary Care Network, the Department of National Defense, the Alberta Medical Association, and Children and Family Services. I have also worked in conjunction with NorQuest College to instruct courses in Personal Resilience for Disaster Recovery where I lead participants in activities designed to grow their understanding and build their personal preparedness to volunteer in disaster recovery efforts. I was also a regular contributor to the Experts’ Page in the St. Albert Gazette. 

My Approach

My primary approach is rooted in Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT). EFIT is an attachment science-based approach to individual therapy that focuses on reshaping patterns of engagement with others. Emotions are the primary organizer of our inner experiences and interpersonal interactions which offer us a compass in life. Emotions move and motivate us and novel emotional experiences open the door to new ways of seeing and engaging with oneself and others. 

I am passionate about my work and want to ensure that every client I meet feels heard, understood, and supported in their unique needs and goals. I strive to form a collaborative therapeutic relationship with my clients and to create a safe respectful space to explore and access new emotions and understandings of each person’s experience. Everyone brings with them a unique set of personal characteristics, ways of coping, beliefs and values. I tailor treatment plans to make sure that I am taking into consideration each client’s worldview and combining it with my knowledge and expertise to support the healing journey. 

I am a trauma-informed therapist who works with individuals to better understand, cope with, and process emotions and memories tied to traumatic experiences, with the end goal of enabling them to create a healthier and more adaptive meaning of the experience that took place in their life. I journey alongside my clients, helping them learn skills to cope with, and change, unhealthy behaviors through strategies such as mindfulness, acceptance, and emotion regulation. 

I customize my therapy to the unique individual needs of each my clients. I utilize several evidenced-based therapeutic models to explore the difficult, dark, frightening, and seemingly foreign emotions, such as sadness, shame, anger, guilt, and fear. However, even our most challenging emotions offer important insight into our needs. Through exploration, acceptance, and expression, healing and growth can occur. ​Harnessing the power of emotions within the client is the most potent way to promote change. I promise to be there for you every step of your journey. My goal is to help you grow from your struggles, heal from your pain, and move forward to where you want to be in your life. 

“Negative emotions, such as anger and fear, narrow our focus, while positive emotion expands the range of our thoughts and creates the urge to play and experiment.”

– Dr. Sue Johnson

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