About Therapy

I don’t believe one type of therapy works for everyone. Each person brings their own history, needs, and way of engaging with life and therapy should honour that. That’s why I work from an integrative approach, drawing from a range of evidence-based methods and tailoring the process to suit you as an individual.

At the heart of my work is a belief in our human capacity for growth, even through difficulty. My core orientation is humanistic-existential psychotherapy, and I take an integrative approach grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS). Both models honour the complexity of the human experience, helping us relate differently to difficult thoughts and emotions, while making space for the parts of us that may feel stuck, afraid, or unseen.

Humanistic-Existential Therapy

This approach is grounded in the belief that life’s challenges, while difficult, are also opportunities for deeper understanding and transformation. It explores some of the universal tensions of being human: freedom and responsibility, connection and isolation, hope and loss, identity and change.

Therapy here becomes a space to:

  • Offer a warm, accepting, and collaborative relationship

  • Increase self-awareness and deepen self-understanding

  • Reduce the urge to avoid or control emotional experience

  • Build capacity to face uncertainty, grief, and complexity

  • Support you in living more fully and truthfully, even in the presence of struggle

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT is a modern, evidence-based approach that integrates mindfulness, values, and behavioural change. It teaches practical ways to work with difficult thoughts and emotions, not by getting rid of them, but by changing how we relate to them.

The core message of ACT is simple and compassionate:
“Accept what you can’t control, and commit to living a life that matters to you.”

A basic assumption of ACT is that suffering is a normal and unavoidable part of human experience and that it is actually people’s attempts to control or avoid their own painful experiences that leads to much long-term suffering and what doesn’t work in people’s lives. ACT helps people learn ways to let go of the struggle with pain, be more mindful, get clarity on what really matters to them, and to commit to living full, vibrant lives. The goal of therapy is not to eliminate certain parts of one’s experience of life, but rather to learn how to experience life more fully, without as much struggle, and to live a rich, full and meaningful life.

ACT can help you:

  • Develop mindfulness skills to relate differently to painful thoughts and feelings

  • Clarify your values and move toward a more meaningful life

  • Take small, committed steps toward change, even in the presence of fear or doubt

Learn more about ACT in this 40 minute interview with one of its founders, Steve Hayes:

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

IFS is based on the understanding that we all have different “parts” within us – inner voices, reactions, or roles that sometimes feel at odds. You might notice this when you say things like, “Part of me wants to move forward, but another part is holding back,” or “There’s a side of me that always criticises everything I do.” IFS helps us explore these parts with curiosity and compassion, rather than judgment.

Some parts of us are protective, some carry pain, and some simply want to be heard. IFS helps you build a relationship with these parts from your deeper Self – the calm, compassionate inner presence that’s always there, even if it’s been obscured by life’s struggles.

Working with IFS can help you:

  • Make sense of inner conflict or reactivity

  • Heal wounded or overwhelmed parts of yourself

  • Soften the inner critic and develop greater self-compassion

  • Reconnect with a felt sense of clarity, balance, and wholeness

IFS is a gentle yet powerful approach, especially helpful for depression, anxiety, trauma addiction, eating disorders, relationship issues, or just generally feeling emotionally stuck or disconnected from life.

If you’re curious to learn more, you might enjoy this warm and insightful conversation between Dr. Richard Schwartz (founder of IFS) and Dr. Andrew Huberman:
🎥 How to Achieve Inner Peace & Healing – YouTube Interview with Dr. Richard Schwartz