What is a consult call?

A consult call is a free 15 minute discussion between you and your potential therapist, providing a space for the therapist to hear about your current concerns and ensure they are the right fit to help provide you support. Your therapist may ask you questions to get a brief understanding of your experience, and share with you their therapeutic approaches and methodologies. Research shows the therapeutic relationship is very important to positive therapeutic outcomes, as it fosters trust, engagement, and improves adherence to treatment plans. To schedule a consult call, click here!

How long is each session and how often will we meet?

Individual sessions are 50 minutes each. This is known as a therapeutic hour, as the remaining 10 minutes is often spent recording notes from each session, sending any resources or documentation, and tending to administration duties. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into each therapy session, including research and supervision. The frequency of your meetings will be discussed and set by you and your therapist to meet your needs and abilities.

How long can I expect to be in therapy?

Healing is lifelong, learning is lifelong. Therapy is a gift you give yourself, a form of self care that provides you the mental and emotional support for a healthy, loving, brain that allows you to live a sustainable life you’re happy with. Changes can often be seen within the first five sessions, but lasting change takes time and depends on the individual. The therapeutic journey is not linear, it is an upward spiral that requires pauses, steps forward, and reflections back.

What are the risks and benefits of therapy and how will I know if it’s working?

Therapy with me is a collaborative approach that focuses on goal setting, effective skill building, and self reflection by helping you come to understand your own truth. Like everything in life, there are risks and benefits of therapy. The potential benefits of therapy include improved mental health, gaining a better perception and understanding of your self, and the world around you, developing and sustaining meaningful healthy relationships, and feeling more in tune with your behaviours and day to day functioning, with relief of at least some of the symptoms that have been weighing on you. The risks of therapy are that in order to get to this place, it may require deeper discussions, emotional discomfort and vulnerability, overcoming new symptoms as you face new life challenges, temporary worsening of some symptoms as you work through them together, and radical honesty. You are betting on yourself and the rewards can be lifechanging and incredibly meaningful, but it takes dedication and commitment and a certain readiness that your therapist can help you assess.

What are your qualifications and areas of focus?

I am a registered psychotherapist offering virtual (with some availability for in person) appointments across all of Ontario. After my undergraduate studies in psychology from the University of Waterloo, I gained valuable work experience in the provincial group home settings, where I learned about and supported people with developmental disabilities. This experience provided me clarity and insight into the interconnected healthcare systems within the province, and I had first hand experience working as a team and strategizing across the board with multiple health care professionals. This work was incredibly meaningful but I wanted a more hands on approach where I could make a direct difference, so I worked towards obtaining my Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology. After an 8 month practicum with Dig a Little Deeper and graduating my master’s program, I accepted a full time position working with Dig a Little Deeper for 5 years, before transitioning into opening my own practice. For more information about me, my experience, and approach, check out my About page.

What’s required of me, as a client?

Therapy is a safe place where you get to show up as you, just as you are in that moment. Therapeutic conversations are centered on you, your experiences, your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Some find it helpful to have a pen and notepad handy to write down any meaningful takeaways or reminders. If there are strategies you and your therapist are working on together, the progress will correlate with how often you are practicing these strategies outside of session and sharing that feedback with your therapist. Learning and growth occur in session, but sessions are 50 minutes of your day/week, so what you practice during all those other hours make a significant difference. If an approach isn’t working, your therapist is there to collaboratively brainstorm alternative methods.

What is the cancellation policy?

Cancellation policies are standard procedure and like most healthcare offices, a cancellation policy exists to protect and respect everyone’s time. Changes to your appointments can be done through the OWL program and while there are no charges for changes made outside of 24 hours, changes made with less than 24 hours notice are subject to the cancellation fee. Your session time is set aside just for you, and late notice or no shows leave a gap in a clinician’s schedule that could have been filled by another individual in need. For emergencies or extenuating situations, please discuss directly with your therapist.