What is Marriage/Couple and Family Therapy?

Individual Psychotherapy

At the heart of my work is supporting people on a exploration of there inner world, to become increasingly aware of their own relational patterns, that, in turn, lead to internal working models which guide  feelings, thoughts and expectations in relationships. I adhere to an attachment lens in my work as a systemic, experiential and process-oriented  and relational  therapist, drawing and utilizing approaches from Emotion-Focused therapy, Gestalt, and Somatic Experiencing theory to inform my practice.  

Couples Counselling ( Emotion Focused Couples Therapy)

Emotion Focused Couple therapy combines both experiential process-oriented approaches and systemic therapies.  Originally developed by Ottawa's own  Dr. Susan Johnson,  EFT revolutionized the field of couple therapy by introducing a new way of exploring couple dynamics through experiencing. I have had the honour of being a student and trainee of EFT since 2003.  

Book recommendation:  Hold Me Tight -Susan Johnson

Family Therapy  (Emotional Focused- Family Therapy - EFFT)

I work with families, specifically those with adult children, to mend bonds and heal fractures within their relationships using systemic and experiential interventions.  As an EFFT therapist with families, I focus on the emotional experiences and problematic  patterns within the family system that block family members from accessing the source of their desired connection, to create new patterns and deepen emotional accessibility and responsiveness.      

"EFFT provides a practical approach to engaging families at an emotional level. Accessing, processing, and connecting family members through the power of emotional experience promotes healing and fosters a family’s resilience to the everyday and unexpected challenges of life."  

Emotionally Focused family Therapy: Restoring Connection and Promoting Resilence

-James L. Furrow, Gail Palmer, S.M Johnson, G. Faller and L. Palmer- Olsen