What to expectin therapy.
Beginning therapy is an act of courage. Whether this is your first time or your fifth, I want you to feel grounded in what the process looks like - and held in the knowledge that there is no right way to do it.
Before we begin, we slow down.
Every therapeutic relationship begins with a conversation. I offer a complimentary 15 to 20 minute phone consultation so we can get a sense of one another, discuss what brings you to therapy now, and explore whether my approach feels like a fit. There is no pressure to commit - only a chance to feel into whether this is the right space for you.
If we decide to work together, I will send you a brief intake form. It asks about your history, your hopes for therapy, and what has and has not worked for you in the past. I ask these questions not to diagnose or categorize you, but to begin understanding the landscape of your inner world. You are welcome to share as much or as little as feels safe.
For those beginning EMDR or ketamine-assisted work, the intake may also include a gentle assessment of your current support system, resources, and any medical considerations. Safety and pacing are foundational to everything that follows.
Building the container, together.
The first few sessions are about relationship - not rushing toward content. We take time to build trust, to notice how your nervous system responds to being seen, and to establish the rhythms of our work together. This is especially important in trauma therapy, where the therapeutic relationship itself becomes a reparative experience.
We will talk about what you need to feel safe. That might include grounding techniques, boundaries around touch or proximity, how to communicate when something feels too much, and what helps you regulate after a session. You are always in charge of the pace. We do not excavate before the foundation is steady.
For clients preparing for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy or psychedelic integration, preparation is its own phase of work. We explore intentions, clarify the difference between expectation and curiosity, and build internal and external supports so that whatever arises can be met with as much steadiness as possible.
There is no script. Only presence.
Sessions are 50 minutes, held virtually across Ontario or in person at 100 Centrepointe in Nepean/Ottawa. I do not follow a rigid protocol or checklist. Instead, I attune to what is alive for you in the moment - whether that is a memory that surfaced overnight, a somatic sensation you cannot yet name, or a quiet need to simply be witnessed without explaining.
Our work may include talk, parts work (IFS-informed), EMDR processing, somatic awareness, or creative exploration - and sometimes, it may include silence. Depth-oriented therapy honours the intelligence of what arises beneath words. We follow the thread of feeling, image, or body signal, trusting that your system knows what it is ready to approach.
I will check in with you throughout - about pacing, intensity, and what you need in the room. We may laugh. We may sit with grief. We may encounter anger or numbness. All of it belongs. The session does not end when the clock runs out; it ends when you feel grounded enough to step back into your life, with a sense that something has been tended.
What happens between sessions matters just as much.
Therapy is not confined to the hour we spend together. The real work often happens in the days that follow - in the dreams, the conversations, the small moments of noticing, the old patterns that suddenly become visible. Integration is the process of weaving what we touch in session into the fabric of your everyday life.
After intensive sessions - such as EMDR or KAP - I offer tools for grounding and reflection, and we schedule follow-up integration sessions to process what arose. For all clients, I encourage attention to sleep, movement, nourishment, and connection in the hours after therapy. Your nervous system needs time to metabolize what has been stirred.
Ending therapy, when the time comes, is its own form of integration. We do not simply stop; we honour the arc of our work together, name what has shifted, and explore how you will carry the relationship forward into your life. Even after the final session, the space we built remains part of you.
However you arrive,you are welcome here.
If you are curious about working together, the first step is simply a conversation. No commitment, no pressure - just a chance to feel into what might be possible.