About Me

I first came to relational somatic therapy in 2019 when a series of accumulated events resulted in a burn out. I decided to seek trauma counselling. While I had experienced many types of therapy and healing support work in the past, I was stunned by the depth of body wisdom that I accessed in my first session. While the process felt vulnerable at first, I noticed immediate effects as my body received support to integrate the nervous system charges that had been stuck.

I immediately knew I needed to pursue the somatic therapy path. After receiving regular somatic therapy for several years with some skilled practitioners, I then completed a joint diploma training with Mariah Moser (Opening to Grace) and Diane Auld (Orca Institute) from 2022-2023.

This training was on the back of my years of study of mental health and wellness practices, with a particular interest in working with anxiety, depression, shyness, and relationships. This including energy work modalities; land connection and relationship; yoga and dance; organic food growing; storytelling; tantra and sacred sexuality; non violent communication; a research master’s in collective gardening as a mental health tool; and a research doctorate in therapeutic theatre, sacred clowning, emotional intelligence, and Indigenous views of land relationship as mental health tools.

In 2024 I began work as a family counsellor, offering support with nervous system regulation for parents and their children, emotional regulation, and emotionally focused family therapy.

I am dedicated to relational somatic therapy, this ancient mode of healing that is now being articulated and affirmed by neuroscience. I feel so honoured and excited to support others on this path.

Core Values

Naturalness. For me, therapy is about taking us deeper into the beauty that we already are. Sometimes we have accumulated belief systems along the way that no longer serve us, or have pushed away parts of ourselves that seem unlovable. I love the process of making space for all that we are. Since I can remember I have felt pulled to a deep relationship with nature and to invite others to this awareness, be it through time with land, animals, or gardens. Nature to me is a wonderful teacher of wholeness and being-ness with all that is. I have spent long periods of time immersed in wild places and now live in the forests of the West Kootenays. I love to garden and to eat with the seasons, and I keep bees in a log hive.

Connection. Connection to me feels like more than the sum of its parts, an opening of the heart, warmth, a sensitive attuning to the other while remaining rooted in oneself and the earth. Humans are a social species, for the most part. I know I feel best when I live in a deeply connected way.

Faith. There are so many ways to open to what could be called a higher power. I experience this in my bones. I feel we are all part of a greater oneness, be it human, other-than-human, ancestor, guides, or soul. What can seem so difficult here on the human realm might be just the journey our soul has decided to take. I find that faith offers not an escape but a valuable perspective on challenge and mystery.

Play. Psychiatrist Donald Winnicott says play leads to creativity, which leads to the deeper knowing of the Self. Another word for the Self could be the soul. Play is instrumental in discovery, problem solving, learning, and connection. And it’s fun! I feel incredibly honoured to walk with people in some of their more painful or dysregulated moments. I also cherish the moments when we can play together with an organic body impulse or inner sensation that emerges. Holding a light opening to appropriate play even and especially in difficult moments allows for more easeful learning and growth.

Humour. I love to laugh… how about you? While it might seem counterintuitive, humour can be a powerful coping mechanism and tool for resilience and is an incredible antidote to existential shame. It can embolden shyer parts of ourselves, balance our inner and outer world, and offer levity to surf the ups and downs of life.