I think it is key not to wait until you are in dire need. Questions to ask yourself might be:

• Are their areas where I could benefit from having additional support?
• Are their areas where I think I could be doing better, doing different?
• Am I living my life congruent to my values? Am I living my life in a way I can feel pride and satisfaction?
• Do I anticipate a problem later on, if I don’t do anything about an issue I am having now?
• Am I having difficulty managing stressors, difficult situations, relationships, managing my own feelings and emotions?
• Am I engaging in a type of coping that is causing harm to myself or others now? Might my coping cause harm to myself or others in the future if changes are not made?

Remember counselling can be preventative. You don’t have to be diagnosed with a mental health concern, you don’t have to be stuck at this point in time. Counselling focus can be on mental wellness, not mental illness. How can I contribute to your overall wellness journey?

I strive to bring my whole self into my work with clients. What that means is I will treat you like the expert on your own life, and your own experiences. I will be a trusted confident that you can talk to, someone that will walk with you, and help you achieve goals you have identified—perhaps help identify goals that you haven’t thought about, and you can identify if they fit or not. You will quickly get to know my personality. I hope you will look forward to meeting weekly, biweekly or monthly.

There so many different factors that will impact your ‘readiness’ for counselling. It may not have been the right time in your life, you may not have been ready to make changes, you may not have ‘jived’ with the clinician. Don’t let this get in the way of trying again. Finding the right clinician something you should shop around for. Take advantage of my 15 min consultation to get to know my personality, and get an idea of what to expect. If you start seeing me, and you realize this is not the right time/ right person for you, just let me know and we won’t rebook another session. Additionally, if I know of any clinicians that I think may be a better fit, I’d be happy to give some recommendations!

As a registered social worker I am bound to a code of ethics (hyperlink to OCSWSSW). This means that I must adhere to confidentiality, and upon choosing my service I will send you my confidentiality agreement, however the only cases that I must disclose your information (and only to emergency services), is if you inform me that someone will be harmed if I fail to notify the appropriate authorities. This is standard for all registered and regulated social work practitioners.

Trust me when I say this 15min will go by fast. This is mainly an opportunity for us to get to know each other’s personalities, for you to ask any questions you may have about what to expect moving forward, really get a feel for if you think I am somebody you want to work alongside.

We can meet on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis, each session lasting 50 minutes. At this time my practice is entirely virtual, which means we will be meeting on a confidential platform through the ‘Jane’ database. You will need to have access to a confidential location for our meetings to keep our conversations private. I will ensure I do the same.

There is no specific measurement that will tell you if counselling is working or not. Some things you may want to ask yourself, or discuss in session are:

• Are you meeting your own personal wellness goals?
• What kind of self-talk do you use?
• Overall/most days, how is your quality of life?
• How is your relationship with your counsellor?
• Has counselling become a chore?
• Have you developed more/new ‘tools’ to manage your mental health/overall wellness?

I offer individual (single person) counselling services, and case management services. At this time I am only seeing people virtually, however you will be notified if I begin seeing people in person. If there is sufficient interest, treatment groups will be offered as well. As a client, you will be notified if any groups become available, or if you are not a client, information will be visible on this website.

I charge $165.00 per 50 min counselling session. You can pay through e-transfer. You may also have insurance coverage for psychotherapy/registered social work. Double check with your insurance carrier to make sure social work services are covered and for how many sessions. If you have coverage, you will need to pay for the session, then submit the invoice to your insurance company for reimbursement. You are indigenous, you may also qualify for non-insured to cover the cost of your sessions. You can review the website to see if you qualify.

I require 24 hours minimum for cancellation. Any cancellations within the 24 hour period are subject to 100.00 charge on your account, which will need to be paid prior to subsequent sessions being carried out.

Absolutely, and this is one of the advantages of having a virtual practice. I am happy to meet with you no matter where in Canada you are located. We will have to coordinate times if you are within a different time zone, however my practice is not limited to this region!