I am a Toronto therapist working with adults in individual and group psychotherapy. I hold a Masters in Counseling Psychology as well as clinical membership with the federal Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association (Certificate: 5486).
My interest in psychotherapy began in 2001. At that time, while working as a software engineer in San Francisco, I was exploring ways to work with my own unskillful habits of thinking. These seemed to be out of my control, and led me into bouts of sadness, disconnection, and a restricted and controlled way of living. My introduction to the field of psychology was through mindfulness meditation. Learning meditation allowed me to acquire a skill with which I could have some perspective around my internal experience. It allowed me to respond more skillfully to moments in my life when my mind tended to pick up certain attitudes which would then snowball and take me down roads of discontent and disconnection. I did a number of meditation retreats, including spending a year training in vipassana meditation at a retreat centre. Since then I have organized several meditation retreats and co-facilitated Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction groups at Peterborough Regional Hospital.
I made a career change from computer science and spent five years working with people with disabilities and men at risk of homelessness. In 2010 I completed my Masters in Counselling Psychology at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. My clinical internships were completed at York University and Peterborough Regional Hospital. Since then I have been working in private practice supporting individuals in their struggles with symptoms of anxiety, depressive disorders, and effects of trauma.
I have experienced a permanent physical disability. This precipitated a major career change as well as motivating me to closely observe my responses to issues related to identity, cultural/childhood conditioning, and societal influences on self.
I am keenly interested in my own mind/body experience in each moment. I find helping others reflect and gain insight into their own experience to be personally meaningful. And I continue to be surprised and inspired by the ability of the human mind to evolve.
Tel: 416.996.3195. Click for address or contact me. Serving the communities of Markham, Stouffville, Unionville, North York, Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Scarborough, Maple, Langstaff, Buttonville, Toronto and the GTA, Greater Toronto Area.
