1. Scheduling a free 20-minute consult is the first step. You can do this anytime online or by contacting me. You’ll receive a confirmation and reminder email, and a link to join if it’s a video consult. If you schedule a phone consult, I’ll call you at the scheduled time.
2. Attend the consult. We can chat about what you’re looking for, how I can support you, and you can ask any questions you might have. You can find more of what to expect during a consult here.
3. See how meeting with me feels for you. The fit between client and therapist is the most important predictor of therapeutic success. Do you feel heard, understood, and valued when meeting with me? These are all good signs that we’ll be a good fit together. You can also reach out to me after the consult with any follow-up questions.
4. If you decide that you’d like to see me for counselling, you can schedule a full session online or by contacting me. You’ll receive a confirmation email and a link to an intake form that we’ll review during your first session. Whether you schedule with me or someone else, what matters is that you’re seeking support.

My standard counselling fee is $150 per session (about 50 minutes). I also offer a limited number of sliding scale/reduced fee slots based on your income, insurance coverage, or lack thereof; this starts at $120, and is something we can chat more about during our consultation. While counselling is unfortunately not covered by Ontario’s Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), you may have insurance coverage through your workplace, school, or parents. Some good questions to ask your insurance provider, if you have one, can be found here.

Our office is located at 11 George St South in Cambridge, just a couple of blocks south of Queen’s Square, and north of the Hamilton Family Theatre. There is usually plenty of street parking in front right on George St. If street parking happens to be full, there are neighbouring side streets you can park on, and free parking at Queen’s Square lot. Cambridge has free 2-hour street parking during the day.

Our office building is ground-level, with no stairs, and has low incline ramps at the doorways. When you enter the building, there’s a lobby area with office doors; our door is Unit 3 on the left, with a sign on it. Feel free to enter our office and have a seat in our waiting area. Help yourself to some snacks and a drink from our tea and coffee station, and I’ll greet you shortly after. We also have an all-gender bathroom in-office.

Everyone has unique accessibility needs, and I aim to make counselling as accessible as possible. Our office building is ground-level, with no stairs, low incline ramps at the front doors, and has an in-office all-gender bathroom. I also offer counselling by video, audio-only (video with cameras turned off), or by phone. If written or typed communication is what’s accessible for you, just let me know, and we can use the chat-box functionality of our video scheduling. If you have specific questions about accessing in-person or virtual counselling, please contact me and we can discuss how to make it as accessible as possible for you.

These terms are often used interchangeably, but are technically different. Both happen in the context of a professional relationship, and can be provided by registered social workers in Ontario, like myself.

Counselling focuses on helping you (the client) find solutions and explore strengths, needs, information, resources, and coping strategies, to support you in your everyday life. Psychotherapy (or “therapy”) focuses on treating psycho-social or emotional concerns or problems related to thoughts, feelings, mood, and more, to support your personal growth (OCSWSSW, 2023).

I tend to use the term counselling, since it’s part of my approach with all clients, and may be exactly what you’re looking for. I tailor my approach to best meet your needs and goals, which may include psychotherapeutic techniques.

Since counselling involves exploring your personal experiences to better understood them and help you make change, it’s possible that our conversations may bring up upsetting thoughts, feelings, or memories for you. It’s also possible to feel worse before feeling better. My aim is to support you as you work towards your goals at a gentle pace, while being sensitive to any trauma you may have experienced, all while centring your autonomy. You have choice in where we go in counselling, and where we don’t. This time is for you.

While the outcomes of counselling can’t be guaranteed, you can safely expect the benefits to outweigh the risks. Benefits can include improved self-awareness, mindfulness, coping, communication, relationship skills, and personal growth. Growth can feel uncomfortable at times, but can also be transformative. We can chat more about what you’re hoping for from counselling during a free 20 minute consult, and how we can check in on your goals and progress throughout.

Confidentiality means that what you share with me as a client is protected and won’t be shared with others unless you give me clear consent to do so. There are some exceptions to this, such as discussing your case with a supervisor (who’s bound by the same confidentiality I am) and consulting with other counsellors (who I don’t share any identifiable information with) to benefit from their expertise and provide you with the best care I can. There are also some legal and ethical limitations to confidentiality, where I may be required as a registered social worker to share something specific you’ve said to me with someone else.

These limitations include:

• If you share that you’re at real, imminent risk of seriously hurting yourself or someone else.
• If you share that a child or dependent person is in need of protection.
• If you share that you’ve experienced sexual abuse from a regulated health professional.
• If your information is subpoenaed by a court of law.

If any of these circumstances ever pop up, I usually do what I can to let you know first, and involve you in the process as much as you’d like to be. During your first counselling session, I review all of this with you. If you have any questions about this, we can discuss this at any time during counselling.

Thoughts of suicide can be really common when we’re going through a tough time. About 12% of Canadians (1 in 8) experience these thoughts at some point in their life.

Sharing this with anyone is a brave and important step. When sharing this with me, I’ll ask some follow up questions to get a sense of how active these thoughts are, and what your current safety is like. We may talk about ways to help you keep safe and how to cope in tough moments. Only if you are at imminent risk of seriously hurting yourself or ending your own life, and we’re not able to help keep you safe, am I obligated to seek extra support for you. This looks different person-to-person, and is something we would talk through together. We can also talk about what supports you would want to access, if your thoughts were to ever progress that far.

While I don’t offer crisis support outside of session time, there are multiple 24/7 crisis services available. If you’re worried about your safety, please reach out to one of these, such as 988.