Individual and Couples Counselling in Calgary

Yes I do! We can schedule time (usually about 30 minutes) for you to ask me any questions. You want to make sure it’s a right fit. You want to know you will feel comfortable talking to me. You want to make sure I get you. I want to make sure I can support you - and I don’t know a better way than us getting on the phone and talking to each other. It’s called a goodness of fit. It needs to feel good. It’s not a sales call, there’s no pressure for you to commit to anything and there are no hidden costs. If I don’t think I can support you, if you want I could offer a referral or suggest a different solution. If it feels right - the next step is to schedule our first session. You can schedule your free consultation here

I usually start with asking you to tell me about yourself, your relationship and the reasons you reached out to me. This is so I get a bit of an understanding of what’s going on. I would want to understand your concerns, your goals for therapy or coaching. This way I can be specific when I answer your questions and talk about how I can support you - not hypothetically, but specific to your situation. Then there’s time for you to ask me questions. I love questions. Bring them on. Ask me anything. At the end we can talk about how to move forward. What I can guarantee you - is honesty and authenticity. If I don’t think I can support you - I’ll make a suggestion or a referral. If I think i can - we’ll talk about it. There’s no pressure, you don’t have to make a decision on the spot, you can think about it as much as you want. Some couples talk to me, and then decide they are ready to do the work a year later. It’s all good. It’s where you are at.

I do not. It's a quick chat, 30 minutes or so, and I find it the easiest to plan it on Zoom or via the phone. As most of my sessions are online, zoom consult gives you an idea of how online sessions work.

This is entirely up to you . Some people prefer to do this as a couple, ask questions and then we decide how to proceed together. For many couples only one partner books a consultation, and the other doesn't have any quesions, or is busy working, or is happy to show up for any session. In some cases we can do 2 individual, private consultations, so both of you feel good about it. This is most common for couples where one person wants to work on the relationship and another is unsure if they want to stay or separate, or couples working through affair recovery. In these cases, when it's too triggering to do a consultation together, we do separate consultations.

1 hour session: $180 per hour + GST 90 minute session: $270 per hour + GST Payments are made after your appointment by: email money transfer or with your credit card online. Some sessions might be covered by insurance, but not all. Please check with your insurance provider before starting the sessions. For more information click here

If your therapy is covered by an insurance policy, clients pay the fee and then seek reimbursement from the insurance company. Please make sure that your policy covers counselling or clinical counselling. I am a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor. (RTC # 2936) If you have a flexible insurance plan or employee directed benefits, these sessions are often covered under coaching or personal growth/wellness category. Some plans only cover psychologists or a registered social workers and I am neither. Some work on a case-by-case basis and I'll be happy to work with you and send a letter to your insurance provider to see if they could get your sessions covered. Please check with your insurance provider before making any assumptions on coverage.

I request a minimum of 48 hours notice of cancellations or appointment time changes. I get that emergencies occur in our lives, and that the 48 hour notice may, at times, not be possible. Please notify me as soon as possible under these circumstances. Late cancellation fee is $50.

You have the right to stop counselling at any time. If this should happen, I would appreciate your sharing with me your feedback and/or concerns. There are no refunds for completed sessions.

I do not provide child custody evaluations or assessments as I have no specialized training in this area. I do not provide any letters, assessments or clinical notes for legal use, custody issues, or investigations.

The sessions are typically 90 minutes each. I do not like to rush. When you are leaving the office, I do not want you to feel that we have just started, we just got to something good, and then ended our session. I want us to go deep, I want real results. It’s good work, and it is ok that it takes time to get real results.

All regular weekly and by-weekly sessions are online on Zoom. These sessions are 60 or 90 minutes. (90 minutes for couples just starting the work.) I am offering in person deep-dives(starting with 3 hours) and intensives (half day, day long or weekends). For more information, please click here

We will always set a schedule to meet your individual needs, based on the time available, how busy your lifestyle is, sometimes based on the budget. I’ll work with you to make it work. We typically start with weekly sessions to get the momentum going. At some point it becomes clear that you don’t need any more information, or more support, you need more time to do homework assignments, more time to practice the skills you are learning - then we shift to by-weekly sessions. After a while, we transition to monthly or maintenance sessions. Each session is 90 minutes.

All counseling services are confidential. No information will be provided to anyone without your signed request. There are only 3 exceptions to this rule. I am ethically and legally required to report: - Child, elderly or a disabled person abuse or welfare concerns - Imminent self-harm or danger to others - In case of subpoena or court order I will be required to share my notes Couples who share information in individual sessions are able to request that such information is kept confidential as long as it does not jeopardize the integrity of ongoing couple’s therapy. As part of my code of practice I engage in regular on-going clinical supervision. This is to ensure an ethical and professional service to clients. I may discuss your situation with my supervisor but would not use your name or any other identifying details.

Almost all clients ask me this question, and I absolutely understand why. I’d want to know too. I hope you understand why I can’t answer this question. Everyone is unique, everyone’s reasons for counselling is different, there’s no one size fits all solution. While some people only need 3 sessions, some might be coming for half of a year or longer. Some people have a very specific issue or a question to work on. Some people come with 25 years of resentment and frustration and trauma - it of course makes sense it would take more time to work through it all. Most people start with 3-6 sessions. Therapy has been found to be most productive when incorporated into a client's lifestyle for approximately 12-16 sessions which is considered short term therapy. My intention - to give you tools and skills so you don’t need me. I want you to start seeing results right away. I want you to create a difference in your life and relationships - and I understand that it takes time and patience. I’m on your side.

There are three main reasons most couples usually come to therapy: - They want things to get better. - They have decided to separate and they want help to make their separation as peaceful as possible. - They want to make a decision (to stay together or not, to move (move to a different city, or maybe move in together) or not, to have a child or not, etc. ) Some couples come because they find themselves becoming roommates, not lovers. Some because of communication problems - they find themselves in the same fight, over and over again and don’t seem to be able to break the vicious cycle. Some couples fight, and some have been avoiding any form of conflict for years - both ways are not sustainable for a long term successful relationship. Some people struggle with intimacy - and it’s one of my favourite areas to help people with. They don’t teach this stuff in high school. There’s no shame in asking for help. We are not meant to do this alone. It’s a lot easier for me to support you in this - I don’t get triggered, I don’t judge, I have years of training, I work with couples all the time, it’s not to say that I’ve seen it all - it’s to say I’m not afraid to get in it with you. They say it takes a village to raise a child, I say, It takes a village to have a strong relationship. I’d be honored to be a part of your village.

Absolutely. I support people who want to heal their past relationships, want to get ready for their next relationship, want to break some painful patterns they can’t seems to break from, people who have attachment trauma, people who’ve been in abusive relationships, people who struggle with intimacy (some of the best times to work on it is when you are not in a relationship) Also, sometimes you might be in a relationship but your partner won’t come to therapy. Can you make a difference alone? Of course. There’s so much we can do. You working on yourself and making individual changes will change the relationship. Some people need clarity about their relationship, or need support in making a decision to stay or leave - we can do it in individual sessions, or through couples work as well.

These are some of my favourite sessions. You do not need therapy, but you want to set yourself and your relationship up for success. You want to have the best start possible. You want to learn how to communicate, how to fight, how to be able to talk about anything, how to grow individually and together. What you don’t want is to come back 10 years later with a pile of resentments, frustrations and upsets. Let’s work on it now when it’s sooooooo much easier and fun. Let’s prevent the biggest problems, talk about the challenges you will meet, work on strategies to deal with them. The little things that mildly irritate you now will only become bigger and bigger. Trust me it’s way easier to address them now than 10 years later.