Due to the COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing protocols, I decided to start offering video sessions through Zoom on 23rd March 2020. Since then myself and my clients, along with the rest of the EMDR Therapy world have realized that EMDR therapy is completely doable and effective through video sessions. Owing to the enduring popularity of Remote EMDR Therapy, I am no longer offering in-person sessions and exclusively offering Zoom videoconferencing sessions only.

Zoom is free for you and you don’t need to create a profile, or an account. It is also encrypted and secure. You just need to click on my Zoom meeting room link and follow the prompts. I will be sending this link when we book our session.

I work Monday to Thursday, with my first session beginning at 10 am and my last session ending at 6 pm. I do not see clients on weekends.

My fee is $170 (incl. of HST) per hourly session. My sliding scale slots are full and I no longer offer a sliding scale.

Yes, I do offer a 30-minute phone consultation before booking our first session. In this call, I ask you a bit about the reasons why you are reaching out and then you can ask me any questions that you may have. I also speak more about my approach and if we both agree that it could be a good fit, then we can book our first session at the end of the call. Click here to contact me.

Currently, I only work with adults in individual therapy sessions. I do not work with children, couples or families.

I completed my diploma program in psychotherapy in March 2016 from the Transformational Arts College (TAC), based in Toronto. I currently have the designations of RP – Registered Psychotherapist and an EMDRIA-approved Certified EMDR Therapist and Consultant. The RP designation is regulated by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO).

To review my page on the CRPO psychotherapist public directory – click here.

To contact CRPO for any questions or complaints – click here.

My style of conducting therapy is of an eclectic nature, while being firmly grounded in a client-centered, collaborative approach. This means that I use different modalities, based on what fits the situation and I am not stuck up on one school of thought.

Having said that, I do utilize EMDR Therapy quite often, along with other modalities such as trauma-informed mindfulness, Internal Family Systems, Brainspotting, Somatic Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy and Structural Dissociation Theory. I also bring in concepts from other schools of brain-body based therapies and concepts such as Non-Violent Communication (NVC) for improving my client’s relational and communication skills.

In typical “talk-only” therapy, the focus is on generating insight into the client’s issues and understanding the situation rationally and realistically and then transforming the client’s behaviours, as the thinking pattern becomes more rational and balanced. Talk-only therapies, like CBT, deal primarily with the conscious, rational part of the brain.

But studies in neurobiology show that our feelings, defense mechanisms and gut reactions to situations arise from more primitive parts, such as the emotional (mid-brain) and the survival (brain stem) sections of the brain. These parts are often outside the direct control of the rational part of the brain. So you may rationally understand your issues and have a lot of insight, but that may not help you heal from your symptoms.

Therapies such as EMDR and body-based psychotherapies work more directly with these primitive parts of the brain that are responsible for fight, flight, freeze, submit and other dissociative defense mechanisms. These defenses when out of balance can cause anxiety, panic attacks, depression, depersonalization, derealisation, etc. This is what I mean when I say that the therapies I practice go beyond “talk-only”, rational therapy.

If your health benefit covers you for Registered Psychotherapists (RPs) under the Psychological Services section, then you can submit my receipts for insurance claims. Lately, more and more companies are covering RPs within their plans.

In general, all communication between us is confidential and I will only release information about our work to others at your request and with your written permission.

There are certain situations, however, where I am required by law to reveal information obtained during therapy to other persons/agencies, even if you do not give permission. These are the situations:  If you threaten grave bodily harm or death to yourself or another I may inform medical or law enforcement personnel. If you report to me knowledge of physical or sexual abuse of a minor child by an adult, or of an elderly or disabled person I am required to inform the appropriate agencies. If you report the sexual misconduct of a mental health professional I am required to report it to the appropriate College. If you become involved in a legal case (child custody, civil suit, etc.) I may be required to produce records or testify. I will do everything I can to keep your records confidential but sometimes it may be out of my control to do so.

Psychotherapy is regulated in Ontario by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), which was proclaimed in April 2015. I am a member of this regulating body. For detailed information, you may go to https://www.crpo.ca/

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is basically a memory reprocessing therapy and looks to change the way we associate and hold on to old traumatic memories. The emotional energy locked in these traumatic memories are often powering our negative beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. With EMDR we can drain away this emotional energy from those memories and thus discard those old negative beliefs, more easily and adopt positive, life-affirming beliefs. To know more about EMDR Therapy, click here.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has recognized EMDR Therapy as the therapy of choice for PTSD. Though there are also many different variants and protocols that other therapists have created over the years, to adapt EMDR Therapy for other issues, such as anxiety, phobias, attachment and relational traumas, dissociative disorders, etc.

The definition of trauma has changed in recent times. Currently, it is defined as anything that overwhelms us psychologically. There are two types of trauma, one called “Big T” trauma, such as war, sexual abuse, rape, physical assault, major accidents, natural disasters, torture, etc. The other is called “small t” trauma, such as verbal, emotional, psychological abuse, childhood neglect, abandonment, smothering, difficult breakups and other forms of relational, attachment and childhood developmental traumas.

“Big T” traumas are generally highly intense and short-lived, often showing up as discrete events in a client’s trauma history. “Small t” traumas on the other hand can be of lower intensity that can go on for years. “Small t” traumas are no walk in the park and can cause significant post-traumatic stress symptoms, if not full-blown PTSD.

When it comes to attachment, relational and childhood developmental trauma, EMDR Therapy may need to be adapted to the client’s specific situation. I do practice a variation of EMDR called Attachment-Focused EMDR Therapy. We can discuss this more during our free phone consultation.

EMDR Therapy can be very effective, but it is not a magic pill and every client’s situation is unique. Our issues are often multi-factorial and thus many factors are needed to make therapy effective in healing your symptoms. This includes the strength of our therapeutic relationship, your coping mechanisms, your ability to regulate overwhelming feelings and to feel safe in your body and with other people, the level of dissociation that we are working with, the quality and quantity of supports in your life, etc.

EMDR Therapy is one of the factors within this framework. Having said that, I strongly believe in a results-oriented approach and we will work collaboratively to ensure that the therapy is meeting your needs.

In cases of single event traumas in adulthood, where the client had a relatively trauma-free childhood with secure attachments, EMDR Therapy can be quicker in terms of showing results. I analogize the trauma to be like a localized tumor in the body, which can be directly accessed and dealt with.

While in cases where there is significant childhood trauma, or significant dissociation, EMDR Therapy needs to be implemented with other modalities and the therapy process can be slower and more long drawn out. Dealing with the trauma is then similar to dealing with late stage cancer, which has metastasized to different parts of the body. The trauma then affects every aspect of our personality and our sense of self. It is not as cut and dry as the scenario presented above, with single event traumas.

Once we conduct the intake in the first session, I shall present a treatment plan to you and work collaboratively with you to adapt EMDR Therapy and other modalities, to your unique situation, in a safe and effective manner.

When it comes to clients who come to me for trauma, I use the triphasic trauma model. This model has 3 phases:

• Stabilization Phase: In this phase we are ensuring that the client is able to deal with overwhelming emotions, that may arise in between sessions and certain skills are taught and practiced. In this phase I bring in trauma-informed mindfulness, body-based psychotherapy and breathing and relaxation skills. We also work on some dissociation in this phase, if it is present, using Internal Family Systems and Structural Dissociation Theory.
• Reprocessing Phase: This is the phase where we reprocess memories and I often use a combination of EMDR Therapy, Brainspotting and Internal Family Systems.
• Integration Phase: In this phase we ground the gains made in therapy into real life. This is where I help the client learn new behaviours and teach and practice effective relating and communication skills

Please note that these phases are not linear in nature. We can also stay in phase 1 for the whole duration of the therapy and it can be very effective in stabilizing a client’s symptoms. We can talk more about this on our free phone consultation, if you like.

“Parts work” is a colloquial term for therapeutic techniques that help us to look at ourselves as comprised of various parts, with slightly differing agendas, needs and desires. Internal Family System (IFS) is one such therapeutic technique. It can help to reduce the polarization and the tug-of-war between opposing parts, such as your Inner Child and your Inner Critic. To know more about IFS, click here.

Identifying parts in your psyche does not mean that you have Multiple Personality Disorder (currently known as Dissociative Identity Disorder).

Yes, I do work with clients experiencing dissociative symptoms. I use the model of Structural Dissociation Theory to help my clients slowly and safely reduce the level of dissociation in their psychological system. Please note that dissociation is one of the ways in which our body protects us from overwhelming feelings and sensory overload. We can discuss more about your unique situation during our free phone consultation.