When I initially set my sights on my professional development, becoming a therapist was nowhere on the list of plans that I had for myself. Growing up in Edmonton, I had spent my early adolescence volunteering and working with children and families to provide school and community programming in areas with limited access. The other side to this non profit work was my ever-present love for sport. Having been an athlete from childhood into university, my intentions were to work with high performing athletes. After deciding that this was not the path for me, and many lovely years spent working in cafes as a barista, my love for serving my community and sharing stories with people lead me to Social Work.

 

I completed my Masters of Social work at the University of Calgary, where my curiosities and conversations with important peers and mentors lead me to narrative talk therapy. The storytelling aspect allowed me to imagine how I could tailor my work to people who, like me, come from histories of oral tradition and story sharing. I received invaluable teaching in this type of therapy through an educational intensive, and eventual work with, the Calgary Narrative Collective. It was there that I was taught about the power of collaborating with clients to use their words to write poems from each session, a practice that I will now never go without.

 

I believe that each person has a unique and interesting story to tell, with fascinating reasons and a myriad of experiences leading them to make the choices that they do. Through our conversations we will look at whatever you are coming to therapy for through the history and nuance of how you have lived your life up until now, to help inform us about how you can make purposeful steps, forward.