The ultimate goal in counselling is, empowering a person to reach their full potential in life. This is a process of increasing a person’s self awareness, and their sense of well being. Counselling is especially important when a person is experiencing problems or difficulties which are affecting their quality of life. These problems can cause blocks and ultimately limit a person’s potential, freedom and happiness. Problems which cause blocks are most often due to reliance upon ineffective ways to deal with stressors in life.

Lifestyle changes can cause tremendous fear and insecurity in people, especially for those who have unknowingly relied upon ineffective ways of coping with the everyday stresses of life. Turning to a competent and qualified therapist who can provide confidential support and advice about private worries or concerns at times of difficulty, can be most reassuring and helpful. When a person is in the middle of a crisis or, when a person finally decides to take the leap towards personal growth, the idea of opening “Pandora’s Box” can be very frightening but it is at such times that involvement with a counsellor or therapist, who is not a friend of family member, can be absolutely invaluable.

Sometimes people have many stressors in their every day life which can bring up emotions which can lead to feelings of hopelessness, fear and insecurity. In order to get beyond such feelings, it is very important that a person seek professional help. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT CAN’T BE OVERCOME with the right kind of help. Happiness and joy are available to all people, regardless of their past actions and experiences. In order to get more enjoyment out of life, it is important to grow in understanding yourself, become more in tune with your authentic self, and feel more connected with family and friends. For many people, it is also important to experience a sense of community in one form or another.

Therapy is not for the weak. It is for people who choose to face their fears and insecurities in order to come to an understanding of who they truly are and to learn new ways of coping with the problems they face in life. This is the only way to truly live a successful life. Seeking professional help can mean the difference between being absorbed into one’s problems, or using such problems as a catapult towards greater life enhancement.

You must face your problems directly because treating only your symptoms is a poor substitute for living a life of purpose.

I am a fully qualified therapist with a Masters Degree in Social Work and an Addiction Counsellor II designation. You can view a a complete listing of my education, training and experience on this page.

What is perhaps more important than my education, training and experience is that I have 26 years of active personal recovery and truly understand depression, anxiety, addiction and relationship challenges. My primary goal is to help all people experience the same rewards in life that therapy has brought me. Happiness, peace, joy and love are available to all people.

PSYCHOANALYTICAL GROUP COUNSELLING

One of the most powerful and effective forms of psychotherapy for many people is group therapy. Psychoanalytical group therapy can be very effective in dealing with

• Early tension in life
• Dissatisfaction with life
• Family discord and disharmony
• Problems with living
• Distortion in thinking, attitude and behaviour
• Poor self image
• Faulty defense mechanisms
• Association with negatively influencing peer groups

In addition, another common purpose among individuals who join a process group is to fulfill their ongoing desire to grown in terms of personal and emotional awareness, as well as in regard to the quality of their inter-relational interactions with others. The work of putting emotional experiences into words can give an individual the cognitive and emotional tools that lend to self learning and the potential to function with and increased sense of freedom and with increased sophistication.

Most importantly, group therapy can provide a means through which relationships with significant others can be improved and enhanced. Group members often act out unresolved conflicts from early life experiences or tramatic events, within the safe confines of the group setting, which provides an opportunity for group participants to deal with these hurts or traumas which, in turn, enhances their interpersonal experiences and greatly improves their over-all quality of life. Resolving issues from the past, necessarily changes the present.