Counselling
My therapeutic approach incorporates Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with mindfulness-based techniques & Hypnotherapy.
I offer online/video or phone sessions and I specialize in the following areas:
Mood disorders (Depression & Anxiety)
PTSD & Resiliency Coaching
Life Transitions
Parenting & Divorce
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
A primary assumption of CBT is that thoughts precede moods and that false self-beliefs lead to negative emotions such as depression and anxiety. The goal of CBT is to help you recognize and re-assess your patterns of negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts that more closely reflect reality.
How Mindfulness Builds on CBT
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy builds upon the principles of CBT by using techniques such as meditation to teach people to consciously pay attention to their thoughts and feelings without placing any judgments upon them, or without getting caught up in what could have been or might occur in the future. It provides clarity of thought and can give you the tools needed to more easily let go of negative thoughts instead of letting them feed your depression or anxiety.
The combination of mindfulness and CBT is what makes this approach so effective. Mindfulness helps you observe and identify your feelings while CBT teaches you to interrupt automatic thought processes and work through feelings in a healthy way.
What is Hypnotherapy?
It may be best to begin with what hypnotherapy is not. Hypnotherapy is not stage hypnosis. Stage hypnotists are performers who are excellent at reading people. They seek extroverts who will put on a great show for the crowd. Whether or not their subjects are truly hypnotized is debatable, but they are willing to go along with the (sometimes) outrageous suggestions of the stage hypnotist.
Hypnotherapy, by contrast, utilizes the heightened awareness of the hypnotic state to help you explore your thoughts more deeply. As a hypnotherapist, my role is to guide and support you to visualize yourself in a state of peacefulness and relaxation, even when confronted by limiting thoughts, beliefs, and fears.
During hypnotherapy, you remain in control. It is not possible for me to force you to do anything against your will, even under hypnosis (nor would it be ethical!). You will be tuned into the work at hand, so you may not pay attention to your surroundings, but you will always be in charge of your own actions, behaviours, and communication. During hypnotherapy you do not “black-out.” You will remember everything that occurs during your session. You will not be asleep or unconscious, and you will be able to come out of the hypnotic state at any time you wish.