Welcome!
I
am a therapist /counsellor and consultant in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island
BC and on Gabriola Island, working with adults with a wide range of issues
and specializing in the areas of trauma and childhood neglect
and abuse. I also provide face-to-face and phone consultation
for therapists, and phone therapy. EMDR (Eye Movement
Desensitization and Reprocessing) is central to my work, and the attachment-based
approach I have created, Developing a Secure Self/Imaginal Nurturing,
directly addresses early deficits that can lead to low self-esteem, depression
and anxiety, problems in relationships, and a myriad of other problems.
There is information on this site for individuals seeking therapy
and therapists seeking consultation and/or training,
as well as information related to attachment, my book on attachment-based
therapy, CDs, and links to other resources.
Consultation for therapists
One of the wonderful things about how "small" the world has become is that you are not restricted by geography in choosing a consultant. If you are wanting to become more adept with EMDR, work towards EMDRIA certification, deepen your ability to work with ego states and attachment, please do check out my page on consultation. One consultee writes:
As I learn more from you, I realize how I was doing EMDR wtihout really knowing what I was after. It's been a wonderful learning process.
Therapy for the therapist
As clinicians, we know how important it is that we have done our own personal work. Over the past few years, I have been working over the phone with therapists who are familiar with my approach and have felt that something was missing in their own healing. It seems paradoxical that one could heal attachment wounds and deficits from a distance, but I have discovered that it is indeed possible. While this mode of therapy is not for everyone, if you are interested in exploring the possibility of working with me (whether you are a therapist or not), please contact me. I'd be happy to discuss the possibilites with you.
Distance Training in Developing a Secure Self
I am so happy to announce that the distance training program, Imaginal Nurturing, Ego States, and Attachment: An Integrated Approach to Early Deficits, is now available for therapists and has been approved for EMDRIA, NASW, and BBS (California) credit hours. Details are available on the "Training" page.
Here are some comments from therapists who have taken this training program:
~ I just completed your Imaginal Nurturing course, and it is amazing! Thank you so much! I used it last evening with a client with whom I have done a good deal of EMDR but who was getting tripped up by one thing. Because of time constraints in yesterday's session, instead of doing EMDR, I used Imaginal Nurturing although my plan had been to practice it more first. Nevertheless it had amazing results!.... Excellent! Best and most important specific training I can recall.
~ Thank you for the wonderful training. I've been using I-N for the past week and a half, and have had incredible results. My clients are reporting feeling profoundly touched and changed by the experience. In a couple of cases, some things have happened that can only be described as miraculous. Thanks for putting this training together so that those of us who live far from you can bring the help and relief to our clients.
I think distance training makes a lot of sense. It gives you much more flexibility since you can fit it into your schedule as you see fit, and it is more economical too. You can also review the material whenever you like.
This content of this program is similar to what I presented in Vancouver and Toronto in the fall of 2009. I will not be giving any more in-person trainings.
Imaginal Nurturing CDs
I received a lovely note recently from a woman who used these CDs:
"I just wanted to let you know how much I love your guided imagery CDs. I've been going for EMDR therapy for several months and it's been an incredibly healing experience. But while I have been able to heal my childhood traumas, I was left with a very young part of myself who felt extremely lonely and needy. Nothing I have ever done on my own or in therapy was able to touch that part of me. But while listening to your CDs, especially 'I'm So Glad You're Here!' (Feeding the Infant), I found imagining myself as the infant really helped. After doing that several times I realized those feelings of loneliness and neediness were gone!
So thank you so much. You have changed my life."
~ (shared with permission)
Check out the CD page for information and ordering.
Thich Nhat Hanh and Imaginal Nurturing
I often suggest my clients check out exiled Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who has devoted his life to world peace (he was nominated by Martin Luther King for the Nobel Peace prize of 1967) and to making Buddhist practices such as mindfulness accessible and relevant to people throughout the world in the 20th and 21st centuries. Because he is such a beautiful embodiment of calm, he has much to offer our society in which anxiety has become a serious widespread problem. (Mindfulness has become increasingly acknowledged as significant in treating anxiety problems.)
Thich Nhat Hanh has published many books all of which are very down to earth - Peace is Every Breath is one of my favourites. If you are looking for his work at a library, look under Nhat Hanh rather than Hanh. I have long admired his psychological insight but was surprised in his book Reconciliation to read material that is totally in keeping with Imaginal Nurturing:
The five-year-old child within needs a lot of compassion and attention. It would be nice if every day we would find a few minutes to sit down and practice this meditation [Breathing in , I see myself as a five-year-old child. Breathing out, I smile with compassion to the five-year-old child in me]. It would be very healing and very comforting, because the five-year-old child in us is still alive and needs to be taken care of. With acknowledgement and communication, we can see that child responding to us and she or he begins feeling better. If she feels better, we feel better also and we start to feel great freedom. [p. 66]
You may also wish to check out this remarkable man online.
Thank you for visiting my website. Please come again!
Last updated December 27, 2011.