I work with children ages 2–12.

Therapy with a two-year-old obviously looks very different from therapy with a twelve-year-old. Parent involvement, the kinds of play we use, and even what “therapy” looks like will change with your child.

I don’t expect kids to do therapy like tiny adults.

I also work with adults around grief, loss, trauma, major life transitions, and later-realized ADHD and autism.

Sessions are available in person on Pender Island, with online counselling available throughout British Columbia.

I also offer longer Personal Therapy Retreats for adults who want more time and space than a traditional therapy hour allows.

The sandtray. No contest.

Give me a tray of sand and shelves full of tiny objects and I’m happy.

Coloring books are a very close second—which may stretch the definition of “toy,” but I make the rules here.

Big explosions. Quiet anxiety. Grief. Perfectionism. Masking. People-pleasing. Aggression. Fear. Major changes. Kids who hold everything together until they get home and then completely fall apart.

Sometimes something specific has happened. Sometimes parents just know, Something is going on with my kid and I don't know what it is.

We can start there.

No. As a Registered Clinical Counsellor, I don’t provide mental health diagnoses.

Instead, I work with what’s actually happening: your child’s behaviour, their nervous system, their emotional world, what you’re seeing and hoping for them, and—when they’re able to tell or show me—what they want for themselves.

From there, we work toward greater connection, more capacity to tolerate what currently feels intolerable, and more options for what to do when things get hard.

Your child doesn’t need a label for us to begin understanding what they need.

Oh, we’re going there?

Pisces sun. Virgo moon. Cancer rising. I was also born on a full moon.

So, yes. There are a lot of feelings happening over here.

The Pisces/Virgo combination may also explain why I’m pretty comfortable holding opposites: something can be painful and funny, a child can desperately need a boundary and be furious about it, and two apparently contradictory things can both be true.

Absolutely.

ADHD, autism, AuDHD, PDA traits, sensory differences, giftedness, intense interests, unusual communication styles, and kids who simply don’t fit neatly into typical expectations are welcome.

I’m not interested in teaching neurodivergent children to look less neurodivergent. I’m interested in helping them understand themselves, trust themselves, and have more options when things get hard.

That’s fine.

Really.

They can play. Draw. Build. Move. Look at me suspiciously. Ignore me for a while. Show me their stuffed animals. Tell me everything there is to know about one very specific subject.

Relationship comes first. We’ll figure it out.

Read.

I love to read, and left entirely to my own devices, there’s a pretty good chance that’s what I’m doing.

But if you put me outside somewhere with rocks or logs—especially over water—I will apparently revert to being about nine years old and immediately need to see whether I can walk across them.

I have no explanation for this. I just really like hopping from rock to rock.

No.

Your child needs a therapeutic relationship that belongs to them. I won’t give you a play-by-play.

I will help you understand patterns I’m noticing, what your child’s behaviour may be communicating, and what might help at home. And I will involve you if there’s a safety concern.

Oatmeal chocolate chip.

Preferably homemade. Preferably by me.

I like baking almost as much as I like eating what I bake, which is a very convenient arrangement.

No.

You can adore your child and be completely out of ideas.

You can understand that their behaviour is communicating something and still desperately want them to STOP DOING THAT THING.

Both can be true.

I’m interested in understanding what’s happening in the relationship and what your child needs—not grading your parenting.

With humility rather than an assumption of competence.

No amount of training makes me an expert on someone else’s culture or lived experience.

My responsibility is to remain aware of power, privilege, racism, colonialism, ableism, heteronormativity, gender, class, and the other systems that shape our lives — including the ways those systems can enter the therapy room.

My own learning around racism and privilege has been intentional and ongoing for decades. I continue to listen, learn, question my assumptions, and course-correct when needed.

I believe clients about their own lives.

I also don’t assume that sharing an identity means sharing an experience. My job is to be curious enough to learn who you are rather than deciding I already know.

No. I don’t work with children involved in high-conflict divorce or custody cases, and I don’t provide therapy for the purpose of obtaining opinions, recommendations, documentation, or evidence for court.

If that’s your situation, I may be able to help you figure out what kind of provider you need or point you toward someone who may be a better fit.

Ongoing child therapy is $300 CAD for 50 minutes.

Child Play Therapy Intensives are $1,800 CAD and include a virtual parent intake, two 90-minute in-person sessions on consecutive days on Pender Island, and a virtual parent follow-up about a month later.

There’s more information on the Fees & Payment page.

Many extended health plans in British Columbia include counselling with a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), but every plan is different.

Please check with your benefits provider to confirm that RCC services are covered under your particular plan.

I do not direct bill extended health plans. You pay for your appointment and receive a receipt that you can submit to your insurer for reimbursement.

When you begin ongoing therapy with me, you reserve a regular weekly appointment time.

With at least 24 hours’ notice, I may be able to move your appointment to another available time during the same or an adjacent week, but rescheduling depends on availability and cannot be guaranteed.

If another time isn’t available, your regular session fee still applies.

Appointments missed or changed with less than 24 hours’ notice are charged at the full fee and cannot be rescheduled.

If you’ll be away for more than three weeks, you may continue holding your appointment by paying for the sessions you’ll miss. If you prefer not to hold the time, I understand, but I can’t guarantee that the same appointment spot will be available when you return.

You can read the full policy on my Fees & Payment page.

Good. You don’t need to be sure yet. That’s what the free consultation is for. You get to figure out whether I feel like someone you’d trust with your child. And I’m also figuring out whether I genuinely think I’m the right person to help. Sometimes I am. Sometimes I’m not. Either answer gets you closer to the right help for your kid.