I opened Heart Space Wellness as a serene centre in which to continue my healing practices near my home on Salt Spring Island.  I care deeply about people and their well-being, and through individual sessions and group workshops that I have run over the past thirty years, I have developed skills which allow me to quickly get to the heart of the mental health concerns of those I have served. 

   I hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, an Early Childhood Education degree, a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology, and am a Registered Clinical Counsellor.  My post-graduate studies have included the fields of expressive art and play therapy, conflict resolution, neuroplasticity, body image, addiction, EMDR, relationships, and anxiety.  I am well versed in the areas of mindfulness (including Mindful Self-Compassion and Mindfulness Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and received my early training from Jon Kabit-Zinn in 1991.  I have also trained in Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing therapy, in Somatic Sex Education, and Trauma-Focused CBT.    

I have been working in the psychiatric and counselling fields since 1987, when I began my career working at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (formerly the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry), one of Canada’s leading research and treatment centres in Toronto.  I later worked on the Adolescent and Child Psychiatry units at Vancouver General Hospital and B.C. Children’s Hospital, and as an Aboriginal Child and Youth Mental Health intern for the BC government.

My curiosity has led me to explore many healing cultures and beliefs on my own journey, including training with spiritual guides and experiencing life with an Indigenous dream-culture tribe in the Amazon.  I have also volunteered at the North Shore Hospice for 5 years helping families and their loved ones through the end-of-life process, and at the Dalai Lama Center in their Heart-Mind programs, working with pre-school and school-aged children.