I use evidence-based psychological approaches, including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

Types of Concerns

I specialize in individual psychological therapy for adults (19+) in the Halifax Regional Municipality area who are struggling with:

• Anxiety, including social anxiety, excessive worrying, panic attacks, and phobias
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Sleep problems, including insomnia

Your therapy will be customized to help you address your specific concerns.

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT may involve:

• Learning how to identify your thoughts, behaviours, physical sensations, and feelings
• Learning strategies to shift unfairly negative or threatening interpretations of daily life situations
• Applying systematic problem-solving skills to difficult situations you are facing that have no clear best course of action
• Developing a plan to gradually confront feared situations that you have been avoiding, but that are important to you
• Planning pleasurable activities

For specific types of concerns, I offer specialized CBT strategies.

 For example: 

• If you have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), I might suggest Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), which involves confronting cues that trigger obsessions while resisting the urge to perform compulsive rituals according to a systematic plan
• If you are having recurrent, out-of-the-blue panic attacks, I might recommend interoceptive exposure, which involves repeatedly bringing on feared bodily sensations until you become more used to them
• If you are having trouble sleeping, I might suggest that you use stimulus control strategies to train your body to learn that bed=sleep and/or restrict the amount of time you are spending in bed

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT may involve: 

• Mindfulness practice
• Learning how to relate differently to, or defuse from, painful thoughts so that they have less control over how you’re living your life
• Clarifying your values, what is really important and meaningful to you in life
• Making a commitment to spend time doing what is important to you, even when it stirs up difficult emotions