Adolescence can be loud. Emotional. Messy. Beautiful. Terrifying.

I work with teens who feel everything deeply — and with the parents who are trying their best to support them. When emotions run high, families often fall into painful patterns: escalating conflict, walking on eggshells, shutdown, crisis cycles, or constant fear of “making it worse.” Over time, everyone feels exhausted and misunderstood.

My work focuses on repairing those patterns.

Using Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), I help teens build concrete skills for regulating overwhelming emotions, reducing unhelpful behaviours, and navigating conflict more effectively. At the same time, I work closely with parents to strengthen validation, rebuild connection, and respond in ways that de-escalate rather than intensify.

Parent work is central to my practice - not an add-on. When caregivers learn how to regulate themselves, hold firm boundaries, and respond with both warmth and clarity, the entire system shifts. Change becomes more sustainable because it’s happening at the family level, not just inside one teenager.

I am a Registered Social Worker (RSW) with a Master’s of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University and a decade of experience supporting complex youth and their families. I bring both clinical structure and relational depth to this work.

I believe intense kids are not broken. They are often perceptive, sensitive, and wired for depth. Therapy with me is compassionate and structured. I believe parents are not the cause of their kid’s challenges. Parents are the solution- not the problem. We hold space for pain while actively building the skills and relational safety needed for real repair.

I am the step-parent of a pre-teen and a teenager, and also have a dog and a cat. If you opt to work with me, hopefully you also have a very irreverent sense of humor and don’t take life too seriously. I look forward to meeting you!