How my journey began

In 2009, I was desperate to find help for my husband, who was in active alcoholism. A family counsellor at the local Treatment Centre helped me discover who I was and how I needed to change. This experience started my journey toward being able to let go of my need to control everything and everyone.

My life has never been the same since.

So when my own career looked like it was in jeopardy (in 2013), I was searching for a new career path, and my (sober!) husband suggested being a counsellor, I looked into it.

After over six years, I graduated from Athabasca University with a Masters in Counselling.

Along the way, I hit several roadblocks.

In late 2013, I lost my youngest daughter in a car crash 3,000 miles away. Grieving her, I persevered in my studies because I knew she would be so proud of me that I did, even though it was hard.

In 2018, after a failed practicum attempt, I sunk into a depression and began both an antidepressant and therapy to deal with some family-of-origin issues and my own personal growth in confidence.

I returned to studies about 10 months later, and went on to complete my degree in August 2021. I got my Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) designation from the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association in early December 2021, and opened my practice soon after that. In November 2022, my application for registration with the College of Counselling Therapists of PEI (CCTPEI) was approved, so I am now considered a “Counselling Therapist.”

I am so grateful for the help and support I received along the way. My family never stopped believing in me. My boss was in my corner from day one. My friends cheered me on, and helped me get through the rough times, like losing my daughter.

I have been blessed with wonderful professional people: doctors, therapists, an empathetic supervisor, and my professors and practicum advisors, people who came alongside me to help. They used their expertise and listened to me tell them my story. And they really helped!

I know what it is to feel alone, to grieve, to have no money (I was bankrupt in 1996), to fail, and to be handed a diagnosis of cancer
(uterine cancer, Jan. 2017 hysterectomy). I was declared cancer-free in the spring of 2022!

And, as an adult survivor of childhood abuse, I know how it feels to feel afraid, angry, and less-than. I also know how wonderful it is to find someone who listens and really hears me without judgment. I want to do that for people who are hurt, who struggle to get out of bed, who get lost in all the "what if”s. I want to help those who get trapped in patterns of behaving and speaking that take an axe to relationships with partners, parents, children, and co-workers. I want to work with those who are willing to have something they may never have had before, by doing something they’ve never done before.