About
About Michelle
The foundation of my work with clients is the belief in human potential; that individuals have the capacity and resources within themselves for insight, growth, transformation, and healing. I recognize that the person you are today has been influenced by a lifespan of past experiences and environments, which have undoubtedly affected how you view yourself, relationships, and the world, and impact how you function in your everyday life.
I have a relaxed, yet professional, counselling style and work alongside adults and teens on an individual or group basis. My main focus areas include:
- Loss & grief (with a special interest in loss in childhood or adolescence and the loss of an animal companion)
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Life transitions, and
- Pathways to increased happiness and fulfillment
I work with clients 1-1 and also facilitate support groups and workshops. I have a specialized passion for custom-designed workshops using narrative therapy techniques to explore important life themes.
Education & Qualifications
- BA, Psychology
- MA, Professional Communications
- Registered Therapeutic Counsellor: Member of the Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada (ACCT)
- Diploma in Applied Psychology and Counselling
- Certificate in Mental Health First-Aid
- Narrative therapy / expressive writing credentials through the Therapeutic Writing Institute
Memberships
- Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada (ACCT)
- Association of Death Education & Counselling (ADEC)
- Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute (CTRI)
About My Approach
My counselling and coaching approach is integrative – a flexible and dynamic method that brings together different therapeutic elements from relevant theories and evidence-based techniques to fit the unique needs of each client. I draw upon several modalities including (but not limited to) existential, client-centered, psychoanalytic, cognitive behavioral, solution-focused, and narrative therapy approaches. Regardless of therapeutic modality or technique, my primary focus is the quality of our relationship and ensuring it is one built on genuineness, empathy, respect, trust, and true collaboration, which is a critical component of any counselling, and is a major determinant of change. My role for the most part is to listen intently and with curiosity and to walk alongside you in your journey – sometimes becoming more involved or more directed in specific techniques for awareness and to support positive desired change.
In our time together we will explore and integrate your core values and what is most meaningful to you in life, while uncovering qualities and developing themes of strength to best support your success. I will be curious about your thinking processes, emotional experiences, and behavioral patterns. While considering the relationship between these thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, we can uncover how certain aspects can be become self-limiting and work together to shift or remove these blocks and make progress on your goals for change and healing. We will work towards tangible results; supported by independence and empowerment, identifying and changing unhelpful thinking patterns, considering problems in a more positive way, and the creation of goals and action plans.
About Akashic
Akasha is a sanskrit word meaning “sky”, “space”, or “aether” and has been used to describe a non-physical plane where the knowledge of all human existence is encoded – a cosmic “collective consciousness”. Some believe the Akasha represents the soul’s records of all its experiences in all the lifetimes it’s been through – the Akashic Records. This also aligns with Jung’s collective unconscious; its contents he called archetypes, or “cultural imprints” made up of images and ideas of humankind’s thoughts throughout history.
Akashic Counselling was inspired from the idea of tapping-into an intangible place that holds infinite possibilities and generations of human learned experience and tacit knowledge.
The trinity nature of the logo has symbolized many different and meaningful aspects over time, and remains open to creative, fluid, and subjective interpretation.