Credentials
University education
I hold a master's degree in Counseling Psychology with Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Pacifica is a fully accredited institution and its degree programs are recognized and approved by the State of California and by professional bodies throughout North America, including the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors, of which I am a registered member.
Pacifica's counselling program combines the study of depth psychology and family systems therapy.
Pacifica's motto, animae mundi colendae gratia (for the sake of tending soul in the world), sums up the reason I chose to study there. Psychology is both a science of brain, learning, and behaviour and an art of cultivating soul and depth in ourselves and the world.
While at Pacifica, I completed a one-year practicum at the Urgent Short Term Assessment and Treatment (USTAT) mental health clinic in Victoria. There I provided psychotherapy to people with a wide range of problems, with all kinds of personal backgrounds, and with diverse sexual and gender orientations.
Specialized training
I am taking ongoing training in body-oriented psychotherapy. These approaches to psychotherapy include a refined understanding of the role of the body in psychological development and functioning. Body psychotherapies are becoming widely recognized as valuable in several areas of treatment, particularly for trauma and PTSD (following accidents, natural disaster, assault, abuse, or other violence or horror).
Note: Body psychotherapy is not massage or physical manipulation. It does not require the use of touch.
I have completed training in:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Level I (2010):
EMDR Institute - Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for Attachment, Development and Trauma (Level II) (2008-2010):
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute - Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Trauma (Level I) (2006):
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute - Bodynamic Treatment of Shock Trauma and PTSD (2003):
Bodynamic Institute International - Bodynamic Foundation Training (2002):
Bodynamic Institute Canada
I also have professional training in:
- Dispute Resolution (1996):
University of Victoria, Institute for Dispute Resolution
Certifications and memberships
- Registered Clincal Counsellor (RCC) with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors