Practice Information
I approach counselling with a warm, grounded presence and a strong commitment to social justice and anti-oppressive practice. I honour the diversity, uniqueness, and individuality of each person I work with. With a deep understanding of intergenerational trauma transmission mechanisms, psychiatric diagnoses, and personality dynamics. I integrate my background as a kinesiologist and holistic wellness coach into an approach rooted in psychodynamic insight and informed by cognitive behavioural thought tracking principles.
I am completing post-graduate studies in psychoanalytic psychotherapy in addition to infant-parent psychotherapy, building on my three-year clinical counselling degree. I have advanced training in supporting clients through experiences such as psychosis, intergenerational conflict, identity reorganization, and the complex dynamics of living with or leaving abusive partners. I also support those navigating a range of psychiatric symptoms, including depression, anxiety, panic, dissociation, ADHD, and borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality traits, as well as chronic pain.
I find I am most effective in alleviating depression and panic, but also focus predominantly on ADHD and bipolar management. I have special interest and competency in working with and managing psychoses.
I specialize in the application of depth psychology to the alleviation of attachment and developmental wounds. Passionate about de-stigmatizing life's struggles, Marcus works to help clients understand patterns of self-destruction or negative self-fulfilling prophecy and and recognize and harness the strengths they possess instead. By fostering a therapeutic relationship built on trust, honesty, and authenticity, he supports clients in connecting with their deeper experiences and understanding how their attachment patterns and historical narratives may be impacting relationships and activities of daily functioning in a comforting and supportive manner.
Clinically and theoretically I align most with the clinical styles of Donald Winnicott, Alfred Adler, Jaques Lacan, Menaline Klein, Sigmund Freud, the object relationist Otto Kernberg and the identity theorist Heinz Kohut. I also subscribe to German constellation theory and constellation dynamics, the group dynamics thinking of Wilfred Bion when approaching interpersonal work, and British contemporaries like Christopher Bollas, and more recently neuropsychologists Jaak Panksepp and Mark Solmes.
When working with couples my approach is centred in communication facilitation, defense analysis, and turning towards; fostering emotional attunement, collaboration, and insight into one another's emotional words when approaching conflict and change.
In addition to practicing psychoanalytic psychotherapy, Marcus is also a member of the international neuropsychoanalytic society and Vancouver journal club, bridging neuroscience and psychotherapy together within Freud's original framework of re-regulating brain systems with talk therapy.
I have a 3-session intake which can be completed in 60 or 90 minute intake sessions, and practice higher frequency therapy, once or twice a week. I do offer less intensive once every 2 week or monthly frameworks, but prefer to start with a higher frequency to build motivation and inertia towards your goals throughout the overall process.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a long-term therapy, meaning both that it works across the lifespan outside of sessions, but also that it is most effective when committed to for a longer period of time (starting with 6 months).
If you are in crisis about a specific issue, I do offer 8-14 session specific series of work. Some examples of what this might look like include reframing a depressive coping style, re-regulating sleep, or alleviating panic episodes, where sessions focus more on resources and exercises, rather than long-term therapeutic re-integration, reprocessing or consolidation of experiences in a way that alleviates symptoms from daily interactions.
Outside of clinical work Marcus loves running, hiking, tennis and pilates. He is an avid reader who loves a good fantasy novel.
Specialized Training
- Neuropsychoanalysis
- ECC/DCCS International Case Conference - Infant-Parent Psychotherapy - 36 Hour Training for Analysts and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists
- ATPPP Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy - 100-hours of specific case supervision, 300 hours case seminar, personal analysis
- Level 2 Complex Trauma Practitioner - highest non-supervisory training accredidation in complex trauma management and approaches
- Level 1 EFT and EFIT emotion focussed therapies, training completed with Dr. Sue Johnson and Leanne Campbell
- Shame Informed Therapy Certificate - 60-Hour training