Practice information:

As my client, your well-being will always be my guiding focus.  In the safety of counselling, you will be valued, respected and listened to.  Like the roots below affecting the tree above, the inner worlds of your mind and body affect the outer aspects of your lives.  Guided by these values, therapy at Tree Roots Counselling provides a safe place to restore balance to your inner and outer worlds.  

Working with Individuals and Couples

When life gets overwhelming, you cope by over or under reacting with fight, flight, or freeze.  These stress responses, if unaddressed, can impact your daily life and relations with others.  Once there to help you, these short-term coping strategies can become stuck habits that work against you. The more you protect, the harder it is to connect.  To restore functioning and strengthen relationships, we will reframe how your coping strategies work for and against you. 

We can begin to make sense of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.  You can learn new ways to be seen and accepted.  You can learn new ways to feel safe and secure.  This new awareness is the source for resilience and growth.  In couple therapy, safety is restored in your relationship to build more trust and connection.  Partners can become emotionally more accessible, responsive and engaged with each other.

• Instead of isolation, power struggle, or anxious mistrust, secure bonds can be cultivated.
• Instead of being stuck as an unwitting creator and victim of negative cycles, new patterns can be created

Working with Parents and Families

I work with parents and families to help them understand the meaning behind their child or teen’s behaviour.  Parents can shift from:

• Reacting to short-term problems to
• Responding to long-term relationship needs

From reactivity to receptivity, parents learn strategies to be present and respond to the emotional and developmental needs of their child or teen.  Meaningful change begins to happen with practical tools to understand and manage behaviour–a real shift in the trajectory of your relationship.  Healthier connections take shape and brains can be rewired to develop more secure attachment.  In cases where there is separation or divorce, parents can learn to respectfully co-parent to raise resilient and self-regulated children who will thrive. 

I live in Vancouver with my wife and three kids.  Please contact me for a free 15 minute intake or attend one of my parenting workshops.