Healing is not a straight path—it’s a deep, unfolding journey. Over the past 11 years, I have specialized in trauma recovery, accumulating more than 3,000 client hours and over 4,000 hours of formal education and professional development with globally recognized trauma experts. My work weaves together experiential learning, rigorous professional training, and a commitment to lifelong growth. Rooted in systemic approaches and expanded through body-based and evidence-based practices, my practice today reflects a steady, evolving dedication to supporting profound healing.
I am a registered Master Therapeutic Counsellor with the Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada (ACCT), a designation that reflects the professional depth and ethical standards I maintain in my work. At this level, experience becomes leadership. As an MTC, a counsellor must have been an accredited counselling professional for at least five years, with a minimum of 1,000 hours of client sessions. MTCs bring wisdom, presence, and a deep well of insight to their work. Many go on to mentor others, contribute to the profession, and continue their own learning with humility and curiosity. Furthermore, I am a counselling therapist with the Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (ACTA) and a certified coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
My counselling services are available to clients in Canada, while my trauma coaching services draw on this same expertise and are available to clients worldwide.
Trauma-informed care recognizes the vital role of peer support, particularly in complex trauma recovery. My lived experience informs my work: in 2014, I published a memoir about my healing journey, a project that deepened my understanding of resilience, authenticity, and the transformative power of sharing our stories. I’ve lived healing from childhood trauma, systemic oppression, and the harm caused by traditional mental health systems—and this lived experience, combined with my professional expertise, shapes everything I offer.
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Recipient, GHP Award for Social Justice in Trauma Therapy Advocate, 2025
Trauma Demystified Podcast Host of Trauma Demystified, where I explore trauma recovery, healing modalities, and anti-oppressive approaches to mental health. The podcast makes trauma knowledge accessible to survivors, practitioners, and anyone seeking to understand healing beyond clinical jargon.
Supporting healing is like a tree—it needs a strong foundation to grow and flourish over time. With continuous learning, practice, and reflection, the tree develops more branches, offering clients access to the best practices in trauma recovery.
Combining these deep roots and expanding branches allows me to offer a unique, integrative approach to healing. Whether through systemic work, body-based modalities, or evidence-based techniques like EMDR and Trauma-focused IFS-informed parts work, my approach is rooted in gentleness with accountability, authenticity, and the belief that true recovery happens when we engage the whole self—mind, body, emotions and our essence.
Over the past decade, I’ve invested more than 1,200 hours in professional development in trauma recovery, learning from globally recognized leaders and evidence-informed programs. These trainings have enriched my ability to support individuals healing from complex trauma, attachment wounds, and systemic oppression.
These trainings span somatic, relational, and parts-based approaches to trauma, allowing me to meet clients where they are—with skill, gentleness and cultural humility.
These programs have deepened my understanding of the intricate relationship between the mind, body, and emotions, allowing me to offer a truly integrative approach to healing trauma and adversity
My foundational training in systemic constellations, storytelling, and systemic coaching in Europe profoundly shaped my approach to trauma recovery. Since relocating to Canada, I have expanded my expertise, further strengthening my ability to provide culturally respectful services that are in harmony with my roots and values.
The Addictions Diploma (810 hours) deepened my understanding of the close relationship between addictive behaviours and trauma. This two-year program included training in decolonization, Indigenous cultures, relapse prevention, growth along the human lifespan, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
The Postgraduate Certificate in Health and Human Services (450 hours) provided valuable knowledge in program development, power dynamics, social determinants of health, and social action. This training deepened my understanding of how systems of power influence health and well-being, equipping me with the tools to develop and deliver services that are both effective and rooted in anti-oppressive principles.
I chose to pursue these programs at Bow Valley College because they strongly emphasize Indigenous knowledge systems and community-centred healing. The curriculum acknowledged the harms of colonial approaches to mental health and prioritized decolonizing practices in recovery. This training deepened my commitment to providing culturally respectful and socially conscious support, grounded in lived experience and systemic awareness. These insights guide my work, ensuring I approach healing from a perspective that challenges injustice while fostering empowerment and resilience.
My training at the Vancouver College of Counselling Therapy provided a comprehensive foundation in core counselling skills, ethical practice, and therapeutic models. It emphasized the importance of the therapeutic relationship and the ongoing personal growth required to be an effective counsellor. The program also included focused training in sexual abuse counselling, Gestalt therapy, and group facilitation, which continue to inform my integrative approach to trauma recovery. A major factor in why I chose this program was that it emphasized the combination of theoretical expertise and responsibility for growth for mental health professionals.
Shiatsu is a Japanese form of acupressure. Since trauma is stored in our body, the diploma allowed me to deepen my understanding of the connection between mind and body—an essential foundation for somatic trauma work.
My journey began with systemic and generational trauma work, which continues to shape my practice today. I completed two years of Family Constellations training (390 hours total). The first year, I trained with Joan Garriga at the Institute Gestalt in Barcelona, Spain. His teachings laid the groundwork for understanding how unresolved family dynamics influence emotional well-being, and reconnecting with the body and inner child work.
The second year, I trained at Beth Constelaciones with Angela Aparicio Rey and Sylvia Kabelka, further refining my systemic healing and trauma recovery skills. I feel immense gratitude for their training since they emphasized the mental health professional’s personal responsibility to grow—a principle I carry with me in every aspect of my practice, which isn’t necessarily part of the counselling world (at least in my experience). Furthermore, they acknowledged the client’s systemic context. They laid the foundation for my perspective on anti-oppressive practices and providing a stigma-free, non-pathologizing space for clients (an essential ingredient for healthy trauma counselling or trauma coaching). Furthermore, their approach integrated inner child work, similar to parts work therapy.
I also completed training in Storytelling, Metaphors and Life Script (36 hours) (Cuentos, Metáforas y Guión de la vida) at the Institute Gestalt in Barcelona. Additionally, I attended the ICF-certified Story Coach Program (30 hrs) by Story-Coach Inc. . Reclaiming our stories and our voices is often a vital part for people who have experienced childhood trauma or are targeted by oppression.
Furthermore, I hold a certificate in Organizational and Relationship Systems Coaching by CRR Global (82 hours) and a diploma in Coaching (Experto en Coaching) from Instituto Europeo de Coaching (210 hours). Both programs integrated parts work therapy and supported the inner process of personal growth. Since coaching is very focused on being client-led and client empowering, it provides an optimal foundation to create a healthy therapeutic relationship with people who have experienced trauma.
My healing journey began over 30 years ago and included years of intensive work that culminated in publishing my memoir in 2014. That milestone marked the integration of my childhood trauma recovery. Later, I navigated additional healing from systemic trauma I experienced as an adult, deepening my understanding of how oppression impacts the nervous system while drawing on the trauma healing modalities I practice, such as EMDR and parts work.
In my Family Constellations training, my teachers were adamant that we can only support our clients in healing their pain if we can be with our own pain. This principle—that practitioners must engage in their healing work—is also central to the coaching field. I continue to apply the trauma healing modalities I offer to clients personally. This practice keeps me grounded, regulated, and able to hold space for others’ pain without being overwhelmed or activated. This layered lived experience—combined with my professional training—informs everything I offer clients.
I chose to change careers after I had gone through this intense and liberating healing journey from childhood trauma. I felt passionate about trauma recovery because my healing journey showed me that healing was possible—something that I couldn’t believe was possible when I first started it. My trauma recovery also helped me to be a better professional since other people’s trauma does not activate me, and I am well able to regulate my nervous system. Since I also experienced harm from therapists during my recovery, it also taught me about the immense responsibility that comes with being a mental health professional working with trauma.
I hold a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany. This field taught me discipline, critical thinking, and perseverance. My early career in product management further developed my people management skills, managing cultural diversity, project management expertise, organizational change management capabilities, and systems thinking—all of which continue to shape how I approach healing and trauma recovery today.
These foundations have given me a deep understanding of complex systems, resilience under pressure, and the importance of guiding people through transformative processes—skills that naturally complement my extensive training in trauma recovery, counselling approaches, and systemic healing.
