My values in my personal and professional life include building community, authentic and vulnerable relationships, building self-awareness and self-reflection, as well as building a more compassionate world one person at a time. Therapy and yoga do not only benefit the individual cared for, but all those around them. I believe in the importance of integrating the body and the mind to help connect to this more authentic self. I also believe in deconstructing the views that have been placed upon us without our knowledge, employing a decolonial lens to therapy. My approach to counselling, as well as yoga teaching is founded in curiosity, compassion and care. Originally trained in Psychodynamic and Humanistic-Existential Therapy, I am further inspired by creative and embodied approaches (Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor and The Hakomi Method, as well as Psychodrama and Drama Therapy). It can be said that many modern day psychotherapy approaches were initially started from philosophers and psychological thinkers across the world, such as Aristotle in Ancient Greece, Patanjali (the recorded founder of Yoga) in India, Rumi (the mystic poet and philosopher) in Persia and many more. I like to combine the original teachings of Yoga, as well as Buddhism within my practice, acknowledging the history of psychotherapy and healing methods beyond the Westernized “origins”. By combining the worlds knowledge, we can come together to blend the healing practices that best work for you.

My approach to healing and therapy supports the organic unfolding of your own inner wisdom, I believe it is important to develop a unique treatment plan that reflects your goals. A passionate Yoga instructor, Psychologist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, I have seen first hand the intricate connection between the body and the mind and the power of body-focused approaches to healing. Here are a detailed description of the therapeutic approaches I integrate in my practice:

Somatic Experiencing: Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma and other stress disorders; deals with traumatic shock, Post Traumatic Disorder disorders, the wounds of emotional, developmental and attachment trauma. I use this approach particularly with dissociation and numbness, helping clients to reconnect back to their bodies and the present moment, as well as discharge the accumulated traumas physiologically present in the body.

Somatic Sexuality Healing: I believe that our societies have completely disconnected us from our pelvic regions, and either caused avoidance and shame around sexuality, or over identification with sexuality that is not our own. My approach to healing sexuality shame and helping clients reconnect to their authentic sexual selves involves shedding the personal, cultural and societal traumas that have caused us to shutdown, and slowly, in a gentle way, reconnect to your true, authentic desires, whether that be your yeses or your nos.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) is a therapeutic modality for trauma and attachment issues. SP welcomes the body as an integral source of information which can guide resourcing and the accessing and processing of challenging, traumatic, and developmental experience. SP is a holistic approach that includes somatic, emotional, and cognitive processing and integration. It is based on 6 principles: Organicity, Unity, Non-Violence, Mind/Body/Spirit Holism, Mindfulness/Presence, Relational Alchemy.

Hakomi: Hakomi is a mindfulness-based, body-centered psychotherapy that utilizes non-violence, gentleness, compassion, and mindfulness to facilitate self-discovery and healing. It helps individuals explore and transform core beliefs, often rooted in past experiences, that may be causing suffering in their present lives. The name itself, derived from a Hopi phrase, reflects the method's focus on understanding one's relationship to "the many realms" or, colloquially, "who you are". 

Humanistic Psychotherapy:This type of therapy emphasizes the therapeutic relationship, authenticity and compassion, helping you connect to your authentic true self, whilst also building relationships around you that are in connection with your values. I use this approach by using our therapeutic relationship as a laboratory to explore and experiment with different ways of communicating interpersonally to build the kinds of relationships you want in your life with yourself and others.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy:In Psychodynamic therapies, we reflect on the unconscious and bring to consciousness what you may not be aware of, whilst also reflecting on how the past shows up in the present.

Schema Therapy:a therapeutic approach that integrates elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, and emotion-focused therapy (Gestalt and psychodrama), specifically designed to address long-standing patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that can cause difficulties in life. It focuses on identifying and changing "early maladaptive schemas," which are deeply ingrained, self-defeating patterns developed in childhood, often as a result of unmet core emotional needs. 

Yoga: Yoga means union. It is comprised of 3 parts: Asanas (the postures), Pranayama (the breath work), and Meditation (the concentration on the breath in stillness, as an observer to our thoughts, feelings and experiences). It also centers on the principle of Ahimsa (non-violence) towards oneself and others around us, similar to when we talk about self-compassion in the West.

Buddhist psychotherapy: Psychotherapy that stems from Buddhism, which centers on the Four Noble Truths (the origins of suffering, the acceptance of it, and the cessation of it), non-self, compassion towards self and others, and the importance of meditation and observation to alleviate suffering.

I work within and am committed to an anti-oppressive framework, gender affirming and sex and body positive work, as well as how structural inequalities and discriminations affect certain groups.