Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here.

I’m a counsellor, educator, and researcher, and my work centres on how emotional experience shapes us over the course of our lives.

I’ve spent over 25 years working in education and studying human development. I’m also trained as a registered clinical counsellor and hold a background in fine arts, which continues to influence how I understand the role of creativity in emotional and psychological life.

My clinical work is grounded in experiential therapy, with training in AEDP and Coherence Therapy. In our sessions, we often work with ordinary, day-to-day experiences—gently revisiting and exploring them to access the emotional patterns that shape how we feel, think, and relate to others.

Much of my research looks at how early and formative experiences, including trauma, become held in emotional memory—and how real change becomes possible when those experiences are engaged more directly, rather than only talked about.

Alongside my clinical work, I’ve spent many years studying human development across the lifespan. I’m especially interested in how emotional, relational, and imaginative processes shape learning, identity, and growth.

I’m also the founder of the New Adult Learning Institute, where I develop programs that bring together philosophy, neuroscience, education, artistic practice, and contemplative inquiry to support adult learning and meaningful self-development.

At the heart of my work is a simple understanding: meaningful change becomes possible when emotional experience is met directly, within a thoughtful and supportive relationship.

Outside of my work, I enjoy tending my garden, working with herbs, reading, playing piano, and spending time in the forests of the Cowichan Valley, where Havenwood is located.