Biography
My name is Amanda (she/her) and I am a Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in relational therapy as I work with individuals, couples, and children or youth with their families or caregivers. My belief is that challenges lie within the relationship between individuals, or within the relationship one has with the problems they are experiencing.
I am trained as a systemic practitioner through the accredited Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy program
at the University of Winnipeg, and an associate member of the Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Throughout my career in the mental health field, I have been privileged to work with people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds in various stages of life who have experienced a wide range of personal, couple, or family challenges.
My Practice
There are many reasons people come to therapy such as seeking support while going through a particular hardship, or desiring to make a change in the patterns one sees playing out in their life or relationship(s). I believe people in general do the best they can with what they know from their own or other’s experiences using the resources that are accessible to them, and change exists when we learn how to engage differently with ourselves and the world around us. My role as a psychotherapist is to co-create a trusting, respectful, and non-judgmental space that fosters curiosity and self-exploration of the fears or barriers that stand in the way of making changes, as well as holding space for my clients to be vulnerable while experiencing empathy and acceptance.
Although my practice is rooted in Attachment Theory, I use an integrative theoretical approach to fit the unique needs and preferences of my clients, some of which include Narrative Therapy, CBT, DBT, Family Systems Theory, and Emotionally-Focused Therapy. Highlights of my professional experience include but are not limited to helping my clients process and overcome traumatic experiences and intergenerational trauma, identity issues, sexuality, monogamous relationships and non-monogamy, child welfare, grief and loss, addictions, anger management, anxiety, depression, mental health symptom management, and personality disorders. I position my clients as the experts of their own lives and I am dedicated to educating myself in support of my client’s personal healing journeys, in addition to the expertise and creativity I bring as an attachment-focused therapist.