While our lives get painfully confusing,
Our minds need to stay clear.
Welcome!
I want to meet you in your lived reality—not with platitudes, but with genuine understanding and competence.
My practice is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). While some criticize CBT for its alleged coldness and disinterest in deeper concerns, rest assured: CBT can address both immediate symptoms and the deeper sources of your distress.
I believe that therapeutic expertise is only effective when delivered through a warm, human connection. When you arrive, I invite you to pour a cup of tea or coffee, grab a blanket, and settle into a comfy couch. My role is to provide the clinical skills you need to change within the warmth and stability you need to heal.
Take some time to explore this site. It is designed to not only introduce my practice, but also to serve as a resource hub for understanding CBT, mood and anxiety disorders, and the various hurdles life can throw our way.
Joanna
What to Expect in Therapy
Our first meeting is used to gather as much information as possible about your history, problems and strengths, as well as things that are important to you. You are likely going to be given some tests or monitoring sheets to complete before the next appointment. This is necessary for us to better understand the mechanisms that maintain your difficulties and to create a working model of what is happening in your life.
Obviously, each person is different, with different life philosophies and aspirations. Yet many of us get stuck in self-reinforcing cycles of triggers, thoughts, emotions, actions and outcomes that all add up to create our lived reality.
Therapy is about ensuring that your mind works for you and not against you.
My Background
I am a Registered Social Worker (MSW, RSW) and a cognitive behaviour therapist in private practice with over 25 years of clinical experience. Prior to opening my practice, I worked as a crisis worker in the ER, a social worker with an assertive community treatment team, and a therapist with hospital-affiliated programs. I also became involved with the hospital bioethics program, which exposed me firsthand to dilemmas related to making life-impacting decisions in less-than-optimal circumstances.
I am a Diplomate with the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies and possess certification with the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies. I opened Village Centre CBT to provide high-quality therapy in a relaxed setting where we can work at a pace that feels comfortable. I specialize in CBT and have solid experience in dealing with stress, depression, and anxiety disorders, as well as OCD and PTSD. I am also very interested in life transition issues such as retirement, adjustment to serious illness, bereavement, life post-divorce, or dealing with moral residue when the choices available to us do not fully align with our own moral principles.
What We Can Help You With
(Click on links below to learn how CBT is used to address many different issues)
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Concepts and Clichés
Concepts and Clichés is a blog dedicated to exploring the real-world application of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Here, you’ll find accessible explanations of CBT principles, common misconceptions (“clichés”), and how these concepts can be used to manage painful symptoms and deal with life’s challenges.
