Individual counselling helps people who are struggling with things like limiting beliefs, emotional highs and lows, and relationships. Through individual counselling, I work with you one-on-one to get to the root of what’s concerning you and help you figure out how to move forward. We will collaboratively create an individualized treatment plan together to meet your unique needs.

I specialize in working with people who are at an impasse in life; a fork in the road. Whether you’re a young adult trying to figure out who you want to be or an older adult rediscovering who you are after big life changes, I will help you find a meaningful way forward on the road of life.

A big life transition usually means some kind of loss: of a situation, of relationships, of life plans, maybe even of who you thought you were. I can help you to find confidence in and awareness of who you’ve become as a result of your life circumstances, and find the strengths that have emerged because of them.

I use a variety of therapeutic approaches with my individual counselling clients, but what’s most important to me is making sure that our work together is a good fit for you. I will always keep the conversation open with you to make sure that the approaches that I use are working for your unique needs.

Some of the populations and life challenges that I specialize in working with in individual counselling are:

• Counselling for young adults and 20-somethings: Being in your 20s is hard. I help you to understand your story, find the “real you”, form your own identity, and achieve a deep sense of self-worth.
• Life Transitions: I help you to process changes in your life and find a healthy way forward. Life transitions can disrupt our sense of identity; I can help you rewrite your story.
• Interpersonal relationships: Together, we can create alternative ways of seeing or behaving to have better relationships in your life.
• Grief Counselling: Whether it’s a person you’ve lost or you’re grieving a big change in your life, I can help you process the loss and find a way to move forward with it.
• Anxiety, Stress, and Depression: We will get to the root causes of your anxiety or depression together and figure out how you can better manage these big feelings. I use CBT-based approaches to help you change your thoughts (and therefore, your feelings).
• Stuckness: Sometimes, life is at an impasse, and we feel paralyzed. We have no idea what our next step should be. I can help you get unstuck so that you can move forward on the path.
• Personal growth: You don’t need to wait for something to go wrong to start counselling. I help clients through the process of self-discovery and personal growth.

Contact me to schedule a free consultation for individual counselling your unique needs.

When you first got together with your partner, you were so in love and couldn’t imagine anything ever going wrong. Now, you’re desperately missing that closeness and intimacy that you two once shared. Whether a betrayal has happened in the relationship or the two of you have simply drifted apart over time, couples counselling can help.

Every couple struggles. Counselling with Jessica
provides couples counselling to help you regain the
spark in your relationship.

I provide couples counselling for any couple who is struggling in their relationship. Using the Gottman Method for Couples Therapy, I will help you and your partner to improve your relationship in three main areas: friendship, conflict management, and creation of shared meaning.

This research-informed approach to couples counselling is based on a philosophy called the Sound Relationship House. The theory says that there are nine components to a healthy relationship. Through the process of couples therapy, I will help you and your partner to work on those nine components so that you can recover the happiness that once defined your relationship.

If you and your partner are looking for a neutral and empathetic third party to help you resolve the problems in your relationship, Contact me for a free consultation.

Jessica has appeared as a subject matter speaker and mental health expert on CBC Radio One, CBC Radio Ottawa Morning, and A Channel Ottawa News, as well as at various mental health conferences.

Some of the topics that Jessica can address through speaking or media engagements include:

• the impact of transitions or changes (such as the pandemic) on mental health
• how taking a realistic approach to life can reduce anxiety and increase life satisfaction
• how to have supportive conversations with your loved ones
• how to increase life satisfaction by operating from a place of strength as opposed to fear
• how to use story to understand your life choices and patterns

Contact me for more information about the topics I can address as a subject matter expert in the mental health field.

Before she was a psychotherapist, Jessica worked in education as a secondary school teacher, then as an adult trainer and instructional designer for large organizations in the health field. She combines her subject matter expertise in mental health and training/education to consult and co-create on projects that build mental health awareness training tools.

Jessica focuses on creating impactful learning experiences that deconstruct the topic of mental health to increase awareness. She creates projects that address attitudinal change in learners which can lead to positive behavioural change.

Currently Jessica supports My Workplace Health, a national consultancy company helping to bring awareness to organizations about psychological health and safety. Jessica is a  Psychological Health and Safety Specialist delivering workshops, presentations, training and assessments all over Canada for large organizations. For more information on MWH link here

Contact Jessica for more information related to her consulting work in the mental health training field.

Samples of past projects Jessica has consulted on include:

The Supportive Conversation Library

Working alongside the team at Canada Life’s Workplace Strategies for Mental Health division, Jessica helped to create a series that supports people in having effective supportive conversations with their loved ones. The series focuses on 15 topics that include noticing if someone appears stressed or sad or is having problems with drinking. Jessica provided clear guidelines on how to engage in a supportive conversation.

IncludeMe™

Jessica served as the co-author, subject matter expert, and advisor for IncludeMe™, a gamified scenario-based training program for managers about workplace mental health. The training helps managers better understand the topic of mental health, notice when someone might be in distress, and provides clear direction on how to support their employees’ mental health and wellness.

Children’s Book on the Impact of the Pandemic

Jessica is the co-author and subject matter expert on “Project: Kids, Let’s Be Superheroes.”

This children’s book covers topics including stress, anxiety, loss, and grief that children might be experiencing during the pandemic. All of these emotions are consistent with feelings we have when dealing with unexpected changes in our lives. Jessica informed on the storyline themes to address the impact of the pandemic on children’s mental health, and created resources (conversation starters) after each chapter to help parents support their children.