ABOUT
Hey there, curious one….
I’m so glad you want to find out more about who I am, why I do what I do, and how I do it.
I’m a Psychotherapist and Mindful Living Coach, which simply means that I help people from all walks of life to navigate the challenges, uncertainties and complexities of being human.
Over the years, I have helped a broad range of adult clients struggling with anxiety and depression caused by grief, loss, betrayal, relationship challenges , step-parenting dynamics and blended family issues .
I also work a lot with clients suffering from shame, stuckness, numbness and stagnation that are often the painful lingering effects of childhood trauma including sexual abuse, parental abandonment, paternal fraud and emotional neglect.
My time is currently split between seeing clients in my own private practice as well as those I see at Teahouse Therapy Jamaica.
I love what I do. And I am deeply committed to helping clients who are ready to end their suffering and transform their lives.
My journey all started from pain and suffering many years ago…
I was unfulfilled in my job in Sales & Marketing in Jamaica and desperately yearning for more freedom and meaning.
One day, my boss hurt her back while scrambling to get under a desk during a scary earth tremor. Her pain led her to seek massage therapy and my curiosity led me to ask her about her treatments, which in turn led to my serendipitous enrollment in an introductory massage course beginning that same day.
Not long after, I quit my job to pursue massage therapy full time – studying Clinical Massage Therapy for a year in Florida, and attending countless workshops and trainings in different bodywork modalities all over the world.
Once I started seeing clients, I discovered that many of the people who came to me for relief of physical pain also suffered from a lot of stress and emotional pain.
This then led me on the journey of becoming a trained and licensed Psychologist . I have a BSc in Psychology from Florida International University where I graduated Summa Cum Laude and a MSc in Clinical Psychology with Distinction from the University of the West Indies.
Along that journey, dealing with my mother’s death led to me becoming a Certified Yoga Teacher after I discovered that yoga facilitated the release of my tears and grief in a way that talking about it didn’t quite seem to. Some years later, emotional distress over a failing relationship led me to my very first Silent Retreat where I was asked a simple question that profoundly changed my relationship to my thoughts and emotions and which led to me becoming a Certified Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher.
My ongoing learning continues to this day. Some of the post-graduate trainings and teachings that currently inform my therapy approach include:
- Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
- Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Gottman’s Couples and Relationship Counselling
- Complex Trauma and the Legacy of Trauma
I am a therapist, but most importantly, I am human.
As such, I bring my full authentic self into each session with my clients.
Because I know what it is like to be on the other side (yes, therapists also have their own therapists and in fact, it’s really important that they do), I have profound respect for each client who shows up courageously willing and ready to begin the sometimes uncomfortable, vulnerable work of introspection, feeling and transformation. As such, my guiding mantra is “compassionate curiosity, not condemnation”.
If you are tired of struggling to feel better than you currently do, or if you’re tired of feeling stuck, confused and emotionally overwhelmed or numb, then you’re in the right place.
I am fascinated by emotions and neuroscience and the inherent wisdom and honesty of the human body which really doesn’t know how to lie, and which is relentlessly committed to using whatever means necessary to grab our attention whenever we play the “lets pretend we are okay when we really aren’t” game.
I am especially good at introducing clients to the intriguing world of emotional intelligence and for making and holding space for the less preferred but hugely important emotions of sadness, anger, disgust and fear that clients are often frightened, embarrassed and ashamed of feeling.
I am also really really good at helping others discover and celebrate the hidden treasures buried beneath the sometimes ugly, unattractive and repugnant packaging of life’s experiences.
