Hello, I’m Rachel and in the final stretch of the Master’s of Psychotherapy and Spirituality program at St. Stephen’s College on the U of A campus.
Sometimes life feels like it has gotten all knotted up, heavy, or overwhelming. Maybe you’ve “tried therapy” before or perhaps had a bad or hurtful experience. It takes a lot of courage to reach out again, and I respect that. My job is to be there with you for a time, so what feels like a lot to carry isn’t so much to hold alone. I care about you finding a therapist that feels like the right “fit” for you. This is a space where your whole self is welcome, unfiltered and unmasked.
You may not have a clear sense of what you need or want right now, and that’s okay. Therapy can be a space to slow down, get curious about what feels disconnected, and explore what feels meaningful, authentic, and accessible for you.
Life experiences, relationships, and environments can leave us out of alignment, like a joint that’s out of place and causes pain or discomfort. In our work together, I pay attention to where things feel stuck or disconnected and how to bring those parts back into conversation with each other.
People come to therapy for all kinds of reasons (trauma, grief, burnout, identity exploration, questions of meaning and belief, neurodivergence, or life transitions), but often what’s underneath is feeling stuck, disconnected, or like something just isn’t working anymore. That’s enough to start with.
My approach is warm, grounded, and trauma-informed. I draw on person-centred, existential, somatic, and narrative methods, with a focus on making space to sit with difficult questions rather than rushing toward solutions. When helpful, I also draw on ACT and DBT skills to support meaning-making, values, and day-to-day emotion management. These approaches support the same goal, understanding internal patterns, reconnecting with yourself, and moving toward change that feels integrated and meaningful.
I’ve taken a few detours in life to get here and each has shaped how I show up as a therapist. From community outreach to corporate finance management, I’ve seen institutions and systems from multiple perspectives. I’ve also been an ESL teacher for over 20 years, working both in South Korea and alongside newcomers here in Canada. Witnessing my students’ resilience and courage as they navigate systems and spaces not designed for them is part of what led me to this work. As a queer and ADHD therapist, navigating structures and systems that weren’t built with me in mind shapes both who I am and how I work.
Outside of the therapy room, you’ll find me spending time with my wife and our two chaos-gremlins (cats, obviously). I’m also never far from some tea or a notebook for sketching random writing, poetry, or line art and architecture. I love film, cinematography, and photography, and I am fascinated by space, history, music, LOTR, and the connection between humans and technology.
