Counselling

“I no longer want to be resilient. I don’t want to simply bounce back from things that hurt me or cause me pain. Bouncing back means returning to where I stood before.

Instead, I want to go beyond the hurts and the darkness.

The first step toward genuine healing from my mental illness was when I came to trust and believe that there was a beyond.

Now I reach for beyond every day, in every encounter, in every circumstance. I seek to go where I have never traveled.

I wake with the vision of a purposeful day, filled with adventure and teachings. Then I take the first step and try to make it beyond.” ~ Richard Wagamese

Beyond Vitality is moving from simply being resilient to actively seeking a new and better future, or "Beyond".

Bouncing back from trauma - resilience - only returns us to our previous state, leaving us vulnerable to being hurt in the same ways again. Instead, we invite a more transformative path — one that embraces trauma as a catalyst for deep healing and lasting growth.

Integrative Healing for Mind, Body & Spirit

I am a root cause, Trauma-Informed Counsellor, Life Coach, and Holistic Nutritionist specializing in integrative mental health for Highly Sensitive Women. My approach is very much holistic, addressing the underlying causes of mental health and wellbeing. I believe true healing happens when we nurture and nourish all aspects of the Self - mind, body and spirit.

My work is deeply informed by experiential therapies like Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Parts Work, Somatic Experiencing (SE), Polyvagal Theory (PVT), Psychonutrition and Behavioural Medicine (lifestyle). I value the wisdom of the body, nervous system regulation, and mind-body healing in combination with an understanding that we are not one single "self" but rather a system of parts, each with its own needs and wounds. When appropriate, I also weave in ancient wisdom and ritual into modern therapy, informed by my personal work and connection with indigenous cultures, shamanism, plant medicines and Nature-Based Therapy (NBT), creating a personalized healing experience that nourishes and integrates the four quadrants of health; mental, spiritual, emotional, physical. I am also trained in Psychedelic Preparation and Integration, providing a trauma-informed space for meaning-making and personal growth in “altered states for altered traits.” Beyond the above mentioned modalities, I am also Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) and Solution Focused Therapy informed.

With a broad knowledge base in various areas of integrative mental health, I tailor sessions to meet your individual needs, promoting optimal wellbeing and personal growth. I support you in navigating trauma by helping you connect with your self-energy and understand your internal parts. Through our work, you’ll uncover the unique stories within, learning to integrate these parts and heal from past wounds. This process empowers you to move forward with a renewed sense of purpose, balance, and inner peace.

Mental Health as Healthcare.

I view counselling as healthcare because our emotional and mental health directly influences our physical health and vice versa. Vitality is not just the absence of illness, but the natural flow of energy and aliveness within us, which can become diminished when parts of us carry burdens from the past. Unhealed experiences and protective parts can impact not only our emotions and thoughts, but also how our bodies feel and function. I believe that when we experience true safety, our system has an innate ability to heal, and from that place of safety, we can access a deeper wisdom that goes beyond the thinking mind. We take a deep dive into mental health's many psychological and physiological aspects. By gently supporting the mind, body, and spirit together, counselling helps release burdens from the past, restore connection and safety within, and rekindle vitality as an essential foundation for overall wellbeing.

What I Believe

You’re in control.

The truth is that only you can get you well. We all need time to validate our suffering, but then we need to step into a place of self-empowerment and sovereignty. By reclaiming responsibility for your health, transformation begins.

When you know better,
you do better.

Your body and mind were designed to be a self-repairing and self-regenerating system. Given the right tools and environment, the body can heal itself. Perfect and miraculous!

Suffering ends where meaning begins.

Health is not merely the absence of disease, it’s a meaningful life experience. By turning towards our symptoms, we can gain powerful insights that lead to deeper root cause healing.

It is more important to know the person who has the condition than it is to know the condition the person has. ~ Hippocrates

I am a Functional Holistic Nutritionist, and foremost, a mother. For 15 years, I’ve found joy in helping women care for their bodies naturally. My philosophy values food as medicine and traditional practices that root back to our ancestors who practiced whole medicine for the whole person, to get to the roots of dis-ease and bring about transformational levels of healing.

Compelling evidence suggests that humans thrive with exposure to nature, on many levels. Our nature “divorcement” has contributed to many of the physical and psychological health issues being faced today. My nature-centered approach is very effective in helping mothers and their families reclaim the vitality they have lost. I incorporate skills rooted in tradition, proven from thousands of years of clinical experience across the world.

It is only when we take personal responsibility that we can truly begin to be healed. Not one modality will heal us, but a multi-faceted approach will. Nutritionally dense food is the first and one of the most important healing steps to restoring our vitality.

Learn how to make changes that put you in control of how you feel every single day. I am here to inspire, educate and guide you into a new and exciting journey to restored vitality. My program and courses focus on small and gradual changes towards long-term and sustainable health. I want to show you that a healthy and holistic way of life is accessible, simple, and exciting!

Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food. ~ Hippocrates

FUNCTIONAL HOLISTIC NUTRITION

“Functional.” “Holistic.”
“Nutritionist.” “Dietician.”

These terms get tossed around, and while they’re all interrelated, they’re not synonymous. In my practice, I focus on “functional” and “holistic” nutrition, so I want to take the time to clarify what this means!

But first, it’s important to define WELLNESS.

Wellness - the intersection of mind, body, and spirit, and how these impact overall health.

And, HOLISTIC.

Holistic - derived from the Greek word holism meaning all, entire, total - it is the idea that all the properties of a given system - physical, biological, chemical, environmental, social, economic, mental, etc. cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone. The system as a whole determines collectively how the parts behave.

Holistic Nutrition:

A comprehensive system of healthcare that accentuates personal responsibility and a cooperative relationship between practitioner and client.
Education and empowerment - clients select their own personal wellness goals and are active participants in their own health journey. A good practitioner will educate and empower them, working together to restore their health.
Focus on wellness to achieve optimal health
Focus on foods and nutrients to nourish the body and help it thrive:

Poor nutrition can contribute to physical and emotional issues.
Balanced nutrition can nourish the body and support it in operating at its full potential.

Work includes addressing diet, lifestyle habits - like exercise and movement, mindfulness, relaxation and stress management, sunshine and nature, mindful mealtime, community, sleep hygiene, and reduction/elimination of toxins from the home and personal care routine) to improve personal health and wellbeing while pursuing chosen goals.

Functional Nutrition:

All of the above holistic nutrition principles.
Search for the root cause(s) of symptoms presented by the client.
May work in partnership with other health care providers to provide a comprehensive approach.
Diagnostic tools, including specialty labs (eg. functional labs), bioresonance analysis, kinesiology (muscle testing), etc are often incorporated into the understanding of root cause, and the functional nutritionist is looking for optimal ranges as opposed to disease state ranges (going beyond “My doctor said my labs look normal, but I still feel unwell.”).

Dietetics:

Practiced by a registered dietician, licensed by the state or province
Can diagnose, treat a subset of diseases and conditions
Often follow a food pyramid, food guide or governmental dietary guidelines, and funded associations (eg. Heart Association and Diabetes Association) guidelines for food consumption
Focus is on food, may not explore the impact of stress, environmental toxins, or other lifestyle factors that impact health and wellness
A similar dietary pattern may be applied to all clients based on their diagnosis of a labeled disease and treating its symptoms

My Functional Nutrition Practice:

Not beholden to a license, so not limited to only the dietary recommendations outlined by larger government-funded organizations that are not necessarily health-promoting
Sought out extensive training and credentialing in applied holistic nutrition, functional medicine, and herbalism plus ongoing continuing education
No diagnosing, treating, or curing disease, and instead focus is on overall wellness strategies to support clients in working towards resolving their symptoms
Weaving traditional and indigenous wisdom with evidence-based clinical nutrition and practical holistic healthcare tailored to a client’s unique bio-individuality based on both rapid relief and root cause analysis

Regardless of the provider that you choose, it is important to ask them about their educational background and additional training, as well as what to expect.

What I Do

As Certified Functional Holistic Nutritionist, my principal function is education regarding the benefits and health impact of optimal nutrition, balanced lifestyle, and all aspects relating to health.

I am qualified to devise personalized health programs that integrate and honour the combined aspects of an individual's life.

Your body was designed to be a self-repairing, self-regenerating system – if it is given the right environment. When we are overloaded with toxins, poor diet, high-stress levels, and lack of exercise, the body starts to show signs and symptoms. Symptoms are the body’s way of telling us that something is wrong, whether it is a digestive issue, weight gain, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, allergies, heart disease, or cancer. Very often we find that many of these symptoms stem from the same root issue.

Functional and holistic practitioners view all of this in a holistic, unified way. Instead of running tests to diagnose what you have, I dig into symptomatology and may run tests and evaluations to figure out why you have what you have. Once we understand the root cause(s) driving your health issues, we can use diet, lifestyle and other natural therapies to restore function to your body.

I help your body return to a state of homeostasis, by adding more of what it’s made from (biological building blocks like nutrients), and removing what doesn’t belong in it (like toxins and pathogenic organisms). I operate in a ‘client-centered’ model rather than a ‘disease-centered’ model of healthcare. As opposed to treating disease, I focus on restoring your vitality!

The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. ~ Thomas Edison