Do you offer virtual or in-person sessions?

I offer virtual sessions to people in Ontario, either over the phone or through video.

Do you take insurance?

Often the answer is yes. It depends on whether your insurance covers social work .If you’re not sure if your insurance plan covers counselling or therapy with an MSW/RSW, you can check under the extended health section of your companies website or their insurance brochure, or contact either your insurance provider or HR representative and ask.

Do you have a sliding scale?

Yes! I offer a sliding scale for a limited number of clients. The sliding scale is currently full. Updated: May 2026.

What is Internal Family Systems?

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a compassionate, evidence-based approach to therapy that helps people better understand and relate to the different “parts” of themselves.

Rather than seeing anxiety, inner criticism, perfectionism, people pleasing, shutdown, overwhelm, or emotional reactivity as flaws to get rid of, IFS understands these responses as protective parts that developed for important reasons — often to help us cope, stay safe, manage pain, or navigate difficult experiences.

IFS is based on the idea that we all have many different internal parts, as well as a core Self that is calm, grounded, curious, compassionate, and connected. In therapy, we work toward understanding these parts with curiosity rather than judgment, helping create more internal balance, self-trust, and emotional healing.

Many people find IFS especially helpful for:

• trauma and complex trauma

• anxiety and perfectionism

• people pleasing and overachieving

• emotional overwhelm

• neurodivergence, including ADHD and Autism

• shame and self-criticism

• feeling disconnected from yourself

• recurring relational patterns

IFS is not about “fixing” who you are — it is about developing a more compassionate relationship with yourself and understanding the protective strategies that may have helped you survive.

If you’d like to learn more, feel free to check out the ifs institute’s website

Can we still work on ADHD or autism burnout if I haven’t been diagnosed?

Absolutely! You don’t need to have a formal diagnosis for us to work with ADHD and Autism. I welcome self assessments as an integral part of discovering your neurotype.

Can IFS help with ADHD?

IFS therapy can be especially helpful for people with ADHD because it focuses on understanding internal experiences with curiosity rather than shame or “fixing.” Many people with ADHD develop protective patterns around overwhelm, procrastination, perfectionism, emotional sensitivity, or feeling “not good enough.”

IFS helps you explore these patterns compassionately and understand the different parts of you that may be trying to cope, stay productive, avoid failure, or manage emotional overwhelm. It can also support nervous system regulation, self-trust, emotional processing, and reducing the internal criticism that many ADHDers carry.

While IFS doesn’t “cure” ADHD, it can help people feel more connected to themselves, less stuck in shame cycles, and better able to navigate life in a way that feels sustainable and authentic.

What does high masking autism look like?

High masking autism refers to the ways some autistic people consciously or unconsciously hide, suppress, or compensate for their autistic traits in order to fit in socially, appear “functional,” or avoid judgment.

This can look like:

• carefully rehearsing conversations

• studying social rules intellectually

• forcing eye contact

• mirroring other people’s personalities or expressions

• constantly monitoring how you come across

• feeling exhausted after social interaction

• appearing highly capable while struggling internally

• chronic overthinking in relationships

• feeling like you are “performing” rather than naturally being yourself

Many high masking autistic adults don’t realize they’re autistic until later in life because they may appear socially skilled, successful in the eyes or mainstream society, or high achieving on the outside. Internally, though, masking can create chronic stress, burnout, anxiety, identity confusion, and disconnection from oneself.

What does neurodivergent burnout look like?

Neurodivergent burnout is a state of deep mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion that can happen when someone has spent a long time coping with chronic stress, masking, overstimulation, unmet support needs, or trying to function in environments that are not aligned with how their brain works.

It often goes beyond typical stress or burnout and can include:

• loss of baseline capacity to complete day to day tasks

• increased sensory sensitivity

• emotional overwhelm

• difficulty concentrating or communicating

• shutdowns or withdrawal

• exhaustion that rest alone doesn’t fix

• feeling disconnected from yourself

• reduced capacity for daily tasks

• increased anxiety, irritability, or hopelessness

Many neurodivergent people push themselves far beyond their limits for years before realizing how much energy masking, adapting, over performing, or surviving has required. Burnout is often a sign that the nervous system has been under strain for a very long time.

Why do high achievers burn out?

Many high achievers become disconnected from their limits because achievement can become tied to identity, safety, worth, or self-esteem.

Some people learn early in life that being productive, successful, helpful, capable, or emotionally “easy” earns approval, stability, or belonging. Over time, this can create patterns of chronic pressure, perfectionism, overfunctioning, and difficulty slowing down or recognizing personal needs.

High achievers are often highly self-aware and deeply responsible, but may struggle to notice exhaustion until they are already overwhelmed. Burnout can look like:

• emotional numbness

• anxiety or irritability

• loss of motivation

• difficulty concentrating

• feeling detached from yourself

• resentment or hopelessness

• exhaustion despite continuing to push through

For many people, burnout is not simply about doing too much — it is also about carrying too much internally for too long without enough support, rest, authenticity, or self-connection.

Is people pleasing a trauma response?

People pleasing can absolutely develop as a trauma response or survival strategy.

For many people, especially those who grew up in unpredictable, emotionally unsafe, critical, or high-conflict environments, learning to keep others happy may have helped create a sense of safety, connection, or stability.

People pleasing often develops from a deep need to avoid rejection, conflict, disappointment, abandonment, or emotional harm. It can involve:

• difficulty setting boundaries

• prioritizing others’ needs over your own

• fear of upsetting people

• overexplaining yourself

• chronic self-monitoring

• feeling responsible for others’ emotions

• losing connection with your own wants or needs

While these patterns may once have been protective, they can become exhausting over time. Therapy can help people understand these responses with compassion and begin building relationships that feel more authentic, balanced, and emotionally safe.

What does it mean to “intellectualize” emotions?

Intellectualizing emotions means thinking about feelings instead of fully experiencing or connecting with them emotionally

For example, someone might be able to explain exactly why they feel anxious, understand their childhood patterns deeply, or analyze their relationships insightfully — while still feeling disconnected from the emotional experience itself. You can have vast understanding internally and be left in the phase of “now what?”

Intellectualizing is often a protective strategy. For many thoughtful, sensitive, or high-achieving people, staying in analysis can feel safer than vulnerability, uncertainty, grief, anger, or emotional overwhelm.

This pattern is especially common in people with trauma histories, neurodivergent minds, or environments where emotions did not feel safe, welcome, or understood. Therapy can help create more capacity to experience emotions with curiosity and compassion, rather than only through analysis.