About Emma

I am a Master’s level social worker with over 15 years of experience working as a psychotherapist with children, youth, young adults and parents. In addition to private practice, I have worked at accredited children’s mental health centres and schools in Toronto. I have also provided clinical supervision to University of Toronto Master of Social Work students.  The following are my therapeutic approaches:

Attachment and Trauma-Focused Approaches

I use therapeutic approaches that are attachment and trauma-focused. Research on attachment has demonstrated that individuals are highly influenced by their first relationships with primary caregivers. The attachment pattern that develops in infancy between a child and their caregiver is often repeated in other relationships throughout the child’s life.  In this first relationship, a child learns about their own self-worth. For example, if a child is consistently responded to in an empathic and caring manner, they learn that they are lovable and deserve to have their needs met. However, if they are raised in an environment where their caregivers are not able to be as responsive to their emotional and/or physical needs, they may believe that they are undeserving of love. This may lead some to unconsciously recreate family dynamics from childhood by sabotaging relationships with loving people out of fear that they will ultimately be rejected, for example. 

To change harmful patterns, it is critical that these relationships be explored in therapy. In family therapy, caregivers and others close to the child often play a crucial role in treatment. They can provide a different relational experience, helping to create a new and healthy attachment style for their child. It is also important to note that adolescence can be a pivotal point for changing attachment style as research has shown the brain is undergoing striking changes at this time.

Trauma-Focused Approach

Psychological trauma occurs when an individual has experienced an overwhelming event which causes feelings of helplessness, terror and mistrust that reverberate long after the circumstance has passed. The approach I use to help individuals who have experienced trauma is mostly drawn from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. The primary focus of this model is to help individuals cope with symptoms resulting from trauma. The traumatic incident(s) can be explored once safety and emotional stabilization have been restored to the client’s life. An emphasis is placed on examining the effects of trauma on emotions and the body. This can help to restore a sense of safety in the body so as to calm distressing emotions and change trauma related beliefs and thoughts. I also have been trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and incorporate this model into the treatment of trauma when needed.

Mindfulness

Part of what I do as a therapist is strive to help clients develop mindful awareness which involves focusing one’s attention on present moment experiences as they unfold with a non-judgmental, accepting and curious attitude. Research has shown that the regular practice of mindfulness can decrease the size of the amygdala, a part of the brain associated with intense feelings of fear and the fight or flight response characteristic of those who have experienced trauma and increase the strength of the pre-frontal cortex, a region of the brain associated with decision-making, concentration, and helping to calm strong emotional reactions.