The Spring Bloom Psychotherapy Approach
Where curiosity meets compassion, and depth meets humanity.
Custom-tailored therapy that helps you understand the patterns beneath the surface, heal what still hurts, and loosen the grip of shame so you can feel more at home in who you are.
My approach is both holistic and integrative.
This means that I honour the many layers of who you are: your thoughts, emotions, relationships, social context, past experiences, body, and nervous system.
It also means that rather than fitting you into one therapeutic box, I draw from several approaches to shape the work around what you need.
For those of you who love therapy lingo, below are some of the approaches I use.
But if spending your spare time researching psychotherapy modalities is not your thing, no worries! You do not need to know every kind of therapy approach before reaching out. We will sort this out together!
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
If you are a deep thinker, you might looooove psychodynamic psychotherapy. It’s for those of us who aren’t satisfied with simply knowing what we do and want to understand why we do it.
Together, we get curious about the deeper patterns beneath the surface: how your earlier relationships and experiences may have shaped what you believe about yourself, what you expect from others, and what you learned you needed to be, or do, to feel loved, safe, accepted or worthy.
This might involve looking at your attachment patterns, emotions, dreams, shadow parts, defence mechanisms, coping strategies, family roles, and needs.
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For example, maybe you are easygoing, successful or helpful. These ways of being likely didn’t come from nowhere. They may have helped you belong, stay safe, receive approval or navigate relationships when you were younger.
The challenge is that strategies that helped us survive one chapter of our lives don’t always serve us particularly well in the next one.
Our goal won`t be to spend years talking about your childhood, or decide that all your challenges are secretly about your mother! It will be to understand how the past may still be showing up in the present so you have more freedom to choose what comes next.
EMDR
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EMDR is a trauma-informed therapy that uses neuroplasticity to help the nervous system process experiences that continue to feel emotionally charged or “stuck.” Using bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, alternating sounds or tapping, we work with memories, emotions, beliefs and body sensations connected to difficult experiences and help to create new neural pathways.
This doesn`t mean you have to tell me every painful detail of what happened or that we first meet on a Tuesday and dive headfirst into your deepest trauma on Wednesday! Please rest assured that before processing difficult material, we spend time preparing, building resources and making sure you feel ready. In other words, we dip a tiny toe into this process before we dive, because going deeper doesn’t have to mean going faster!
Sometimes your mind knows a difficult situation is over but your nervous system hasn’t gotten the memo. In other words, you may know intellectually that you are safe now, and yet your body can react as though serious danger is happening at this very moment.
This can lead something as innocuous as a look, small conflict or minor rejection to send you on a week-long downward spiral!
If you have already tried talking your way out of this, but to no avail, keep reading! You might find EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing interesting.
Mindful Self-Compassion
Often the difficult experience isn’t the only thing causing pain. The experience itself can be hard, but the internal commentary we create about it can be wayyyyyy harsher.
For example, we might tell ourselves: I shouldn’t feel this way. I should be handling this better. Why am I so sensitive?
If you notice that this second layer is like a brutal internal friend-enemy, you might find value in mindful self-compassion. It can be a terrific antidote that reminds us to be a little nicer to ourselves
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Mindfulness helps us slow things down enough to notice what is happening inside us without immediately trying to fix it, avoid it, or judge ourselves for having it.
Self-compassion helps us learn to respond to ourselves with some of the kindness we often so readily offer to other people.
Also, just to be clear: self-compassion isn’t letting yourself off the hook, standing in front of a mirror reciting affirmations you don’t believe, or pretending everything is wonderful when it isn’t. It looks more Iike learning to say, « this is hard », « I am not alone in this struggle » and « what do I need right now? »
It starts by recognizing that shame rarely creates lasting change and that compassion give us a much better place to start.
IFS-Informed Parts Work
Do you ever feel like different parts of you are pulling in completely different directions? One part wants to set the boundary, while another is already worried about disappointing someone. One part knows you need to slow down, while another is focused on the 17 things it wants to do all at once! Or, of course, many of us have an inner critic part who seems to have appointed itself CEO without anyone actually offering it the job! This is just to name a few, we contain multitudes!
IFS-Informed Parts Work recognizes that we all have different parts that show up and get activated depending on what’s happening in our lives. It also recognizes something called Self, the grounded, compassionate, curious and clear presence within us that can help us relate to those parts with a little more understanding.
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One of my favourite things about this approach is the belief that there are no bad parts. We learn to see that even the anxious part, the people-pleaser, perfectionist, inner critic developed for a reason.
So, rather than trying to silence, fix or get rid of the parts of you that drive you a little nuts, we get curious about them.
Chances are, they have a story worth listening to, and you might be surprised by how often compassionately listening to them leads to softening and transformation.
Here are some of the principles that are woven in all my work…
EMPATHY
Therapy can feel intimidating, and opening up takes courage. I get it! That’s why I focus on creating a warm and non-judgmental space where you can eventually feel safe enough to share what’s really going on. Think of it as your weekly cocoon- a retreat from the noise of the world where you can focus entirely on yourself and your healing.
DEEP WORK
Let’s be real, quick fixes rarely lead to lasting change. If they did, you probably wouldn’t need a therapist! Together we will slowly dive beneath the surface to explore the roots of your patterns. By becoming aware of what’s driving your experiences, you’ll gain the tools to make choices that serve you. This isn’t just about “fixing” problems; it’s about understanding yourself on a deeper level and moving toward a more authentic and meaningful life.
INTEGRATIVE
Humans are beautifully complex, which is why I take a holistic approach that considers your mind, body, emotions, and even your spiritual side. While we will focus primarily on talk therapy, I might also bring in meditations, visualizations, EMDR, movement, or even some art exercises. Only if you’re into it!
CREATIVITY
Before I became a psychotherapist, I completed a PhD in the Study and Practice of Art, including courses in art education and art therapy. This means that if creative expression is your thing, we can weave in some art-based practices to enhance your healing journey.
Ready to Begin Therapy?
Access Integrative Psychotherapy in Oakville, Burlington, Waterdown and Online Across Ontario.
This work is a powerful investment in your well-being. It’s a chance to take the wheel of your own life again.
You weren’t made to simply get by. You were made to thrive.
Starting therapy can be overwhelming, which is why I offer a free consultation to see if working together feels like a good fit. Please reach out to start your therapy journey today!