Counselling Success Stories
Margaret’s Story: Resolving an Ocean of Grief
Mark’s Story: Calming the Storm of Anxiety
Cynthia’s Story: Overcoming the Dark Cloud of Depression
*The stories below are comprised of several clients that I have worked with over the past two decades. All names and details have been changed to protect client confidentiality. Photos are for context only; they are not of actual clients.
Margaret’s Story: Resolving an Ocean of Grief
Margaret’s Husband, Anthony Suffers a Stroke That Forever Changed Him
Margaret’s journey into therapy unfolded when her husband Anthony had a life-altering stroke.
Grateful for his survival, Margaret grappled with a sense of profound loss as Anthony, once a vibrant person, was transformed into someone she scarcely recognized.
Overwhelmed with guilt for harbouring a desire that he could somehow revert to his former self, Margaret’s grief was unbearable at times, yet she kept her feelings to herself.
Overwhelming Chronic Sorrow Led Margaret to Seek Therapy
Margaret’s profound pain and guilt led her to enter therapy with me. In the initial therapy sessions, I helped Margaret see that she was struggling with chronic sorrow – a pervasive and deep sadness when facing an ongoing, long-term significant loss or change where there is no end in sight.
In Margaret’s situation, her husband’s stroke and the irreversible changes in him left her in a perpetual state of grief.
Margaret felt a huge sense of relief just knowing that what she was experiencing was common for people in her situation.
Guided Imagery and Music Therapy Sessions Helped Margaret Resolve Her Grief
Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) sessions allowed Margaret to release some of her guilt, shame and deep sorrow.
In one GIM session, Margaret had images of Anthony, who assured her he knew she loved him and was doing the best she could. The music and image of Anthony served as a powerful catalyst, allowing Margaret to begin to forgive herself for wishing Anthony was back to the way he once was.
During another GIM session, Margaret found herself enveloped in a wave of grief. I guided her through these intense emotions, providing a safe space for her to express the depth of her pain.
In this transformative moment, another image of Anthony emerged, advising Margaret to live her own life. This profound revelation enabled Margaret to begin to consider her own needs and aspirations.
GIM Sessions Enabled Margaret to Have More Ease in her Relationship with Anthony and Enjoy her Life More
As Margaret integrated her new insights, there was a shift in her relationship with Anthony. The process of self-forgiveness and prioritizing her well-being allowed her to care for herself and Anthony with a newfound presence and compassion.
Margaret emerged as a much stronger woman who was more able to accept her situation with Anthony, which freed her energy to enjoy her life.
Mark’s Story: Calming the Storm of Anxiety
Mark Struggled with Intense Worry for Many Years
Mark, a 35-year-old man, sought therapy due to persistent anxiety that manifested as racing thoughts, difficulty sleeping, and an overall sense of worry.
These symptoms were impacting his daily life, making it challenging to focus and caused a considerable amount of distress.
Mark’s ability to do his job was suffering. Decision-making was fraught with uncertainty, undermining his confidence. Tasks that were once routine became arduous, leading to a decline in productivity and in the quality of his work.
Mark’s social relationships were also strained. He had trouble interacting with others as his intrusive thoughts inhibited his ability to focus on conversations.
Mark had tried to calm his thoughts by practicing mindfulness and “talking” himself out of his anxiety. These techniques didn’t work for more than a few minutes.
Mark was fed up and desperately wanted to calm his worries and fears. He decided to see a therapist and was cautiously hopeful it would help.
Calming Mark’s Nervous System
In the initial sessions, I utilized the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). By listening to the specially SSP processed music, Mark’s agitated nervous system began to calm down.
This intervention provided Mark with a foundation of emotional safety, enabling him to better engage in the therapeutic process. Mark also noticed that he was better able to regulate his anxiety, especially during situations that caused him stress in day-to-day situations.
Addressing the Root Cause of Mark’s Anxiety
Once Mark was able to feel more in control of his anxiety, I used a combination of Adlerian therapy (AT) methods and the Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) to uncover the roots of Mark’s anxiety.
These methods aimed to bring a more complete resolution to Mark’s intense worries, to prevent them from recurring to the degree where they caused him so much turmoil.
With TIR, we explored Mark’s past experiences contributing to his distress. I discovered that Mark had a long history of experiencing traumatic incidents.
He grew up in a chaotic family with a great deal of yelling and physical abuse. He was also bullied as a child. These experiences affected his self-esteem and caused him to doubt his worth.
No matter what Mark did in his life, he felt it was never good enough. His anxiety was fueled by an unrealistic desire to do everything perfectly so that he would be accepted and loved.
The TIR process allowed Mark to express and reprocess his painful emotions, ultimately contributing to a reduction in the emotional charge caused by his traumatic memories.
Adlerian therapy helped Mark gain insights into long-held beliefs that he had to be perfect and live up to others’ expectations.
Mark’s Life Improved Immensely as he Reduced His Anxiety and Became More Self- Confident
Through therapy, Mark’s intrusive and overwhelming thoughts were significantly reduced, allowing him to complete his work in a timely manner. The quality of his work also improved as he let go of the immobilizing expectations that everything had to be done “just right.”
As Mark became more confident in himself, he realized that he had to live according to his own values and beliefs, not those of others. He discovered deeply suppressed desires that he began to seek out.
Mark’s social relationships improved, and he even started dating, which was an exciting new development in his life.
Cynthia’s Story: Overcoming the Dark Cloud of Depression
Cynthia Struggled with Depression for Much of her Life
Cynthia had struggled with depression for as long as she could remember. Sometimes, it was simply a faint lack of enthusiasm about her life. Life felt flat for her during these days.
At other times, the depression was so severe that Cynthia had trouble getting out of bed. She went through the motions at work and when completing other tasks. She spent the weekends in bed sleeping.
Cynthia had tried talk therapy in the past, but she felt it only helped superficially, and improvements were always temporary.
She longed to be free of the heavy feelings of depression that bogged her down and were ruining her life.
She heard from one of my clients that I used therapy methods designed to access the unconscious and went deeper into the psyche than talk therapy could. She decided to give my methods a try.
Healing the Traumatic Experiences Causing Cynthia’s Depression
In therapy, Cynthia revealed that she had experienced a series of sexual abuse incidents and sexual assaults that haunted her. Due to these experiences, we discovered that Cynthia had developed PTSD.
Cynthia had frequent flashbacks to these abusive experiences on days when she was feeling a bit better. Her depression often increased after having these unwanted memories. It served the purpose of suppressing her unpleasant emotions associated with the painful memories.
In therapy, I employed several therapy methods to help Cynthia reduce her depression.
I used the Safe and Sound Protocol as an initial step in therapy to help calm Cynthia’s nervous system, reduce the intensity of her intrusive memories, and cultivate a sense of safety within herself.
The gradual calming of Cynthia’s emotions provided a foundation for deeper emotional work where we used Traumatic Incident Reduction to reduce further her unpleasant emotions related to her trauma.
I used Adlerian therapy to help Cynthia become more aware of the negative beliefs she had developed about herself due to the incidents she endured.
Guided Imagery and Music helped Cynthia develop her inner wisdom, nurture her inner self and develop a greater sense of self-worth.
Cynthia Emerges from the Darkness to Discover the Light
After several therapy sessions, Cynthia experienced a transformative shift in her outlook and well-being. The integration of therapeutic modalities addressed the multifaceted impact of trauma, resulting in profound healing.
Cynthia’s painful flashbacks reduced dramatically, as did her depression.
Cynthia, once bound by the chains of depression caused by unresolved trauma, began seeking out new experiences and embraced the opportunities life presented.
Cynthia emerged resilient and empowered. She gained a deeper understanding of her PTSD triggers and learned effective management strategies for any unpleasant memories that arose in the future.
I hope the above stories give you some idea of what might be possible in therapy with me.
We’ll discuss your concerns and decide the best approach for working together.
I offer in-person counselling in my North Vancouver office.
I also provide online video‑conference sessions.
** Some evening and weekend appointments are available