Experience

I bring a diverse teaching and clinical background to my practice, having taught in both public and private schools across Canada and internationally. My experience extends to the college level, where I have instructed courses in counselling and therapeutic skills. Additionally, I spent five years teaching Outdoor and Experiential Education at the Faculty of Education, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.My academic contributions also include sessional teaching in the graduate counselling programs at both the University of Ottawa and Saint Paul’s University.

Alongside my teaching, I worked as the manager and curriculum writer for the BODYSENSE research project (www.bodysense.ca), a positive body image initiative focused on athletes. This role deepened my expertise in supporting athletes facing disordered eating, weight issues, and challenges related to self-esteem and identity. Over the years, I have specialized in working with athletes, providing therapeutic support for those navigating the complex intersection of body image, performance, and mental health.

I am an avid outdoors woman and have spent years living, working, and predominantly playing in the wilderness including living off grid for 2 years in a 120 year old cabin in Lanark County. My Masters of Education research involved wilderness therapy for women recovering from disordered eating.

As a result of my love and teaching in the wilderness, i started the Canadian Wilderness Women's Network in 1996 which now has hundreds of Canadian women members. I have also guided wilderness canoeing, kayaking, and hiking trips in many Canadian lakes, mountains, and rivers as well as remote locations like the ice fjords of South Western Greenland with the Canadian Wilderness tripping company Black Feather.

I find my heartbeat, life and breath in the woods, on the waters, and in the hills through trail running, back country skiing, snowshoeing, and delighting in the silent places of Gatineau Park, the sacred lands of the Temagami wilderness, and now I spend much of my time with friends and family and dogs in an off grid cabin just south of the Frontenac Park in South Eastern Ontario.