My goal is to assist clients in overcoming the obstacles that are interfering in their everyday lives. I am a compassionate, nonjudgemental, and empathetic person who creates trust, and a safe and comfortable space for clients to disclose information and explore their experiences. I look forward to helping clients reach their desired goals and outcomes. I am dedicated and passionate about helping others overcome obstacles and complications that they encounter in their daily lives. I believe my role as a therapist is to help and provide clients with tools and strategies to better adjust to the challenges that they are facing as well as assisting clients to understand their experiences and in turn improve their lives. I employ various theoretical approaches including Solution-Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Client Centered, and Mindfulness practices to engage my practice. I am also the co-facilitator of Insight Psychological’s podcast, Up the Rabbit Hole with Dr. Hrushka, where we discuss and answer questions about anything gender or sex related. Lastly, I am in the process of becoming a certified Sex Therapist through AASECT. I feel as though it is an honor to assist you in reaching your goals.

I am a compassionate, personable individual who is passionate about helping others reach their goals. I believe that each person has value and the capacity for growth and healing. I enjoy working with individuals, teens, children, and families. I use a client-centered, strength-based approach and utilize evidence-based methods including Play Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I am currently enrolled in the Play Therapy certification program through The Canadian Association for Play Therapy and have completed levels 2 and 3. I believe that early relationships are a vital contributor to each child’s development and behaviour in life, and that a key piece in those early relationships is the development of play. I have significant experience working with children and teens in schools, homes, group home settings, and a correctional facility. In addition, I have several years of experience working with children and families who have special needs including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. I look forward to meeting you and supporting you in your wellness goals.

Whether I am working with clients or trainees, I believe in helping individuals develop their internal resources and empowering them to connect to resources in their communities. My areas of practice are clinical/counselling and forensic psychology. During individual counselling, I use a primarily client-directed, outcome informed approach, which means I work collaboratively with clients to find out what techniques will work for them given their therapeutic goals. I draw techniques from multiple theoretical orientations including Cognitive/Behavioural Theory, Solution Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapies. Finding ways to help clients recognize the changes they are making and/or document their own progress is an area of interest of mine. My primary passion is psychological assessment. I believe being a competent assessor means making conclusions and recommendations based on integrating multiple sources of information. Dependent on the referral question, these sources may include formal assessment measures, structured interviews, clinical interviews, collateral information, and observations. I am particularly excited about helping students and provisionally registered psychologists develop their assessment skills.

My approach to therapy tends to allow you, as the person I work with, to take control of your session and explore to determine what issues you are struggling with and how these issues might be impacting your life. I have a lot of success by asking effective questions which helps you, my client, to truly consider what is important to you. We also explore together what might be the best options for you to begin to try to practice to improve your daily life. Historically, I have had a great deal of success using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques, and I consider one of my specialties to be working with Grief and Loss. I am working on completing my Certification in The Grief Recovery Method; once finished, I will be able to consider myself a Grief Recovery Method Specialist. I decided to complete this training once I realized that Grief and Loss were one of the most common issues in therapy. I like the Grief Recovery Method definition of Grief: “Grief is the conflicting feelings caused by the end of or change in a familiar pattern of behaviour.”; and by this definition, Grief and Loss occur pretty regularly. Another of my favourite techniques I have learned at Insight is using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I like it because it works quickly, efficiently and thoroughly. I also enjoy it because, as far as I’m concerned, you can see it working. I also have had training as a Dramatherapist. In the future, I hope to develop some group therapy experiences where we could use Dramatherapy to help you, the participant, deal with any difficulties you are struggling with. Using Drama as a medium, we can explore different topics and issues, sometimes from a safe distance.

I have a Bachelor of Science in Honours Psychology from MacEwan University and am presently completing my Master of Counselling Psychology degree at City University of Seattle’s Edmonton Campus. My current research interests involve stress-related growth and how people can grow, improve, and find benefits from adversity and life’s challenges. I have been working in education and mental health for the last decade and have experience working with populations with a variety of diagnoses, primarily Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), anxiety, depression, and in areas such as trauma, social and interpersonal skills, self-esteem, self-regulation, self-harm, and bullying. When working with clients, I utilize an eclectic approach and incorporate strategies from various treatment modalities while being client-centred and having Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as the foundational approach. I don’t believe there is a one size fits all approach to therapy; everyone is unique, and their journey in therapy should reflect this. I also believe that creating a relationship is an essential component of effective therapy, and I understand that trust needs to be built throughout the therapeutic process. I also view therapy as a collaborative venture, and that clients are the experts on their own lives, so it only makes sense to have their input and wisdom as part of the experience. I believe in a practical, evidence and skill-based hands-on approach to counselling, and that humour and seeing the silver lining can be an essential part of dealing with life’s adversities. As Viktor Frankl once said, “when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”, and my goal is to be alongside you in the trenches while you do exactly that.

I believe we are each the experts in our own lives, and bring with us a wealth of knowledge and strengths that can be used in growth and healing. I tailor my therapeutic approach to the needs of my clients through ongoing collaboration. My approach is informed and influenced by somatic therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, mindfulness techniques, cognitive behavioural therapy, and dialectical behavioural therapy among others, and I am regularly learning new elements to benefit my clients. I’ve worked as a Social Worker for nearly a decade, supporting children and families from a diverse array of backgrounds, in various capacities, most recently supporting military families. In my personal life, I enjoy spending time with my family, and friends, cuddling with pets, and curling up with a good book.

Choosing to see a counsellor, any counsellor, can be difficult and might even require courage. It’s OK to be nervous or ambivalent about seeking out help and support. It’s also OK to be happy and relieved. I like to work from a relational stance. I use methods that encourage clients to recognize their situations and the issues that arise from them, and then acknowledge the emotions, thoughts, and behaviours that are difficult. Because I believe in the integration of mind, body, and spirit, I use a variety of therapies that individually, or together, promote a healthy sense of self and relationship to other. For example: emotionally-focused, cognitive-behavioural, and body-focused therapies. I generally like to start where people are at, and work with their strengths and vulnerabilities to create a healthy future. Every person comes to counselling with lived history, which is unique to them. While that history might weigh heavily on a person, it does not need to overwhelm them. I believe that people are resilient and capable of making their way through difficult situations. My job is to facilitate the strengths of each person as they manage their own lived history, and living moments.

My main specialty is sexuality (including the standard sexual functioning and couple related difficulties, as well as LGTBQPA and BDSM) with a secondary focus on violence related issues, trauma and couple counselling issues (including custody and access/high conflict). I am a certified (Diplomate) Sex Therapist/ and Supervisor, an Associate in Sex Education, and a Clinical Sexologist. I use numerous psychological approaches to achieve client success. My foundation is in client-centered, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) within a systemic model that focuses on pushing through issues for growth and success which also includes Gottman methods and those of Schnarch. I am also trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Re-processing (EMDR) techniques for recurrent traumatic images and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder issues.

I value the opportunity to work with those in my community who seek to bring positive change into their personal and professional lives. I have counselled collaboratively with diverse clients and embraced what makes each person unique by their race, culture, religion, and sexual orientation. I believe that people are social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, physical and occupational beings, so my goal is to help clients focus on the aspects that, for them, are most pressing. I love working with couples who wish to strengthen their relationship and who want to enhance their conflict management skills. To effectively support couples, I have been certified in the Hendricks Model of Couples Therapy and have achieved Level One and Level Two in Gottman’s Relationship Therapy. I incorporate the latter approaches into my education and experience using Extended Family Systems, Structural Family and Strategic Family Therapy.More recently, I have been working with children and adolescents , their parents or primary caregivers. I often draw on play therapy, child-focused cognitive behavioural and family therapy, and work with my clients to find solutions to parenting and behavioural challenges. I look forward to being of service to you as you seek change, knowledge, and resources in support of your goals to thrive professionally, personally and in your relationships. While we cannot change difficult situations from our past, we can heal from them, work together to resolve current challenges, and co-create a different and positive future.

Izabela has completed Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Alberta, and Child and Youth Care from Grant MacEwan University. Izabela also completed her Master’s in Child and Youth Care Counselling from the University of Victoria, as well as her Masters in Counselling Psychology from CityUniversity of Seattle. She is a member of the Psychological Association of Alberta, The College of Alberta Psychologists and the College of Counselling Therapy of Alberta. Izabela has worked for Alberta Health Services, Edmonton and Calgary School Boards, and various community agencies providing therapeutic and counselling services for children and families for over 15 years. Izabela believes that sensitively adapting to the needs and goals of clients through therapeutic relationship is essential to good therapeutic work. She has supported school staff, adjunct health care professionals and community support workers, providing supervision, consultation and professional education. Izabela practices counselling through various approaches including supportive counselling, family systems therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, expressive arts, and solution-focused therapy. Izabela strives to support individuals in gaining a deeper understanding of themselves in the context of their families, relationships, environments and circumstances. She views psychological services as integral in maintaining healthier, more functional lives at school, the workplace, at home and in their communities

I am passionate about supporting you to achieve a meaningful life. By asking powerful, thought-provoking questions, I will challenge you to identify your values, beliefs and strengths. By providing attention to self-awareness, I empower clients to increase confidence and self-efficacy. This can help you to build resilience through personal growth and development. Through collaboration and the application of creativity and innovative thinking, I can assist you to clarify goals and develop plans to achieve them. I’ve had the opportunity to work in both private and public industry, most recently in corporate and post-secondary environments. I’ve worked with diverse clients from a variety of backgrounds including high school, post-secondary students and provincial government employees in new, mid-career and pre-retirement including constituency, legislative, minister’s offices and departments. I believe strongly in life-long learning and professional development, continually seeking additional opportunities for growth. Endeavoring to live a well-balanced life; I am an exercise enthusiast, enjoying spin classes and spending time in nature walking, hiking, biking and kayaking.

As a therapist, it is important to me to build collaborative therapeutic relationships with all of my clients. My role in the counselling experience is to provide a safe, accepting environment where clients feel genuine support, empathy, and nonjudgement. I believe in using trauma-informed, evidence-based practices and an integrative strength-based client-centered approach with clients through their personal growth and healing journeys. I am sex-positive, fully LGBTQIA+ affirming, and also specialize in helping individuals who have experienced religious trauma or spiritual abuse. As someone who grew up in fundamentalist religion, I am passionate about deconstructing any harmful indoctrinated beliefs based in religious supremacy, and working to heal from harm caused by “purity“ culture. I have expertise in helping individuals free themselves from values instilled by more high-control religious groups and identified cults or cult-like practices. I take a non-judgemental approach to helping individuals and couples explore a healthy, comprehensive, accurate, inclusive, consent-centered, pleasure-based, shame-free sexuality and spirituality. I like to use integrative approaches with clients and often draw from Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy. I believe in the wisdom of lived experiences and view clients as resilient and having the capacity to grow and explore new meaning in life.