Sarah Smith, CCC, RCC, BFA, MACP​

Much like plodding through uncharted terrain in winter, moving forward with therapy can be arduous and foreboding. With commitment and repetition, however, a path emerges, and our journey becomes easier and more familiar with time. Whether mired in depression, frenetic with anxiety, or sewn into the pattern of a dysfunctional relationship, therapy can provide us with the tools and insights we need to reorient ourselves to the present and create an informed design for the future.

As someone who holds a deep respect for the scientific method, and a reverence for each individual’s spiritual framework, I apply research-based practises to help you distill clouded perspectives and process traumatic experiences. Some of these approaches include: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Lifespan Integration Therapy (LI- a contemporary trauma therapy), and Gottman Method Therapy (GMT) for couples. While these modalities provide the structure “or bones” of therapy, my personal approach is informed by a veneration for the following:

1. Irvin Yalom’s existential givens of death, meaning, isolation, and freedom, which denote the parameters of the human condition,
2. Carl Rogers’s client-centred approach, which views individuals through a lens of curiosity and unconditional positive regard, and
3. the bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach, which I use as a heuristic for understanding the facets of life that contribute to wellbeing.

With regards to delivery, I find figurative language, particularly the use of metaphor and analogy, effective for creating rich, memorable dialogue, and useful for expediting salient insights. Kintsugi, for example, is the Japanese art form of mending ceramic vessels with gold. While it is a stunning form of art, it is also a valuable metaphor for how adverse experiences (our own cracks and fissures) are part of what make us unique and resilient. In this way, I believe psychotherapy to be a form of Kintsugi for the psyche.

On the topic of adversity, it is my mission to understand, and be present for, the plight that has brought you to therapy. As someone who has been on both sides of the table- as an individual client, a couple, and a therapist, I respect the courage, energy, and motivation it takes to instigate change and show vulnerability to someone you’ve never met. It is my hope that we can work together to help you reframe the legacy of your trauma, mitigate depression and anxiety, create connection and grace within your relationship, and help you design an informed path forward. Until then, I invite you to contemplate this quote by Winston Churchill, 1940: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”