Online and In Person Therapy for Emotional Health
I am a Trauma Specialist and Clinical Social Worker
Individual Therapy
I have worked with children, teenagers, and adults. I am currently offering face to face sessions making use of a large office. I do offer video conference using Microsoft Teams and Telegram.
Trauma Specialist
I utilize two main treatment modalities in Trauma Treatment. Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TFCBT).
Family Therapy
I have over 30 years experience working with families. I utilize Family Systems Theory in the context of Family Meetings to improve communication in your Family and to help your Family work as a Team.
Hello! I’m Peter
Licensed Therapist MSW, RSW
I am a Trauma Specialist and a Clinical Social Worker. I enjoy working with Children, Teens, and Adults. I am married and I have three grown children. I graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1993 with a Master of Social Work. I specialize in using EMDR, TFCBT, CBT, Family Systems, and a Problem Soving approach. I have over 30 years experience in Community and Private Practice.
My Expertise
Grief and Loss
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Grief and loss can sometimes feel unbearable. Individual Therapy can help you to navigate the unsettled waters when someone you love dies. In many respects Grief and loss can be traumatic. EMDR and TFCBT can help in these cases to bring the disturbance of a death to a manageable level.
Stress & Anxiety
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Stress and anxiety can make it hard for you to cope with daily living. I make use of the workboook Mind Over Mood in conjunction with Cognitive Behavioual Therapy to help you to overcome anxious thoughts that are impacting your behaviour and mood. Changes in any one of these three areas will help to ground your thinking.
Adoption
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Adoption can impact the individual and the family. Parents can find support for their child and for themselves. Also, this intervention can be important for individuals that were adopted as children. EMDR can be very helpful in healing some of the hurts that were caused as a result of an adoption.
Family Member Conflict
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Living in a family over time can produce conflict and tension. Over the course of child development parents’ can encounter conflict with their children and teens. I have worked as a Family Preservation Worker and I can appreciate the complexity of trying to parent effectively and fairly. I have three adult children that despite our disagreements at times are living productive lives.
Domestic Violence
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I have worked in a shelter in Windsor. I have also worked with individuals that experienced domestic violence. I have worked with child and teeenage witnesses to their parents’ fighting. In many of these cases I will make use of EMDR and TFCBT to help neutralize th disturbance that the events caused.
Depression
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Depression at times can feel overwhelming. I make use of the workbook Mind Over Mood to help you to stabilize your moods. Catching our thoughts can have a powerful effect on how we behave and feel. I make use of a thought record to achieve the best results for you.
Veterans Experiencing PTSD
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I have taken specialized training with Wounded Warriors. This is a training geared to supporting veterans that are suffering with PTSD. One important feature is to process the trauma in three or more distinct phases. The beginning, middle and the end. I utilize EMDR to accomplish this work.
Family Therapy
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Family Systems Theory states that each member of the family impacts the other members of the family unit. I utilize Lowenstein’s workbook to help family members engage in activities that are age appropriate and develop a strong rapport among them. I also make use of Family Meetings and the structure that they offer to help every family member feel heard.
Harmful Thoughts
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I help children, teens, and adults develop safety plans to address suicidal thoughts. The safety plans that we will develop together are detailed and doable.
First Responders and PTSD
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I have worked with a number of law enforcement personnel including Detectives and Policemen. I have also worked with Fire Fighters and Corrections Workers. In most of these cases there was an element of PTSD. I have taken specialized trainings in Wounded Warriors and through a Private company Inkblot to help reduce the trauma that these individuals have faced and to recognize the uniqueness of their work.
Children of Divorced Families
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I have worked with individuals and their children that have suffered from the effects of separation and divorce. I have worked with a number of Children’s Groups for divorced families. This has given me insight into the issues that parent’s and children face after a divorce. I also wrote my Master’s Research Project on Children of Divorce and identified the stages in adjustment that children work through.
Trauma
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I am a Trauma Specialist. I work with children, teenagers, and adults that have experienced a variety of traumas. I utilize EMDR and Trauma Focused CBT to help individuals recover from the traumatic experiences that they have faced. I make use of a calm place prior to doing the trauma work to use between sessions when the individual is anxious and annoyed. It is also used during a session when the work becomes too intense. The individual can stop, go to their calm place, and take a break. Finally, it is used prior to doing a container exersise. In the calm place the individual envisions a container where they put all the thoughts, feelings, images, and body sensations. They then close and lock the container, so that they can go from the session feeling calm and relaxed.
My Approach & Values
You can be assured that the Treatment Modalities that I use are grounded in best practices so that you will see positive changes in your life. In Individual Therapy I make use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help people with their anxiety and depression. The workbook Mind Over Mood has been well received by my clients.
I utilize two Treatment Modalities in Trauma Treatment. Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TFCBT) to help individuals to process their trauma. EMDR helps you to process disturbing events and clear the trauma you have experienced in your life. TFCBT helps you to challenge negative thoughts and create a trauma narrative.
Contact Me
Ask a question or book an appointment below. For emergencies call 911 or visit your nearest hospital