"Be the change that you wish to see in the world"
- Gandhi
I am a mature mental health professional and individual with a diverse background. Like all of us I am the product or the sum of my life experience[s]. I have been a son and a father; a caregiver, provider, and nurturer. I’ve had the privilege of living and working in many settings which have provided me the ability to relate with clients from diverse backgrounds, experiences and outlooks or values.
I began my formal training in psychotherapy later in life after career stops in, amongst others, academia where I did graduate work and taught history. I then studied law which I practiced for 10 years before changing course to pursue entrepreneurial and business opportunities which exposed me to a very different reality and range of experiences.
Beginning in 2000, I resolved to take up the work I had always imagined and admired; that of psychotherapist. My involvements as father, husband, and son had been significantly reduced, and I began exiting from business as well. In my early teens began a life-long fascination and study of human behaviour in all it expressions; but, above all, in human psychology; or, after the Greeks, in the soul. Having informally studied psychology since my teenage years, I had completed extensive therapy of my own. My initial formal training took place in Montreal at the Argyle Institute, followed by extensive distance work with a US-based institute. I practiced as a trained psychotherapist 2004 - 2015.
I was first exposed to Buddhist principles and practices in 2009 through the work and writings of, amongst others, Dr. Mark Epstein, Jack Kornfield, Dr. Tara Brach, Dr. Sharon Salzberg, and Jon Kabat Zinn - who built on Buddhist meditation practices what is now widely known and followed as MBSR - Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction which is now taught worldwide, and notably company-wide at such corporate entities as Aetna Life and Google, amongst others. By 2012 it was clear to me that MBSR based insights and practices made available to those in need a variety of tools and pathways to the growth and autonomy, and the opportunity for self-love which those who come for therapy are seeking. I no longer consider myself a psychotherapist, but rather a holistic therapist with training and experience in a number of recognized modalities, but primarily work on the basis of Mindfulness and its underlying Buddhist principles, practices, and understanding of human nature.
I quickly realized how fortunate I was in being able to call upon my varied past careers in order to better relate and empathize with clients. Law practice had exposed me to people and situations involving great triumphs and tragedies, wins and losses, all in pressurized and competitive environments. From business, I had experienced directly the daily struggles of staying afloat; of risking everything on a dream, and the passion which drives it. I know the pain of failure; with the certainty that it is preferable to living with the angst and doubts of never having tried.
On the basis of my own experience, I believe that change is a fundamental part of life;
