Background
I have been involved in the healthcare and mental health field since 2014, serving individuals and families who faced multiple challenges. My clients see me for anxiety and depression, intergenerational and migration trauma, sensory sensitivity, suicidality, grief and loss, and a variety of barriers to well-being. However, one of my specialty is supporting individuals who identify as highly sensitive and are facing burnout or are burned out.
Burnout occurs when the body and mind is no longer able to meet the constant demands of a prolonged traumatic or stressful situation. Feelings of overwhelm, irritation, wanting to escape, lack of motivation and exhaustion are common symptoms. Sometimes clients report that despite taking rests, they still feel tired. Other times, I have been told that they cannot stop working or caregiving despite knowing that they need to. Burnout can come from various sources – work, caregiving for loved ones, family responsibilities or having to navigate a cumbersome healthcare system. Highly sensitive individuals are especially vulnerable for burnout if they are not aware of how the environment and interactions affect their nervous system or what types of support their nervous system needs to stay regulated.
Whatever the source of your burn out, know that you are not alone. I hope you will allow me to be your support during this time. My clients have taught me that despite experiencing some of the most difficult adversities, humans possess incredible resilience and resources. My roles in your recovery are to help you to reconnect with innate deep reserves of strength to begin to feel more resourced, to uncover the patterns that have brought you to this place and to co-create a safe space for transformation and creative solutions to emerge.
I was born in Malaysia, but lived in Singapore for a decade before settling in Vancouver, BC. Prior to becoming a therapist, I was a research associate with BC Genome Sciences Centre, a recreation therapist, and a stay-at-home mom. My diverse background enables me to weave evidence-based therapeutic approaches with compassion, humour, and sensitivity into my current work.
Therapeutic Approach
I bring into my counselling work a trauma-informed approach and sensitivity to the multi-faceted ways that traumatic events affect the lives of people. Trauma includes sudden life changes and deep feelings of loneliness when our support networks are not as responsive as we need them to be. My approach is both practical as well as intuitive. Practicality to help my clients connect with up-to-date community resources and skills to help them find solutions combined with intuition that allows me to hear and hold my clients’ most vulnerable stories.
I work from an attachment and somatic lens where clients are invited into a greater sense of safety through a relationship with the therapist and a mindful attunement to the stories stored in their bodies. Such approaches have been shown to be healing for those who have experienced different forms of trauma. I pull from several theoretical approaches based on the needs of my clients. The techniques I use come from Mind-Body (Somatic) therapies, Narrative Therapy, Parts Work, and Systems-approach.
To contact me, email is the fastest way to do so – Click here
