sue

Founder, Director – Good Life Therapy Centre

My interest in becoming a counsellor developed, in part, from my early life experiences. Both of my parents had lived through WWII in Europe, and the war continued in our home. They both suffered from untreated post-traumatic stress, although there was no such classification at the time. The unresolved trauma and loss that they carried into our family system was passed down and became very present in my own life. I was to spend many years following in my father’s footsteps and numbing my emotional pain with alcohol and drugs.

Becoming a Therapist

I didn’t comprehend it at the time, but my career began to take shape when, as a young adult I took a volunteer position helping troubled youth. I realized I had a deep desire to help people overcome their self-destructive behaviours, most likely because I could identify with them myself. This propelled me into my own recovery and to complete my Bachelor’s degree in psychology.  In my Master’s Degree, I explored the inter-generational effects of war trauma and unresolved post traumatic stress on second generation children. In addition, I spent years uncovering, discovering and healing the effects of alcoholism and multigenerational trauma in my own life. I appreciate today that healing is an on-going, life-long process of growth which I am fully committed to. The emotional distress I inherited as a child has been transformed and replaced by a sense of joy, confidence and a love for life.

Later, I have added another dimension to my work – studying and now training therapist in the Developmental Model of couples therapy. I have found it to be incredibly challenging and rewarding, both personally and professionally. On a personal level, I have become incredibly passionate about helping couples to have the love they want, despite their neglectful or often abusive early family relations.

I have a great love for the work that I do, over 30 years of experience, and I am committed to helping others heal from the emotional effects of addiction and trauma.

 

The following is a partial list of my extensive Clinical Training:

  • A Developmental Approach to Couples Therapy – Dr. Ellyn Bader and Dr. Peter Pearson @ The Couples Institute; affiliate and assistant to Dr. Bader
  • Transactional Analysis & Redecision Therapy – Dr. Vann Joines, The Southeast Institute for Group & Family Therapy.
  • Self-Regulation Therapy® – Foundation and Advanced Level – Cdn. Foundation for Trauma Research and Education; mind-body integration approach to trauma therapy based on the work of Peter Levine and his model of Somatic Experiencing
  • The Neuroscience of Addiction. Dr. Kevin McCauley
  • The Psychophysiology of Addiction, Trauma and Recovery – Dr. C. Nuckols and Canadian Foundation for Trauma Research and Education
  • The Mindful Therapist- Psychotherapy from the Inside Out. Dr. Daniel Siegel
  • Certificate in Psychoanalytic Study – Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study
  • Certificate in Substance Abuse Treatment and Gambling Addiction
  • Advanced training in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing – Dr. Jeffrey Mitchell
  • The Treatment of Adult Children of Alcoholics – Jane Middelton-Moz; Dr. Claudia Black
  • Grief, Mourning, Death and Loss – Dr. Terese A. Rand

 

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor and member of the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors.

If you are interested in how you can heal as an individual or couple, please call the number below.