Meet Adam
My Journey To Becoming A Therapist
My journey to becoming a therapist started when I realized that the career in law that I’d been pursuing was leading me down a path of chronic stress and exhaustion. If I did well on a test or assignment, rather than be satisfied, I chalked it up to luck and pushed myself harder out of fear of being exposed as incompetent. My life was consumed by school, and my mind gave me a million reasons why taking care of myself wasn’t an option. After graduating law school, all I knew was that I didn’t want to be a lawyer.
I then pursued graduate school in law, mainly because other people said it seemed like a natural fit. So, I once again immersed myself in schoolwork and the cycle of chronic stress and exhaustion continued. Feeling like an imposter, most of my waking hours were spent trying to read and research more than everyone else. But my habit of comparing myself to others just made me feel like I was failing and falling further behind. After graduating, I was feeling lost. Something had to change.
I took a break from school and started working at a residential treatment centre for youth. I loved the work, and it was great to feel like I was part of team working on something that mattered. This experience sparked a shift in my career focus to social work, so I went back to school. After graduating I took on a role leading a local poverty reduction initiative. While this work was meaningful and energizing, it also triggered my perfectionist and people pleasing tendencies. As I kept trying to push myself beyond my limits, my attention to family, friends, and my health suffered.
I finally realized these cycles of overwork, stress, and exhaustion were unsustainable. With the support of a therapist, I started to see how my unconscious beliefs and early experiences in life had fuelled these patterns. Part of my healing involved a commitment to a daily meditation practice that has deepened over the last 12 years. As I learned to become more mindful, I started to experience more balance in my life. Although my people-pleasing and perfectionist tendencies hadn’t disappeared, they no longer dominated my life.
Having experienced the positive effects of therapy from a client’s perspective, I felt I had something to offer as a therapist, so in 2021 I set out on this path. I love the process of connecting and learning and growing that takes place on both sides of the therapeutic relationship. I’m human, so my inner people pleaser still goes into problem solver mode from time to time. At a deeper level, though, I believe people have the innate capacity to heal themselves. And I feel honoured when people allow me to play a part in facilitating that process.
My Professional Background, Qualifications, & Training
I received a Master of Social Work at the University of Windsor in 2008. I am a Registered Social Worker and member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (Registration # 816188).
I have more than 14 years of professional social work experience in diverse settings, including a residential treatment centre for children and youth and organizations supporting people experiencing poverty and homelessness. I have more than 3 years of experience providing psychotherapy services to individuals.
I am trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Here is a list of the topics I have covered through professional development training courses and workshops:
CBT for ADHD, anxiety, comorbid conditions, health anxiety, insomnia, panic disorder, perfectionism, procrastination, PTSD, rumination, skin picking and hair pulling, social anxiety, and somatic symptom disorder.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for ADHD, depression and anxiety disorders, and perfectionism and people pleasing
CBT for ADHD, anxiety, health anxiety, insomnia, panic disorder, perfectionism, procrastination, PTSD, rumination, skin picking and hair pulling, social anxiety, and somatic symptom disorder.
Holistic Trauma Course (overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Polyvagal Theory, Schema Therapy, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing).
Compassionate Inquiry
Depth Psychology
Motivational Interviewing
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
