therapy
a summary
I am skilled at helping you dissolve old patterns, take new risks. I am trained
both in Cognitive therapy (talking about the problem) and in Gestalt therapy
(evoking the problem in the present).
Gestalt therapy focuses on raising awareness of emotions, sensations and associations
as they arise and influence your body, mind and experience of the present moment.
In a Gestalt session, I will invite you to attend to where and how you may
be interrupting contact with your feelings, thoughts, sensations, and the environment.
I can help you become more present to the moment and to your own creative potential
to problem-solve.
what to expect
I offer an initial 15-minute telephone consultation or brief
email exchange before we begin therapy. Individual sessions are one hour long.
(Couples often request an hour and a half.) I am interactive and collaborate
with you in setting the agenda for the session.
Sometimes the problem you
come in with can be unblocked in one or two sessions. Sometimes a series of
weekly or biweekly sessions is beneficial. You will quickly discover which
feels right for you.
Between sessions I may offer you a piece of homework to
try out. This often takes the form of a small experiment designed to support
your exploration of a new pattern, a step in a direction you've identified
as desirable but haven't yet taken.
The following session, I will ask for your feedback on the experiment.
my strengths as a therapist
Among my strengths as a therapist are my 13 years of professional
experience, my humour and empathy, my ability to quickly intuit the underlying
issues and emotions that may be contributing to your difficulty. I am direct
but never a basher. I am creative and non-judging. My consulting room is airy,
large and informal.
I maintain strict confidentiality.
my mediation practice
I mediate estate
matters in dispute, in consultation with my father, the Honourable Joseph Sheard
Q.C., retired Superior Court judge. We have been co-mediating estates cases
since 1998. Our settlement rate is slightly over 77%.
what does a certified mediator do?
I look at each party's position in the dispute for places in which
each might compromise. I look too for those hidden issues or emotionally-charged
grievances which cannot be resolved through legal means but can be, successfully,
in mediation.
In a successful mediation, both parties go away feeling they've
given ground in order to get to yes. What they receive in return is an agreement
that usually takes effect immediately, an end to legal costs and relief from
anticipation of the uncertain outcome of a court decision (and possible appeal)
and the emotional stress of preparing for trial.
Mediation is cost-effective.
A mediator's hourly fee is usually considerably lower than that which the
attending lawyers are charging their clients.
Privately, I also do couple
mediation — excluding custody and access issues.
