About Charlie

Hi, I'm Charlie!

Heal beyond coping—so you can feel more grounded, connected, and yourself again.

I work with adults struggling to calm down, let go of overthinking, or break out of the same painful patterns — in relationships, in how they see themselves, or in how their body feels day to day. That can look like racing thoughts, feeling stuck in the same relationship or family conflict, low self-worth, or physical symptoms like burnout, chronic pain, or fatigue that never fully resolve. My work focuses on nervous system regulation — helping your body actually feel calm and safe, not just understand why it isn't — while also healing what's rooted in the past.

Book Your Free 15-Minute Consultation

You might be here because...

✓ You're exhausted from constantly overthinking.

✓ You've learned to survive—but not how to truly feel safe.

✓ Your body feels stuck in stress, even when your mind knows you're okay.

✓ You're carrying trauma that still affects your relationships today.

✓ Burnout has left you feeling disconnected from yourself.

✓ Chronic pain or health challenges seem closely tied to stress.

You don't have to keep carrying it alone. Book A Consult Now.

Areas of Expertise

Trauma & PTSD

Trauma isn't just something that happened in the past — it's something that can still live in your nervous system, showing up as hypervigilance, emotional flooding, dissociation, or a persistent sense of being unsafe even when you're not in danger. I work with clients experiencing PTSD, complex trauma, and unresolved traumatic experiences, using nervous-system-informed and EMDR-based approaches to help your body and brain fully process what happened — not just talk about it. The goal isn't to relive your trauma in session, but to help your system finally register that it's over.

Neurodivergent Support

I offer neurodivergent-affirming therapy for ADHD, autistic, and otherwise neurodivergent adults — support that starts from the understanding that your brain isn't broken, it's wired differently. Rather than pushing neurotypical coping strategies that don't fit, we build tools that work with your nervous system, sensory needs, and executive functioning style. This is informed both by specialized training in neurodivergent-affirming trauma care and by my own lived experience of coming to understand my own neurodivergence.

Nervous System & Somatic Regulation

Many clients come to me after years of talk therapy that helped them understand their patterns intellectually but didn't change how their body responds in the moment. Somatic and nervous-system-based work closes that gap — using body awareness, breath, and polyvagal-informed techniques to help you actually feel regulated, not just know what regulation should look like. This approach is especially effective for anxiety, chronic stress, panic, and trauma responses that live in the body as much as the mind.

Stress, Burnout & Physical Symptoms

Chronic stress and burnout don't stay in your head — they show up in the body as fatigue, IBS, chronic pain, high cortisol, tension, and sleep disruption. I work with clients whose mental health struggles have a strong physical component, treating the mind and body as one interconnected system rather than addressing symptoms in isolation. If you've already tried to "manage" the stress and it keeps coming back, this work looks at what's happening underneath it.

Relationship & Family Patterns

If you keep ending up in the same kind of conflict, distance, or dynamic — in romantic relationships, friendships, or family — that repetition is usually rooted in something learned early and reinforced over time. I help clients recognize these stuck relational and family patterns, understand where they came from, and build the emotional regulation and self-awareness needed to respond differently going forward.

Identity, Life Transitions & LGBTQIA+ Affirming Care

Major life transitions — career change, relationship shifts, becoming a parent, questioning identity — often bring up more than logistics; they can surface grief, anxiety, or a disorientation around who you are. I provide an affirming, informed space for LGBTQIA+, transgender, and non-binary clients navigating identity and transition, alongside anyone facing a significant life change, so you don't have to figure out the emotional side of it alone.

Therapeutic Approaches & Modalities

My work draws from multiple evidence-based frameworks, chosen based on what each client's nervous system and goals call for.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

EMDR is a structured, evidence-based approach that helps your brain reprocess distressing or traumatic memories so they no longer feel as overwhelming or "stuck" in the present. Using guided eye movements, we help move memories from a place of raw, unresolved pain into something you can recall without being flooded by it. It's often used for trauma and PTSD, but can also support anxiety, grief, and deeply rooted negative beliefs about yourself.

Nervous System / Polyvagal-Informed Therapy

This approach is grounded in the understanding that your body is always responding — not just to what's happening now, but to what has happened to you in the past. Rather than only talking about what's distressing, we work directly with your nervous system, building your ability to notice when you're activated or shut down, and to guide yourself back to a sense of calm and safety. Over time, this creates more choice in how you respond to life's challenges, instead of getting stuck in old survival patterns.

Neurodivergent-Affirming Trauma Care

Trauma care that assumes a "typical" brain and body can miss — or even harm — neurodivergent clients. This approach honours how ADHD, autism, and other forms of neurodivergence shape how you experience emotion, regulation, sensory input, and relationships, and adapts care accordingly rather than asking you to fit a standard mould. The goal isn't to change how your brain works — it's to help you heal from trauma while feeling genuinely understood and accepted as you are.

Body-Mind / Somatic Approaches

Somatic therapy recognizes that healing isn't only a thinking process — it also lives in the body. Rather than staying purely in reflection and conversation, this work incorporates body awareness, breath, and physical sensation to help release what's been held in the body and support its natural ability to heal. This can be especially powerful for trauma, chronic stress, and physical symptoms that haven't fully resolved through talk therapy alone.

I often describe our work like tending a garden with an invasive plant taking root. Top-down work is trimming what's visible — the coping tools. Bottom-up work is digging out the roots. We do both, so the garden has room to breathe and bloom again.

What Makes Me Different

Nervous-System-Informed Care

Calming down isn't just something I talk about in session — it's the foundation of how I work. Rather than relying only on insight and conversation, I use nervous-system-based techniques to help your body actually feel safe and settled, so change happens in how you feel, not just what you understand.

Neurodivergent-Affirming

My understanding of ADHD- and neurodivergent-affirming care comes from both specialized training and my own experience of coming to understand my own neurodivergence. That means care that adapts to how your brain actually works — your sensory needs, your focus style, your way of processing — instead of asking you to fit a "typical" mould.

Holistic, Intersectional Lens

I see your mental health as connected to everything around you — your relationships, culture, financial stress, race, gender, sexuality, and past experiences. This big-picture view shapes how I understand what you're going through, even when we're not naming every factor directly in session.

Cross-Cultural, International Background

Fifteen years working across Canada and internationally, including eight consecutive years living in the Middle East, have shaped a deep respect for cultures and worldviews beyond my own. That background, alongside training in human rights and social work, directly informs how I show up as a culturally responsive therapist.

Unique Background in Breathwork

As a certified freediving instructor, I spent years teaching people how to control their breath and calm their nervous system underwater — training that directly inspired my move into psychotherapy. That hands-on understanding of breath and the mind-body connection now shapes how I help clients build the same skills in the therapy room.

Evidence-Based, Body-Led Healing

I'm trained in scientifically grounded, evidence-based approaches, including EMDR, chosen specifically because they support your body's own natural ability to heal. The goal isn't just coping strategies — it's real, lasting change, working with the wisdom your body already carries.

Beyond the Therapy Room

Nature has been one of my greatest teachers. Outside of sessions, you'll usually find me hiking, harvesting wild food, or freediving — often with the people I love. It's where I practice, in my own life, the same regulation and presence I bring into the therapy room.

Language and Accessibility

I currently offer therapy in English. I'm glad to be part of a team that also offers Mandarin, Cantonese, and French, so more clients can access care in their first language.

Book with a French-Speaking Therapist 预约普通话心理咨询师

Let's Talk About Whether We're a Good Fit

Finding the right therapist matters. A free 15-minute consultation is a no-pressure way to see whether working together feels right. If it's not the right fit, I'll help you find someone who is.