Colette’s career in the social services began 13 years ago and since then, she has worked in various settings with many different populations, such as disordered eating, mental health, HIV/AIDS, employment counseling, family education and parenting support. While Youth and Family Therapy is her area of focus, she also works with children, adults and couples addressing a variety of personal issues, such as substance use, grief and loss, relationships, personal development, anxiety and depression. Colette possesses a B.A. in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria and a M.Ed. in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia.

Colette believes that change occurs when one begins to develop acceptance and compassion for oneself. She believes that emotions are an important source of information that can teach us much about who we are and what we value. Colette believes that our development is strongly influenced by significant relationships in our lives, especially those in our family of origin. She maintains that our experiences in these relationships often lead to core beliefs about ourselves. Colette takes a psychodynamic and person-centered approach, drawing on mindfulness-based and expressive art psychotherapies as well as emotion-focused, compassion-focused, and family systems theories.