Clinical Faculty Members and PSC Staff

I supervise the treatment and assessment of adult clients. My approach to psychotherapy is psychodynamic, which essentially means the exploration of emotional and interpersonal themes in a person’s life, often with reference to previous relational experiences and trauma. I am also happy to use other therapeutic approaches whenever appropriate. Reviewing psychotherapy recordings plays an important role in my supervision. For assessment work, I tend to focus on psychodiagnostic assessments, including those involving the use of projective tests.

Prior to moving to the university in 2014, I was a hospital psychologist for 19 years where my primary work involved inpatient consultation and outpatient assessment. This previous work contributed to an interest in major psychopathology and personality disorders.

Theoretical orientation
I was trained in psychodynamic, client-centered, and cognitive-behavioral therapies. I currently teach and practice primarily using a process-oriented form of therapy that emphasizes the therapeutic alliance, empathy, acceptance, behavioral experiments, the use of metaphor, and Socratic questioning. Adjunct strategies I use depend on the particular client, but may include relaxation, exposure, and mindfulness training.

Client problems and types I supervise

• Age range – 18 and up.
• Numbers – typically 5 individual clients, or 4 individual and a couple for therapy.
• Formats – Prefer individual. Willing to also supervise group and couple.
• Client problems – willing to supervise most anything except psychosis, addiction, borderline pd, antisocial pd.
• Strengths - supervising clients with anxiety and depression as well as grieving, health concerns, and identity issues.
• Assessment – typically you will need to arrange with another supervisor to obtain assessment supervision.

Supervisory style
My main goals are to create a positive, safe learning environment for you and competent service delivery to clients. To achieve this I provide 120 minutes per week of supervision in which I emphasize the following:

1.  A supervision contract in which we spell out our mutual expectations. In general I expect you and I to be open to feedback, prepared for and able to make good use of supervision, and maintaining high ethical and professional standards in our work together.
2. I value trust and safety in the supervision relationship to allow for honest, open learning.
3. I provide opportunities to watch me work (e.g., doing intakes).
4. I encourage your taking ownership of your learning including setting the agenda to ensure your learning needs are met and engaging in regular self-assessment.
5. I emphasize opportunities for experiential learning (see #7 below). I encourage self-reflection and goal-setting to deepen learning.
6. The format used is typically individual supervision though I have also used group when circumstances permit. Observation of your work via recording (or live) is an important component of supervision.
7. Supervision techniques I use: providing feedback on therapy recordings, modeling alternative responses, and using role-play to practice new responses homework to develop knowledge (reading, self-assessment through observing own recordings), and case discussion.

Students who complete general practica under my supervision typically see 4 or 5 individual adult and older adult psychotherapy clients, and complete 1 adult assessment. Sometimes the assessment is done within the context of therapy (e.g., self-report measures to inform the conceptualization) and sometimes it is the focus of the referral (e.g., clinician administered measures of intellectual functioning, memory, and achievement to determine if the client as a learning disability). With respect to psychotherapy, students will learn to conceptualize client problems and conduct therapy using cognitive behavioral therapies with a focus on third-wave therapies such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

Students with whom I supervise will meet with me for at least 90 minutes per week, with individual supervision consisting of discussion of client issues, role playing, and viewing videotape of therapy sessions.

I supervise students interested in therapeutic assessment to address psychodiagnostic referral questions. Therapeutic assessment goes beyond traditional psychological assessment, as it aims to actively engage clients in the assessment process and foster a collaborative relationship. Students learn to utilize assessment to understand clients' concerns, develop treatment plans and inform therapeutic interventions. In addition to therapeutic assessment, students also learn Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) while working with two adult clients. CBT is an empirically supported approach characterized by teaching coping skills that address maladaptive cognitions, behaviours and physiological responses that maintain or worsen psychopathology. 

My supervision style emphasizes skill-building, client-centred approaches and professional development. I encourage students to gain a solid understanding of CBT, including treatment planning and tailored interventions. Throughout supervision, I expect students to demonstrate client-centred approaches, collaborating with clients to set treatment goals and showing empathy, warmth and acceptance. Students are guided to use CBT techniques to support client growth, emphasizing assessment measures in therapy to focus on goal setting, inform case formulation and treatment planning and continuously assess progress and change during therapy.

Supervision includes individual and group sessions. Individual meetings provide personalized feedback and support, while group sessions foster open discussions and responsiveness to feedback. Students are expected to actively engage with assigned readings and come prepared with therapy recordings and specific questions. Self-care is promoted for students' well-being and effectiveness. Encouraging professionalism, non-judgmental attitudes and respect, I aim to create a supportive learning environment for students to grow and develop their clinical skills effectively.
 

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and a Registered Clinical Psychologist with the Psychological Association of Manitoba, with competencies in Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology, working with adult and older adult populations in individual and group intervention, assessment, and clinical research.

Students completing general practica under my supervision at the Psychological Service Centre typically work with approximately 4 individual adult and older adult clients with a range of presenting problems. In line with my areas of expertise, students focus on adult psychopathology which may include issues involving health psychology, perinatal mental health, and aging and mental health. My approach to treatment is integrative and evidence-based. Therapeutic orientations that may be used under my supervision include cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, cognitive processing therapy, client-centered therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy strategies, emotion-focused therapy, motivational interviewing, psychodynamic psychotherapy, stress-management, and solution-focused therapy.

In addition to individual intervention, students are provided with opportunities for involvement in assessment and group intervention. I have developed interventions targeted toward pregnant and postpartum people experiencing anxiety (Overcoming Anxiety in Pregnancy and Postpartum Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Group Program), as well as older adults experiencing loneliness and co-occurring mental health problems (The CONNECT Program). These interventions are offered in a variety of formats and in collaboration with community organizations. Students are typically provided with opportunity for involvement in these initiatives.

The primary goals of my supervision are to ensure client welfare and quality service delivery, promote supervisee competency development, and achieve the above goals in a manner consistent with professional standards, ethics, and site-specific regulations/requirements. My approach to supervision is developmental, tailored to the student’s level of professional development. Group supervision is the primary mode of my supervision, with one individual and one group hour dedicated to each student per week. Methods of supervision will include in-vivo supervision, review of video-recordings, review of case descriptions, and review of chart notes and reports.

In initial supervision meetings, I review referrals with my students. Students then complete semi-structured individual intake interviews with referrals. Following the intake interview, the student and I engage in case conceptualization and treatment planning.

Trainees are expected to have read and to conform their professional decision-making and behaviour in accordance with the Canadian Psychological Association Code of Ethics and Practice Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services.

My supervision approach typically involves training in group and individual therapy techniques to address family mental health needs. Practicum students may gain experience with child, youth and/or and adult (parent) clients. Students typically have the opportunity to lead or co-lead mental health or parenting groups with families holding a diversity of experiences across gender-orientation, cultural, and racial/ethnic lenses and are frequently encouraged to reflect on their own positionality.

Regarding therapeutic orientations, students will learn to conceptualize client needs and conduct therapy that combines an emphasis on emotion-focused behavioral orientations (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Parent Skills Training) and attend to incorporating mindfulness, self-compassion, and relational elements.

With respect to assessment, students are typically involved in psychodiagnostic semi-structured assessments but there may also be an opportunity for intellectual functioning, executive function, and academic achievement assessments.

My supervision sessions include a focus of both group didactics and supervision (60 - 120 minutes / week) with additional individual supervision as needed. Supervision may include discussion of client needs, live supervision, co-leading of groups, and video supervision. Senior practicum students may also have the opportunity to co-supervise and train more junior students.

Intervention Approach & Theoretical Orientation:
My primary training, and thus the primary approaches that I supervise in training therapists, involve process-oriented acceptance and mindfulness-based therapies. This mostly involves methods considered under the categories of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)-Informed therapies. I also use strategies often considered part of more traditional cognitive-behavioural therapies (CBT) including relaxation training and exposure-based methods.
 
Assessments:
With regards to psychological assessments, I primarily supervise adult neurodevelopmental assessments. Most frequently these involve diagnostic assessments regarding possible intellectual disabilities, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and related neurodivergence.
 
Client characteristics and format of services I typically supervise:
Age range and additional characteristics: Currently I supervise therapy and assessments for clients ages 18 and up (i.e., adult). As a queer, neurodivergent clinician, I also especially work with (and thus supervise students in working with) neurodivergent adults and 2SLGTBQIA+ folks (and within the latter group especially gay men or individuals with intersecting neurodivergent identity).
 
Numbers and format: I typically supervise individual therapy for 3 to 5 clients, and 1 assessment. However, opportunities may be available for additional assessments if requested by the student (which may or may not mean taking less therapy clients, depending on the nature of the assessment). I do not normally supervise family, couple, or group therapy (typically you will need to arrange with another supervisor to obtain supervision in these formats), although I do supervise behavioural parent training.
 

I offer a general practicum experience to provide students with the opportunity to work with children and families. Identified clients range in age from infancy to young adulthood, with a focus on early childhood. At times, I also offer a specialty practicum or secondary contract in this area. This practicum experience is expected to continue over two terms. Each student would see three to four identified child clients for therapy, and one to two clients for comprehensive (cognitive and social-emotional) psychological assessment. Concerns bringing children to therapy include aggression, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, family conflict, developmental delays, elimination issues and/or eating or sleeping problems. In general, an attachment-focused, family systems perspective is employed in conceptualizing difficulties in families and co-operative work with families is emphasized over individual work with children in order to support these bonds. At times, child-centred play therapy, parental guidance, and acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive-behavioural therapy will be used in addition to attachment-focused therapies.

Supervision varies based on the need of the student, but would typically be comprised of 2 hours of group supervision weekly, along with one to two other students. Individual supervision will be provided as needed. Supervision will initially be comprised of readings and discussion to orient students to work with children. As the practicum proceeds, the focus will move to case discussions centred on student’s questions and concerns. Some live supervision (observation through the one-way mirror) and co-therapy will be provided when possible.