My journey began in a home where chaos was normal. Here, I learned to contain my emotions and to keep it deep inside. Expressions of anger and shame were seen as acts of love. Growing up in this environment, I learned to hide away what wasn’t accepted; it kept me safe and protected - and I depended on it for survival.
At 13 years old, hiding who I was amplified after losing the only person whom I shared these childhood experiences with. From there, I unknowingly built a narrative about the world:
Life is unfair and unjust.
People are untrustworthy and dangerous.
It’s not okay to be seen.
To get through life, a part of me held up a facade; one that would keep me away from confronting my reality. That he was gone, and I was alone.
I had built an armour that kept me safe and hidden from others.
But, like two sides of the same coin, the very thing that protects us can also hurt us the most.
I was detached from the world, others, and many times, with myself. It was isolating and exhausting. Often, the wash of loneliness that took over my body was paralyzing and scary.
Hi, I’m Renée. It’s nice to meet you!
I started to wonder if life was always going to be like this and I grew curious:
What was all of this armour for?
Who was I protecting?
Who am I without the armour?
Gently, I opened myself up to the curiosity and let myself take a piece of the armour off. Underneath was place that held all the pain of the child I had been. As I stayed with her, the memories, fear, wishes and pain she held were expressed and felt.
Piece by piece, as it was express, as it was felt, the pain released and the healing became an exploration of the wounded child within me. The more I welcomed her in, the more there was ease and stillness within. The more it was okay to hold her in the pain.
In unmasking and being with these vulnerable places inside, we build a new and different relationship with parts of us. One that connects us internally, and in turn, transforms us outwardly.
There is peace in reclaiming the parts of us we’ve had to disown and turn away from - it allows us to embody ourselves wholly.
The energy that once embodied my instinct to hide, now fuels my passion to help myself and others discover parts within and show up as a whole.
I believe that change and transformations are always possible. And, it starts with the relationship we are most familiar with: Our relationship with ourselves.
MY PHILOSOPHY
I believe that who we are is often buried beneath the patterns, habits, and ways of being we’ve had to take on in order to adapt to the world around us. And while that’s a great way to keep us safe and protected, we lose parts of ourselves along the way.
I also believe that doesn’t have to be that way. That we can reconnect to the things that make us us, and in so doing, move from just getting by, to living in wholeness as ourself.
MY CAREER
My personal experience with mental health inspired me to pursue a career in the field. I received my Master of Education in Counselling Psychology at the University of Toronto and am registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
Since graduating, I have continued to deepen my knowledge base, and am trained in EMDR, DBR, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Ego State Therapy and Emotion Focused Therapy. In addition to these modalities, I integrate a blend of attachment theory and structural dissociation theory into my practice.
MY EXPERTISE
Anxiety
Depression
Trauma
Relationship Attachment & Concerns
Dissociation
MY PASSIONS
Grief & Loss
Dissociation
People Pleasing Patterns
Attachment & Developmental Trauma
PTSD & Complex PTSD
Life Transitions
Highly Sensitive People
APPROACHES I INTEGRATE
I use a blend of approaches to tailor treatment to your system’s needs. We should never need to fit into a box, but rather, pivot when it doesn’t fit. Because when one door closes, another opens.
What feels supportive at one point in your life may shift as you grow, heal, or come to understand yourself in new ways. Life ebbs and flows, and our work together should too.
