AEDP & IFS Therapy

Serving Durham Region, Ajax, and Whitby

“I feel enriched when I can truly prize or care for or love another person and when I can let that feeling flow out to that person.”

 

Carl Rogers

In-Person/Virtual/Phone Individual Psychotherapy Sessions: 50 mins

  • My approach is warm, collaborative, and deeply attuned to your unique story. Whether you’re navigating spiritual wounds, identity shifts, burnout, or anxiety that doesn’t match how capable you appear, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I aim to help you feel more grounded, more connected to yourself, and more able to move through life with clarity and intention.
  • I am accepting NEW Clients. 


*For virtual clients: Within Ontario Only

Virtual and In-person Group Therapy Sessions: COMING SOON

In-person Sessions NOW AVAILABLE In Whitby. My office space is physically located at BeWell Therapy 4-214 Dundas Street East 2nd Floor, Whitby ON, L1N 2H8
BeWell In-Person Booking

“It’s the relationship that heals.”

Irvin D. Yalom

My approach

I became a therapist because I know what it’s like reach specific points in my life and ask, “who am I now”? For years, I was showing up and caring for others, juggling work full-time and school part-time, aiming and achieving high, yet all the while on the inside, I was overwhelmed, anxious, stretched thin, and quietly falling apart. I also have had my own share of grief, a loss of a career identity, a future dream that didn’t happen, at the same time, feeling less than within my faith community because I was told that I just needed to pray more. That journey led me here, to a vocation dedicated to offering a non-judgemental space where clients like you can explore the parts of themselves that often feel unseen, misunderstood, or difficult to name. Together, we’ll make sense of your experiences, process grief that has been carried alone, and gently reconnect you with who you are.

What I discovered along the way was that my worth was not defined by my status. As a first-generation born in Canada, I was consumed with achieving high because I felt indebted to my parents who came to a country to give us a better life. This experience shaped how I approach therapy today. I understand how it can feel like you’ve lost yourself while holding everything together for everyone else and others’ expectations. I know that sense of feeling profoundly alone and a lack of truly belonging. And yet, I’ve learned that there is still hope and restoration even in the uncertainty and even in the moments of brokenness of my life. That’s why I focus on providing somatic support for managing anxiety, grief, rebuilding your authentic identity and spiritual trauma. I help clients who struggle with worry or that they are the problem to a place of feeling inner calm and self-compassion. Because I believe that healing starts from within and that you don’t have to do it alone.

I believe that lasting change happens when we understand the roots of our patterns and not just manage the symptoms. As a result of my formal training, I draw from modalities such as Accelerated Experiential Psychotherapy (Level 2) and Internal Family Systems (Level 1), but I am not rigid about technique. What matters is most is what works for you. In our work together, we’ll explore the experiences that shaped how you see yourself and the world, the patterns that once protected you but now hold you back, and the parts of yourself that you’re learned to hide or reject. This isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about the belief that every human being possesses an innate drive towards healing, under conditions of safety, and together working to transform traumatic and emotional suffering towards growth and a deep compassion for self and others. If you’re ready for more than surface-level work, I’d love to support you.

What is the AEDP Model of Psychotherapy?

AEDP was founded and developed by Diana Fosha, PhD. This model was stemmed from attachment theory, body-focused therapies and the belief that all people have the capacity to heal from the get-go. AEDP is experiential and aims to alleviate psychological suffering by aiding to process overwhelming emotions associated with trauma.  The goal is to facilitate corrective emotional and relational experiences that foster positive changes in our brains.  AEDP focuses on trauma processing and healing transformation and the crucial factors is the psychotherapeutic relationship and undoing aloneness.  The AEDP model of psychotherapy:
  • Is transdiagnostic, i.e., it can effectively treat trauma, depression, emotion dysregulation, negative thoughts, experiential avoidance and interpersonal problems
  • Establishes a therapeutic relationship of safety and trust
  • Enhances positive functioning such as self-compassion, well-being, and self-esteem in both therapist and client
(Diana Fosha, AEDP Institute, https://aedpinstitute.org/about-aedp-psychotherapy/)

I also firmly believe that there are no such things as “bad emotions” nor “bad parts” of us. Every emotion such as anger, fear, guilt, and shame is welcome in our therapy space. My approach is also through Internal Family Systems (IFS) and I have completed Level 1 Training with the IFS Institute In December 2025.

what is the ifs model of pSYchotherapy?

IFS was founded and developed by Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D. Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a powerful and transformative approach that views every person as made up of a system of inner parts—some protective, some wounded—guided by a core Self. IFS holds that the mind is naturally multiple, and that this inner diversity is not only normal, but beneficial. Like members of a family, our parts are often pushed into extreme roles in response to life’s challenges, yet each holds inherent value. At the center of this internal system is the Self—an undamaged, wise, and healing presence that exists in everyone.

While IFS is widely used as an evidence-based psychotherapy to help individuals access, understand, and heal their inner parts, it is much more than a clinical method. IFS offers a deeply compassionate, non-pathologizing framework for personal growth, emotional healing, and relational understanding. By reconnecting people with their Self and helping them lead their parts with care, IFS fosters both inner harmony and outer connection.

Beyond the therapy room, IFS has broad applications across many fields. Its principles are embraced by professionals in bodywork, mediation, education, coaching, spirituality, and more. 

Grounded in the qualities of the 8 Cs—calm, clarity, curiosity, compassion, confidence, courage, creativity, and connectedness—IFS provides a path toward greater Self leadership in all areas of life.

The mission of the IFS Institute is to bring more Self-led leadership into the world—one person, one system at a time.

(Richard Schwartz, IFS Institute, https://ifs-institute.com/ )

SouthEast Asian & filipino Trauma Informed Therapy

As a Filipina therapist, I understand that healing doesn’t happen in isolation from culture, history, or spirit. I work with Southeast Asian clients—especially those from the Filipino community—who carry complex layers of trauma shaped by colonization, migration, family expectations, and cultural silence.

In our sessions, I bring a deeply compassionate, culturally attuned lens that acknowledges how things like racial and gender-based discrimination, transphobia, emotional and physical abuse, immigration stress, and intergenerational family trauma live in both the mind and body. I also understand the quiet pain of being a first-generation child expected to carry the dreams and burdens of those who came before you.

I integrate Internal Family Systems (IFS) and AEDP to support you in healing from these layers. IFS helps you connect with different parts of yourself—especially those shaped by shame, loyalty, or survival—and access your core Self: the part of you that holds wisdom, compassion, and strength. AEDP offers a way to gently explore emotions and transform suffering into resilience, all within the safety of a supportive relationship.

My approach recognizes the deep and often unspoken pain carried across generations—shaped by colonial history, immigration, family roles, and the tension between cultural values and Western systems.

I specialize in working with individuals who are navigating:Racial, gender, and transgender discrimination

  • Physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse
  • Immigration and acculturation stress
  • First-generation identity and pressure
  • Intergenerational trauma and family dynamics
  • Guilt, obligation, and coping rooted in cultural survival
  • Internalized colonialism and cultural disconnection
  • Racial, gender, and transgender discrimination

My goal is to offer a space where you don’t have to over-explain your cultural experience, where your spiritual life is welcomed, and where healing honors both your pain and your power. You’re not alone in this work—and you don’t have to carry it all the way your ancestors did.