Services Available

Individual counselling provides the opportunity for people to explore past and present issues which may be impacting their life and relationships today.  Counselling can enable people to explore their emotions and thoughts in a supportive, safe environment.  It can also provide guidance for people as they explore better ways of coping with and responding to troubling issues in their life.

Issues that can be addressed in Individual Counselling are:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress Management
• Anger Management
• Self-esteem
• Abuse Issues
• Relationship Issues
• Women’s Issues
• Trauma
• Grief and Loss

Couple/Marriage counselling provides the opportunity for couples to explore their relationship patterns in a safe supportive environment.    Relationship counselling helps to foster healthy and open communication skills in the context of each unique relationship.

All couples will have disagreements occasionally.  It is inevitable in light of the differing personalities and histories we bring into our relationships.  The difference between happily married couples and couples who are struggling is not whether they have conflict but how they manage it. Learning how to navigate conflict well, communicate needs and deal with sensitive issues in a relationship can be an empowering process for couples.

Other issues such as growing apart, rebuilding trust, and dealing with infidelity can also be addressed in counselling.

Depending on the couple, counselling can address a broad range of issues such as

• Expectations in the relationship
• Improving communication
• Emotional intimacy
• Managing conflict  and disagreements well
• Building of trust
• Dealing with infidelity

Ling is also available for seminars and Workshops.

Some topics she has spoken on include:

• Relaxation and Mindfulness
• Understanding the Journey of Grief
• Understanding Depression
• Understanding Stress and Managing it Better
• Managing Anger
• Setting Boundaries in Relationships
• Understanding the Mother/Daughter Relationship
• Boundaries in our Relationships

Our Approach

Schema Therapy is an integrative therapeutic approach developed to assist with dealing with complex problems. It draws heavily on attachment theory, recognizing that early relationships in our life and how our emotional needs were met will often impact us deeply as adults. It combines cognitive behavior therapy, psychodynamic, attachment therapy and gestalt therapy. Schema therapy recognizes the importance of the therapeutic relationship and encourages clients to develop an understanding of how early emotional and relational experiences continue to impact them as adults in their relationships, mood, confidence and choices. Change is developed through a combination of psycho-education, emotionally focused work, and focused strategies that encourage new behavior. Ling strongly uses this approach as a framework for therapy.

Psychodynamic approach is a therapeutic approach that focuses on helping to develop an understanding of behavior and recurring themes such as thoughts, feeling, self-perception, relationships and choices. It focuses more on developing a deeper emotional understanding of their problems rather than on just an intellectual one. Emotions are encouraged to be explored in a safe, non-judgmental environment. Clients develop an understanding of how early experiences continue to impact us with a goal of breaking the bonds of the past so new patterns can develop.

Self-Psychology is a branch of the psychodynamic approach which emphasizes empathy and relationship. Rather than trying to change the client’s emotional experiences, therapy focuses on understanding the client’s experiences from an accepting and empathic perspective.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is a structured approach focusing on developing positive changes to thoughts and behavioural patterns that impact our life. It is a short-term, focused therapeutic approach and is well suited to issues such as stress management, phobias and anxiety.

Rational Emotive Therapy is a branch of cognitive behavior therapy. It is structured and focused on identifying negative or unhelpful thought patterns and challenging them. The focus is on developing more balanced thought patterns that will positively influence emotional patterns.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy is focused on understanding problems from an interpersonal and relational perspective. The focus is less on thoughts and behaviours and more on reducing symptoms through improved interpersonal functioning and social support.

Mindfulness is a technique often used to improve self-awareness, particularly in the body and mind. It can slow us down so we are less reactive and more attune to ourselves. It can help us be less judgmental of our own internal reactions and emotions and more accepting of ourselves.