Hi there and welcome to my therapy page! I am a Yoga Instructor and Psychotherapist, RP. As a registered practitioner, I am regulated by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) and trained in Spiritual Psychotherapy at the Transformational Arts College. My aim is to help you to move from a place of limitation, pain or confusion, to one of possibility, clarity and choice.

Who i work with:

I support adults and older adolescents with cognitive and emotional issues such as:

• Anxiety, Depression, Emotional and Cognitive Disturbances ( such as Distorted, Negative and Obsessive Thinking)

• Codependency, Behavioural Issues, Emotional Eating, Low Self-Esteem

• Childhood Abuse and Neglect (both Physical and Emotional)

• Trauma and PTSD, Poor Coping, Living or Social Skills, Traumatic Brain Injury

• Family Conflict, Relationship Issues

• Grief and Loss, Spirituality

My goal is to guide you to greater self-understanding/compassion and empower you to create your own strategies and solutions towards making positive change. I believe everyone can benefit from working with a therapist; a chance to talk openly and confidentially with someone who’s sole intent is to form a therapeutic alliance with you, about you and for your wellbeing. The therapeutic journey is a path to insight, healing and growth that can help to improve your relationships (firstly to yourself and then with others) and lead you to a more fulfilling and joyful life.  

what i do:

With a background in Trauma-Informed Yoga and Spiritual Psychotherapy, I offer:

• a Client-Centred, Holistic approach

• Body-oriented Psychotherapy using Therapeutic Yoga, Focussing (Eugene Gendlin) & Somatic Processing /Somatic Inquiry

• Nervous System Regulation through the above systems as well as Polyvagal Theory/Vagal Toning, Mindfulness and Breathwork

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and some aspects of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

• Inner Child Work and Internal Family Systems (IFS), commonly known as “Parts Work”

• EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, to reprocess traumatic memories and desensitize their related responses

Prior to training in Psychotherapy, I graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours Degree in BSc. Psychology followed by years of studying and practicing alternative healing arts such Yoga, Mindfulness, Reiki, Thai Massage, and channelling Core Pattern Readings. I often weave yoga philosophy, mindfulness and the mind-body connection into my therapy sessions.

therapeutic relationship:

I encourage a collaborative and creative process between client and therapist; one that engages all aspects of the Self so that relief will be experienced on emotional, physical, and spiritual planes.  In our partnership, I begin by learning about you and gaining an empathic understanding of  what factors have contributed to both your current mental/emotional state and the deeper patterns at play. I am committed to supporting you as you explore and dissect these patterns and create a personal action plan towards positive and sustainable choices. I encourage self-reflection and might challenge you to notice your ‘blind spots’ (for example, how you might be contributing to your suffering by falling into old patterns) and I promote self-acceptance and accountability.

I’m happy to offer a free phone consultation to see if we would be a good fit and to help get us started.

FEES

• Cost per Session: $150.00

Paid By: E-transfer, Paypal, Square (4% fee on Paypal/Square transactions)

Most insurance benefits plans now cover Psychotherapy. I am RPQ, registered with CRPO. License #: 007965

*Please note, I am currently offering video-conferencing and telephone sessions only. For video calls, I use a secure PHIPA-compliant platform that provides a simple link to the virtual waiting room to our session. Please ensure you have a strong enough wifi connection to facilitate this process. A telephone call is also an option. **

Additional Offerings outside of my scope of practice in therapy:

• Core Pattern Readings: Channelling, clearing and integrating the deepest karmic story in your soul’s past life that has created a wound or samskara showing up as limitation in your current life time. This is a 2 session reading so that integration can effectively occur and continue after the clearing. For more information on Core Pattern Readings, click here.

• Distance Reiki Healing sessions: Spiritually guided energy transfer that stimulates the body’s healing response. More info here.

• The above Reiki sessions can be tailored to include the following processes: Focussing/Mindfully Guided Reiki experience on the felt sense of, and mental/emotional connection to, energy stored in the body. Guided Visualization of Chakra Cording with energetic clearing.

  For details on the above services, please visit my Karmic Readings page!

  CONTACT:

Please fill in the form below if you’d like to inquire about becoming a client. Alternatively, you can e-mail me at stokespsychotherapy@gmail.com .

*Some email replies are heading to Junk Mail. Please check all inboxes and provide your phone number below as a secondary point of contact.*

Credentials and Training

Qualifications in Psychotherapy

• Years in Practice: 5 Years

• School: Transformational Arts College of Spiritual and Holistic Studies, Spiritual Psychotherapy Diploma

• Year Graduated: 2018

• License and Province: 007965 Ontario with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO)

Previous education & training

• Degree: Bsc. Psychology Honours, Guelph University, 2007

• Phonetics and Linguistics, York University, 2011

• Trauma Sensitive Yoga Teacher Training, 40 Hours, with David Emerson of the Trauma Center, Massachusetts

  To learn more about my background in Yoga, Wellness, and Mental Health, please visit my About Me page!

Becoming a Client

Consultation Call

You can choose to either email me or fill in the form available above and we can arrange a time to have a free 15 minute consultation call to help you decide if my services are a good match for you. During this conversation, I'll ask you some questions about yourself and what brings you to therapy and you can ask questions about me and how my practice works. At that point, we can schedule a time for a first session.

The First Session

The first meeting is an opportunity for you and me to discuss what is presenting a challenge in your life and for you to experience what it is like to work with me. This session can be anxiety-provoking and so we will start with some housekeeping about how therapy can and might go and what to expect from me in terms of support and communication. I’d like to take some intake information about your history with your well being, mental health, family life, and relationships and if we cannot get to all of this on the first call, then we can cover some more intake questions in our second session. Before the end of this first call, I hope to find out what brings you to this space and then begin setting therapeutic goals. It is important for me to know you and what your needs are. We will then book a follow-up appointment, or a series of appointments, if that is your preference.

Ongoing Counselling

After the first session, I will develop a personalized plan for your treatment that fits your needs. For example, some interventions work better than others depending on the person and their issue(s). The duration of counselling is determined through ongoing discussion and review between therapist and client. I believe weekly sessions are most affective near the beginning of therapy as I get to know you and you get to know your own process. Over time, many clients begin seeing me every-other week or less. This is always up to you. Individual sessions are 60 minutes long, however I offer a 90 minute session if you feel you’d like more time.

WHAT IS PSYCHOTHERAPY?

PSYCHOTHERAPY IS A WAY TO OVERCOME PROBLEMATIC THOUGHTS OR BEHAVIOURS and OVERWHELMING EMOTIONS.

From PsychotherapyOntario.org:

“Psychotherapy addresses personal difficulties. It allows an individual, family, or couple, to talk openly and confidentially about their concerns and feelings with a trained professional. Almost all types of psychotherapy involve developing a therapeutic relationship, communicating and creating a dialogue, and working to overcome problematic thoughts, feelings or behaviours.

Psychotherapy aims to increase an individual's  sense of wellbeing and relationships. Psychotherapists are sensitive to the client's needs and employ a wide range of skills to facilitate the client's goals.”

From the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario website:

“Psychotherapy is primarily a talk-based therapy and is intended to help people improve and maintain their mental health and well-being. Registered Psychotherapists work with individuals, couples and families in individual and group settings. Psychotherapy occurs when the Registered Psychotherapist (RP) and client enter into a psychotherapeutic relationship where both work together to bring about positive change in the client’s thinking, feeling, behaviour and social functioning. Individuals usually seek psychotherapy when they have thoughts, feelings, moods and behaviours that are adversely affecting their day-to-day lives, relationships and the ability to enjoy life.

As health care professionals, psychotherapists work in a wide range of settings. Settings include: private practice, hospitals, clinics, care facilities, rehabilitation centres/programs, employee assistance programs, universities, and more.

A psychotherapy client should be able to observe the following key elements over the course of their work with an RP:

• a conversation about the benefits, risks and expected outcome(s) of the psychotherapy and the opportunity to give their informed consent

• a clearly communicated, mutually agreed upon goal or plan for the psychotherapy

• each therapy session has a clear beginning and a clear end where problems or concerns are presented and discussed and outcomes are explored

• the Registered Psychotherapist demonstrates the appropriate use of boundaries to create a safe and confidential environment

These important elements are part of the effective client-therapist psychotherapeutic relationship that is the foundation of psychotherapy. Through this relationship, RPs are expected to:

• ensure that the client’s well-being is at the forefront of the relationship;

• work with the client(s) to gather relevant information that will support the formulation of a plan for psychotherapy;

• continuously evaluate outcomes of each session and the impact on overall treatment goal(s);

• practice safe and effective use of self throughout the psychotherapeutic process; and

• adhere to the standards of practice for the profession.

ABOUT PSYCHOTHERAPISTS

Individuals who are licensed to practice psychotherapy are called Registered Psychotherapists, or they may come from related disciplines such as psychiatry, psychology, or social work. Registered Psychotherapists are authorized to perform the controlled act of psychotherapy.

Registered Psychotherapists will be competent to use a treatment approach or modality that is part of one or more of the categories of prescribed therapies, which include:

• Cognitive and Behavioural therapies

• Experiential and Humanistic therapies

• Psychodynamic therapies

• Somatic therapies

• Systemic and Collaborative therapies

Learn more on the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario website.

What to Expect from a Registered Psychotherapist

When you seek the services of a Registered Psychotherapist, you can expect to receive competent, ethical, quality care from a qualified professional who is registered with CRPO.

CRPO registrants are accountable to the College for the quality of care they provide and for their professional conduct. Only individuals who are registered with CRPO or another psychotherapy-regulating college in Ontario are able to use the title “psychotherapist” or to hold themself out as qualified to practise as a psychotherapist in Ontario (no matter what title they use). Anyone using the title “Registered Psychotherapist”, or any abbreviation or variation thereof in any language, must be registered with CRPO.

Standards of Practise

All RPs in Ontario must follow the established standards for the profession. CRPO’s Professional Practice Standards for Registered Psychotherapists are in place so you can be assured that your psychotherapist is practising in a competent and ethical manner. The standards provide clear expectations for RPs, covering everything from professional conduct to record-keeping and documentation.

CRPO holds all Registered Psychotherapists accountable for their conduct and practise.”

Amanda’s notes on Incorporating Yoga into Psychotherapy and Psychotherapy into Yoga:

For me, this was a necessary transition. When I was teaching yoga classes or giving reiki sessions, I would often witness an emotional shift in my students/clients and with my training at the time being somewhat limited to yoga anatomy and philosophy, I lacked the skills required to properly hold space for and unpack the big emotions and cathartic releases that needed to happen (that are inevitable when we move our bodies and turn our attention inwards). Furthermore, I was seeing students with emotional trauma coming in for public yoga classes and I wanted to be sure that I knew how to support them the best way possible and make them feel safe and in control of their own bodies. I went back to school to put my BSc. Psychology to use and trained in a masters level post grad Spiritual Psychotherapy Diploma Program. I am seeing wonderful results by combining aspects from both the yoga world and the therapy world. Many people suffer from generalized anxiety and depression without having a full diagnosis or other underlying mental health issue. Without a diagnosis or a label, there is often no prescribed treatment or laid out path for our healing. Becoming body and breath aware is one entry point into self understanding (and hopefully self compassion), and psychotherapy teaches us to become aware of our thoughts, emotions and behaviours. It’s like a Top-down/Bottom-Up blend of Body to Mind to Heart. As we recognize our reactions to our own thoughts and emotions, and begin to identify where we feel those in our bodies or how they are affecting our lives (our postures, moods, attitudes, relationships, careers, etc), we can self-regulate and gain a sense of control over ourselves; moving out of a place of auto-pilot responses that are typically controlled by subconscious beliefs/feelings/patterns and into self-aware, conscious and manageable ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. -Amanda Stokes

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Victor Frankl

Nicole Sciarrino, M.A., M.S : 5 Ways to Implement Yoga in Psychotherapy

Article found on societyforpsychotherapy.org

“The benefits of cardiovascular exercise in improving physical and mental health have been known for several decades (e.g., Szbadi, 1988). More recently, the positive effects of yoga (a form of exercise that incorporates cardio) on disorders such as anxiety, depression, and other mental and physical conditions have been examined (e.g., Büssing, et al., 2012), particularly given its strong connection with mindfulness meditation, also a “hot topic” in the field of psychology.

What is Yoga?

Yoga, meaning “union,” has traditionally been associated with a mental practice aimed to achieve greater consciousness through the use of meditation and physical postures (Satchidananda, 1990). As yoga has gained increased popularity in the Western world, individuals have been driven to yoga for various reasons, often because it fosters and encourages relaxation, increased bodily strength and flexibility, and experiential presence in the current moment (i.e., mindfulness).

Multiple schools of yoga exist (e.g., vinyasa, hatha, Iyengar, Bikram, etc.), with varying emphases on breathing, meditation, postures, and strength. Each school attracts a unique type of yoga student, depending upon their goals for their practice. This may prove similar to clients seeking out varying types or orientations of therapy, depending upon their treatment goals.

Yoga is a Practice

Importantly, yoga is referred to as a practice. That is, with the exception of entering and exiting various postures in a way that avoids injury; a posture may look different from one body to the next and still be “correct.” Novice yogis often assume that if they are inflexible, then they will be unable to reap the full benefits of yoga, but it is the stretch that is most important, not flexibility. In fact, for the super bendy, the full experience of the stretch may be lost. For these individuals, there may be an added benefit to resisting the body’s natural proclivity to collapse into a certain pose.

Finding Your Edge in Yoga

Consistent with the notion that yoga is a practice, yoga classes often offer variations of each pose, thereby allowing students to choose the version that provides the appropriate challenge, referred to by many yoga teachers as “finding your edge.”

For clients, or any individual practicing yoga, the choice inherent in selecting the appropriate variation in the position provides a sense of freedom of expression and control.

Similarly, the ability to find one’s edge allows for the implementation of distress tolerance skills through the acknowledgment that a posture need only be held for a specified duration of breaths or time. This may be bolstered by the influence of Eastern philosophy in Linehan’s development of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan, 2015).

Yoga in the Therapy Room

Within the therapy context, adjunctive treatments such as yoga may provide additional improvements beyond traditional therapy alone. Incorporating yoga into treatment integrates both mind and body, creating a more holistic healing process through the teaching of mindfulness and improving client’s connectedness and awareness to their internal experience. That is, the implementation of yoga both with and without concurrent therapy, facilitates experiencing the present moment, making choices, taking effective action, and creating a moving meditation (Emerson, et al., 2011). Given the potential benefits of yoga, therapists may be interested in how yoga can be implemented into the therapy session, without requiring a personal yoga practice or completion of a yoga teacher training.

For Whom Might Yoga Be Useful to Incorporate in Therapy?

• Clients who report dissociation

• Clients who report anxiety in or outside of session (e.g., normal fidgeting up to a panic attack)

• Clients whose body language indicates guardedness (e.g., arms folded)

• Clients who report disordered eating or eating disorders

• Clients who endorse a history of prolonged abuse and/or trauma exposure

• Clients who struggle to establish rapport

• Clients who report maladaptive thoughts (e.g., “I can’t do anything right”)

• Clients who lack self-esteem

Why Does Yoga Work?

• Fosters experiential presence

• Allows clients to focus on bodily cues

• Provides an opportunity for the client to exercise choice

• Bestows a sense of self-efficacy and empowerment over one’s body, thoughts, and actions

• Provides a way for the therapist to experientially join the client in session
  5 Ways to Implement Yoga in Therapy Sessions

Below are 5 ways of implementing yoga into the therapy session. Remember, these are techniques to act as a foundation, and should be modified or adapted to your client’s unique individual needs. Much like meditation, there is no “wrong” way to do these techniques:

1. ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING

HOW TO DO IT:

Instruct the client to place their index finger on their forehead and rest their thumb and middle finger on either side of their nostrils.

Instruct the client to inhale through the right nostril while gently closing off the left nostril, then alternate their fingers to exhale out of the other nostril.

The therapist can continue with this pattern or instruct the client to complete multiple rounds of breathing with each nostril, prior to alternating in an effort to ensure that the client is present.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

Alternate nostril breathing encourages presence in that the client is listening to the instructions of the therapist regarding from which nostril they should be inhaling into or exhaling out from. This reduces the likelihood of engaging in rumination, as it can become difficult to breath without adhering to the instructions.

Additionally, the idea with this breathing technique is to pace the breathing, which can facilitate in emotion regulation. Clients may wish to discuss their experiences following the exercise, as with any of the following exercises, identifying aspects that worked well or did not adhere to their expectations, while problem-solving or troubleshooting modifications (e.g., only inhaling through the right nostril, closing off both nostrils to hold in the inhalation, exhaling out of both nostrils).

The following four ways of implementing yoga into the therapy session include physical movement. With each of the following movement sequences, inhalations and exhalations should be through the nose and clients should be encouraged to breathe into the diaphragm, allowing their belly to expand outward, rather than breathing into the chest. The physical movements serve to draw the client’s attention to both their breath and the sensations within their body (e.g., expansion of the chest, stretching of the back, twisting of torso) and may also promote relaxation. As is common in vinyasa yoga, where each movement is associated with either an inhalation or exhalation, this facilitates establishing a moving meditation and promotes relaxation and mindfulness.

Disclaimer: Before engaging in any of the physical techniques, clients should be asked about any preexisting medical conditions, and approval should be obtained from a medical professional as to whether or not it is safe for the client to engage in mild exercise. Although there is no “wrong” way to participate in these exercises, clients should be aware that with any physical exercise, injury is always possible and that they should never force their bodies to move in a certain way, or continue with any exercise if it is uncomfortable. Clients should be referred to their physicians, should there be any concerns.

2. SEATED CAT-COW

HOW TO DO IT:

The client sits towards the edge of the seat with both feet placed on the floor and with hands resting on the knees.

The client inhales through the nose, arching the spine and lifting the chin towards the sky; and exhales through the nose tucking the chin towards the chest and rounding the spine.

Encourage clients to notice how the movements of the spine can move in both directions, while guided by their breath. Complete several cycles of this.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

The seated cat-cow sequence serves to direct the client’s attention to the movements of the spine. It encourages expansion of the chest and rounding of the spine. Chest expansion may contribute to feelings of vulnerability in some clients, but encourages a depth of breath and openness. This may produce emotional distress in clients with low self-esteem, feelings of unworthiness, or fear of taking up physical space within their bodies. However, with appropriate use of distress tolerance skills and with continued practice, clients can find feelings of safety and comfort in their bodies.

3. SEATED TWIST

HOW TO DO IT:

The client sits with both feet placed on the floor. The client is asked to inhale through the nose, raising the arms from alongside of the body over the head, as if they are drawing a circle with their arms.

Throughout this sequence, the client should keep the shoulders down, and resist them from reaching up towards the ears. As the client exhales through the nose, the client twists their torso to the right, reaching for the back of the chair with the right hand, placing the left hand to the outside of the right knee, and looking over the right shoulder.

On the next inhalation, the client raises their arms back overhead while returning their torso to center. On the subsequent exhalation, the client twists their torso to the left with the left arm reaching to the back of the chair, the right arm resting on the left knee, and gazing over the left shoulder.

To complete one full cycle, the client inhales back to center with arms raised overhead. If the client is comfortable maintaining the twisted position, you can encourage them to hold the twist, lengthening the spine on the inhalation and relaxing deeper into the twist on the exhalation.

Complete several cycles of this.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

The seated twist sequence serves to direct the client’s attention to the movements of the spine and the twisting of the torso. Clients may also notice a contraction of the oblique muscles and spine on the twist. Holding the twisted position can provide clients with the opportunity to be mindful of their breath and their ability to create and take up space within the body. Due to a sense of compression during the twist, the client may have to be particularly aware of their breath in order to find space for the subsequent inhalation. In linking breath to movement and creating a flow, clients may be able to create a moving meditation.

4. SEATED FORWARD FOLD

HOW TO DO IT:

The client sits comfortable on the chair. On the inhalation in through the nose, the arms are raised up overhead.

When the client exhales out through the nose, they should extend forward from the waist allowing the torso to fall forward onto the thighs, allowing the head and arms to hang heavy towards the floor.

Inhale back to sitting upright and repeat as many cycles as desired.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

This position allows for a spinal extension from the waist, while allowing clients to observe the points of contact between the upper body and their thighs upon folding, similar to engaging in a physical grounding technique. This can serve to reinforce the mindfulness “observe” skill. Additionally, the seated forward fold may increase the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system in a way that is similar to the dive reflex, without the use of cold water as described in the “tipping the temperature” component of the TIP skill as outlined in the DBT manual (Linehan, 2015). Consequently, this pose can also facilitate in relaxation and may increase a sense of calm.

5. MOUNTAIN POSE

HOW TO DO IT:

The client stands with arms down by their side, palms facing out. The client should practice balancing their weight evenly between both feet, while imagining that a thread is attached to the top of their head, pulling them upwards and elongating the spine.

For an added grounding component, the client can practice shifting their weight from one foot to the other or shift their attention to the rise and fall of their abdomen while breathing. Clients should be encouraged to relax their shoulders down and back and contract their abdominal muscles while tucking their pelvis slightly.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

This postures serves to encourage physical grounding and can incorporate other aspects of physical grounding techniques, such as describing what the clients see in their environment, feel within their bodies, etc. Standing at attention can also encourage increased comfort at taking up space within their bodies.

Additional Techniques to Engage Clients in Yoga within the Therapy Session

We would also recommend providing psychoeducation before initiating these interventions to explain how a focus on the present moment can improve emotion regulation while reducing the tendency to avoid uncomfortable stimuli (van der Kolk, et al., 2014). Likewise, mind-body interventions, such as yoga can facilitate with bodily awareness, a lack of which has been associated with dissociation (Price & Thompson, 2007). Additionally, yoga may improve clients’ abilities to implement distress tolerance skills, which can facilitate clients’ acceptance of current situations. The importance of mindfulness and distress tolerance as offered through yoga is bolstered by the empirically validated Dialectical Behavioral Therapy treatment approach, which has adopted aspects of Eastern philosophy (Linehan, 2015).

Lastly, yoga practice has demonstrated neurological implications, such as alterations in sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system responses (as cited in Mitchell et al., 2014), muscle strength, blood pressure, improvements in arousal regulation, among other physiological and neurological changes (as cited in van der Kolk, et al., 2014). These changes may decrease reactivity to minor stressors, which previously may have been responded to as threats to the individuals’ safety. In addition to improving survivors’ level of arousal to various stimuli, these neurological changes may reduce dissociation.  Psychotherapy anxiety depression relationship issues mental health wellness wellbeing.

To increase the client’s comfort in engaging in any of the abovementioned techniques, offer to participate with them. This will serve as an opportunity to model the technique and can reinforce the therapeutic alliance by sharing in the exercises. Moreover, it may be beneficial to discuss with the client ways to apply the skills outside of session, so that they may be added to the client’s repertoire of effective coping strategies.”

Author’s Note: Nicole is a fourth-year doctoral student trainee at Nova Southeastern University. In addition, Nicole is a 200 HR yoga teacher, who is also certified in kid’s yoga and Antigravity yoga (Fun 1 & 2). After three years of working with women with a history of trauma, it became apparent that discomfort associated connecting to the body was the rule, rather than the exception with most clients. Consequently, she became curious into how yoga may be beneficial to these women, especially when previous treatment episodes had been unsuccessful. Following her yoga teacher training, Nicole began to teach yoga at the Therapeutic Oasis in Delray Beach, Florida, where she taught trauma-informed one-on-one yoga sessions to clients with a history of trauma. Although not always employing physical yoga postures into the therapy session, Nicole has observed multiple successes in reducing the presence of dissociative symptoms and improving emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills through the grounding effects of breath work and slight physical movements.

Article written by Nicole Sciarrino, M.A., M.S. from https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/5-ways-implement-yoga/