Areas of Practice:
Anxiety, Trauma, Self-esteem, Relationships, Career Counselling, Work Stress, and issues specific to Post-secondary and PhD students.
Approaches:
Mindful Self-compassion, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), EMDR, AEDP & Narrative Therapy.
Anxiety - Anxiety has become more prevalent. Societal factors such as social media and public shaming, fear mongering in the media, and loss of community feeling can cause individuals to feel more anxious. Family factors such as inconsistent and unstructured parenting and a history of trauma can also contribute. CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) are excellent counselling approaches for reducing anxiety.
What is ACT? Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is the third wave of behaviour therapies, in that it goes beyond CBT. In ACT we don’t argue with our thoughts and feelings, but rather we drop the struggle and become compassionately mindful of them as we choose behaviours based on our values. ACT is about learning to respond based on our values vs. react based on our internal experience.
Trauma & Phobias - Maryam provides EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for individuals who have experienced single incident trauma, such as car accidents or workplace issues, as well as complex trauma, such as abuse or neglect during childhood or in relationships. EMDR is also used to treat phobias.
What is EMDR? EMDR is a leading therapeutic approach designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. Clients briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (eye movements). This typically results in traumatic memories becoming less emotionally distressing and less intrusive with fewer triggers, and for negative beliefs to be reformulated. Clients typically notice their anxiety and depression symptoms improving.
Post-secondary and Phd Students - Maryam provides counselling for academic anxiety and motivation, public speaking anxiety, procrastination/time management, loneliness and social anxiety, depression and issues with supervisors (for PhD students). For international students, there can also be issues of integration, making friends, and social isolation.
Career Counselling - Covers a range of issues from challenging narratives around “career success” and “linear progress” to assessments for career exploration and transition, as well as interview skills.
Relationships - Maryam provides relationship counselling (individually) encompassing relationships with partners, parents, siblings, roommates, friends, coworkers and managers.
Self-esteem - Struggles with feelings of low self-esteem and low self-worth are common. Practicing self-compassion is a research proven way to feel more resilient, accepting and comfortable in your skin. From Kristin Neff (self-compassion.org):
Mindful Self-compassion has shown to prevent post-traumatic stress. Often it’s not the trauma itself, but how we relate to ourselves when it happens that determines how and to what extent we are impacted.
Individuals who are more self-compassionate tend to have greater self-esteem, happiness, and life satisfaction, better relationships and physical health, and less anxiety and depression. They also have the resilience needed to cope with stressful life events such as divorce, health crises, and academic failure.
Contrary to popular belief self-compassion also improves motivation by making us less afraid of failure - and fear of failure is one of the biggest reasons why we are not motivated to achieve. As a result we have less performance anxiety, are more willing to take risks, and if we do fail, we’re more likely to pick ourselves up and try again. Learn more here.