About Alana
Alana works from an attachment-based and trauma-informed lens. She applies therapy approaches such as solution-focused therapy (SFT), narrative therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), and play therapy techniques to best work with her clients. Working with individuals, children, couples, and families, Alana has experience working with children as young as 2 years old across a broad spectrum of challenges (ASD, ODD, ADD, OCD, PTSD, NVLD). She understands the importance of communication and understanding our loved ones. Alana is passionate about supporting her clients to succeed and feel empowered by their own abilities.
Hi, I'm Alana, a therapist who works from an attachment-based and trauma-informed lens. I believe that everyone has the potential to heal and grow, and I'm here to help you on your journey.
I'm skilled in a variety of therapeutic approaches, including Attachment Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy (SFT), Narrative Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Play Therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR). I use these approaches to help my clients develop coping skills, improve communication, and build strong relationships.
I have experience working with individuals, children, couples, and families. I understand the importance of communication and understanding our loved ones, and I'm passionate about supporting my clients to succeed and feel empowered by their own abilities.
If you're looking for a therapist who is compassionate, understanding, and experienced, I would be happy to help. I offer a free 20-minute consultation so that we can get to know each other and see if I'm a good fit for you.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation.
Who I Work Best With
I tend to work best with:
I find the clients who connects best with me are teenagers, young adults, adults and parents of school age children. I find these clients thrive in my therapy room as they have the space to be and express themselves, to be seen and heard by someone outside of their circle, to feel understood and accepted by someone who listens without judgement about what they're going through.
The conversations I find myself having again and again
Some things clients often say during their first few sessions include not understanding why they are in the situations they're in, “how is it easy for others in my situation, what's wrong with me, why can't I be like so and so, why can't I be stronger, why can't I be better?”. I've met clients who ask these questions when struggling with transitions in life, when experiencing grief, when not seeing improvements in their school/work performance, when not having a good relationship with friends/family/significant other/self. I want to point out that there's nothing wrong with you, and there's nothing wrong with these questions that come up. To be honest, sometimes I ask these questions to myself as well!
Let's be real, it's hard not to, when we're always looking at what other people are doing, seeing how “easy” it looks like for them, and not questioning how they got to where they are, what they had to go through in their own lives, and what unseen struggles they may still be going through. I meet with clients who want to “get it done and over with” when it comes to therapy, looking for the quickest route to get to their goals, and not wanting to feel the hardships and struggles any longer. It's okay, we're human, doing the work is hard, I too wish there's a magic wand or a button to make things better for everyone.
Truth be told, to get to the other side, things are gonna be uncomfortable and messy initially, it can also feel slow, it can feel like we're stuck sometimes, but when you take the time and go through the process, it feels incredible to get to the other side. An example I keep in mind and share is like driving a car. If you just get in the car and start zooming to your destination, the chances of getting hurt or hurting others along the way is very likely.
However, if you make sure the car is in a good condition, that you have your seatbelt on, the mirrors adjusted, looking both ways before heading off, following the road signs, making sure there are no pedestrians/cyclists/other cars too close, abiding by rules of traffic... the journey may take longer, but you can guarantee getting to your destination in one whole.
What gives me hope
I find my inspiration comes from my colleagues who not only continue doing this work, but also work to improve themselves through workshops and trainings, these colleagues inspire me to want to learn and further my own education to better understand and support my clients.
Over the years, my clients continue to teach and remind me how important it is to make time for the self, to take pauses, to remember to carve out space and recharge the body and mind. Seeing some of my clients who have been with me for years, it's also an incredible reminder that healing not only takes time, it can look messy, but messy doesn't mean failure, sometimes it needs to happen before things can settle and feel better.
I've seen some incredible changes over the years in this work, where people came to see me feeling broken or hopeless or lost, only to find themselves with a new perspective in life, feeling more like themselves than they've been in years, or walking away from situations they never thought they could, and doing so resulted in learning new things about themselves and and making new changes that fit the life they want.
What I wish more people knew about mental health, healing, relationships, identity, parenting, grief, or life in general.
I wish more people understood that their mental health can greatly impact their physical and emotional health. I wish people would treat their mental health with the care they treat their loved ones, with patience, compassion, gentleness, and curiosity to understand what's going on.
I wish more people knew that to care for one's mental health does not mean one is weak or incapable of being rational and logical. I wish more people knew that healing isn't linear, it can be messy, it can be great some days and terrible the next, but it's all part of the process and it doesn't mean failure.
I wish more people gave themselves the permission to listen to their body, when something feels off with a situation, it's okay to take a pause or not to continue with the matter altogether.
Modalities
Specialties
Who are you when you're not working
When I'm not working, I enjoy doing arts and crafts at home. I had gotten into audiobooks, I have clients recommend new books to me, and I would listen to my audiobooks or podcasts (The Fall Asleep Podcast and No Sleep are current favourites) while doing something crafty to unwind and recharge after a long week. As a horror fan, I also enjoy watching ghost hunting related shows on YouTube (Oumagatoki FILM is the most recent channel).
Education
Languages
What it's like to work with me
My style as a therapist is pretty unstructured. I enjoy meeting my clients where they're at, whatever head space they're in, whether it feels heavy or light. I believe whatever my client wants to focus or bring up to the session (one day can be work, the next is relationships, following that can be trauma heavy), it all connects and helps me better understand my clients and ultimately hit the goals they want to achieve.
I've been told my approach can be gentle, reflective and playful, but depending on the situation or topic at hand, things can also get more serious, challenging, and uncomfortable. Because I am also human, I know I can unintentionally say or even react to something a client says that can come off as confusing, uncomfortable, or potentially upsetting for clients. As someone who makes very expressive facial expressions (a result of a history working with children), my reactions are usually due to trying to put myself in the shoes of my clients and how I imagine what happened to them happened to myself.
The point is, I encourage clients to call me out, ask me what I meant by what I said or why I reacted the way I did, and that's okay! I personally find that the best work in therapy comes from a working relationship where my client can be themselves, and if anything is positive or upsetting that happens in the session, they let me know, that way it feels like we both understand one another even more, strengthening the therapeutic relationship.
In addition, I tell my clients I'm not a teacher, I may provide exercises to try out or share resources to read up on, but if they're not done, that's okay, as you will have the information, you can do them and give it a try when you have the time, no pressure!
What's my story
I grew up in a big family. There were always kids around me, and it was easy to play and focus on taking care of them whenever we had parties or special events. I always felt like I understood kids better than I did people who were my own age or older than me, which really showed when it came to interacting with peers in school. I never quite understood why and how people behaved the way they did, why did they say what they did, and how best to get along or connect with them, and as a result, I used to find myself in uncomfortable situations, having upset someone or suddenly being excluded. Growing older, I met more people through extracurriculars activities (such as air cadets) and workplace settings (such as a cooking school and a tutoring business), which helped me learn more about the ways people socialized and engaged with one another.
My curiosity about people led me to finding an interest in psychology. Initially, I thought I would be most suitable in the area of child psychology (I still felt like I understood kids better), and through a wonderful opportunity while looking for a placement in post-grad, I found myself working in a child and youth family agency, where I worked with children and their caregivers who sought support because of stress, trauma, anxiety, depression, relational concerns and difficulties with transitions in life. Through working in the agency, I found that children are highly resilient. A lot of times it felt like the kids knew what's happening, and they're trying their best already with what's going on in their lives. What was surprising was how the caregivers were handling things in their own lives, and how their struggles and concerns affected their kids, and they weren't always aware of that.
Through this experience, my focus had shifted away from purely working with children, to working more so with young adults, adults, and couples. This experience had also helped in the way I show up with clients. The way I see it, everyone (both kids and adults) is doing their best in the only way they know how, with the tools given to them or what they have access to. I believe everyone is trying to seek a connection, to be seen and understood and accepted, but it can feel like a struggle or confusing when it appears as though we're speaking a different language, or we're not getting through to the other person.
As a clinician, I find I enjoy not only learning all I can about my clients, put also sharing with them another perspective that can not only help them shift their perception of the situation but also help improve their own understanding of self and of others, or get unstuck and move on from situations/stories that's been repeating for far too long