Mary experienced the following symptoms:
- Exhaustion
- Irritability
- Isolation
- Nervousness
- Racing thoughts
- Negative thinking
- Shame/guilt
- Sleep disturbance
- Stomach problems
- Stress
- Worry
- Overwhelm
- Fear of initiating and maintaining conversations
- Fear of what others think of me
- Muscle tension, stiffness, pain
Biography
Mary knows first-hand the distress and despair that accompany anxiety. When she was a young child, her father worked very long hours. When she was eleven, she was sent to a boarding school for two years much against her own desires and will. Her father also faced long term illnesses for ten years culminating in his death when she was 19. During this time, and much of Mary’s teenage years, she also had to cope with a close family member who struggled with drug and alcohol dependencies.
For many years as an adult, Mary was a member of a church that was very legalistic and rigid. There were impossible standards to live up to and there was a sense of never being “good enough.”
When she was in the decade of her 30's Mary became increasingly aware of symptoms such as irritability, problems with sleeping, tight muscles, negative thinking, relationship difficulties within her marriage, the need to have everything “just so,” as well as a constant feeling of overwhelm and that life was simply “out of control”.
During this time Mary began to re-examine her childhood. She began to realize that using anxiety as a way of coping had been learned from her childhood family environment. She began to understand the feelings of confusion, sense of loss, abandonment and loneliness that accompany the uncertainty of a long term illness in the family. The stress and worry of living in a family in which one parent was not able to fully participate, coupled with the chaos and dysfunction of addiction and the behaviours around it only served to augment her feelings of anxiety. Finally, she began to also realize that her church connection had not only added to, but increased the general sense of anxiety that she was experiencing.
Mary began to understand the symptoms she was experiencing and how they had originated. She then began a journey of overcoming and healing from worry and anxiety. This journey included personal counselling, personal development, a very large amount of reading, and affirmative self-reflection. Through these processes Mary has grown to a place of peace, contentment, and confidence and she has learned to experience great joy in life.
Mary’s life experiences in facing challenges, working on relationships, and raising her own family contribute to her ability to relate to clients and to help them on their journeys of growth and healing. She brings to her counselling a passion for working with people facing difficulties and helping them move from despair to lives of peace and fulfilment. Respect, compassion, and empathy for each individual are at the core of her work. She works in a collaborative manner with her clients, deeply valuing the personal strengths, victories, and resiliency of each person.
Mary’s professional experience includes over 12 years of counselling practice. She presently works in a private practice counselling setting. She has also facilitated workshops, engaged in conflict resolution, and helped resolve workplace issues of harassment and discrimination.
Mary holds the following credentials:
- Master of Education (psychology) 1999, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Saskatchewan College of Psychologists; Registered Psychologist
- Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association; Certified Canadian Counsellor (C.C.C.)
- Professional Association of Canadian Christian Counsellors; Certified Member
- American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Affiliate Member
- American Association of Christian Counsellors, Member
Mary is happily married to Nat, her husband of 36 years. They live in a small town near Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and have 5 wonderful grown up children, 5 wonderful children-in-law and 10 (soon to be 12) amazing grandchildren.
Mary finds great joy in spending time with her family. She finds peace, solace, rejuvenation and restoration by being in nature via camping, hiking, and gardening. Mary also enjoys travelling and experiencing different parts of the wonderful world we live in.
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