About

Who Am I?  

I am Suzie;
– a Registered Psychologist,
– an EMDR therapist,
– a Reiki Master,
– an Akashic Records Practitioner,
– a person who, like you, has a story.

Like many of you, my story contains many twists and turns. After graduating from a French speaking high school, I joined the Canadian military where I served as a logistician and then as a medic for almost eight years. Leaving the military behind and adapting to civilian life was a very unique experience!

I then started attending the University of Calgary where I eventually completed a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in Psychology, a Master’s degree and a Doctoral degree in Counselling Psychology. When I started my undergraduate studies, my fluency in English was very limited. By the end of my graduate studies however, I was deemed proficient!

Between my Master’s degree and my doctoral degree, I took a year off from school to register as a psychologist. In 2007, the College of Alberta Psychologists declared that I had successfully completed all the steps to officially call myself a Registered Psychologist. Yeh!

A few years later, I added EMDR therapy to my list of competencies. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an approach to psychotherapy that is effective with reducing the impact of trauma, anxiety, phobias, grief, stress, addictions and pain among others. EMDR also helps with fostering resilience.

Amidst all of this education process, I worked. My first civilian mental health related job was in a women shelter helping children who had been impacted by family violence. After four years of working with the children, I transitioned to a not-for-profit organization where I provided counselling services to children, adults and groups struggling with various issues including depression, anxiety, self-esteem, trauma/complex trauma, family violence, anger, grief and loss, body-related concerns, life transitions, parent-child conflicts, communication/social skills concerns and many others. I am thankful for the time I spent at each organization.

In September 2007, I joined a program in a school district that offered mental health services to immigrant and refugee students (4 years of age to 21) and parents. Through that program, I got to meet and work with people from various parts of the world, often with the support of an interpreter. Wow! What an experience this was. I learned a great deal about the meaning of mental health from a cultural perspective, resilience and how policies influence people’s lives. After 12 and a half years of amazing experiences and hard work, I said goodbye to the many families I had met to embark on a new adventure.

I also taught undergraduate and graduate courses for many years in three different universities. I taught many counselling psychology courses, one of which was statistics. I also engaged in many research studies for the purpose of finding more information about how to best alleviate people’s struggles. I have presented information sessions and research findings at various local and national conferences and within the school district where I worked.

Recently, Ethics in Action: Personal Reflections of Canadian Psychologists, in which I had the honour of contributing as an author and an editor, was published by the University of Calgary Press (May, 2024). Ethics in Action is the collective wisdom and experience of 34 psychologists and eight professionals from allied disciplines and is dedicated to the late Dr. Jean Pettifor (1922-2015), whose vision and dedication to ethics in psychology had an exceptional impact in Canada and around the world.

With all of this work, how did I come to be a Reiki Master and an Akashi Record Practitioner?

Many years ago I was looking for support to address some of my own concerns that were impacting my mental health. I met with an Akashic Record Practitioner who also happened to be a Reiki Master. During the first session, she used both approaches to help me with my presenting concern. I was so amazed by the effectiveness of these approaches that I returned many times to get some support for different issues. I then decided to take courses in these approaches. I eventually became a Reiki Master and an Akashic Record Practitioner. I regularly use these approaches in my own life, for my own well-being and for that of others. Both of these approaches are explained in more details on this site.

Through my experiences, I have learned many important lessons; one of which is ‘life is about team work’. Without the input of hundreds of people including family, friends, colleagues, teachers, mentors, clients, health care professionals, acquaintances and even strangers and rascals, I would not be who I am today and my life would not feel nearly as satisfying as it has become.

So, who am I?

I am Suzie and I look forward to listening to your story.

Why I Do What I Do

We spend a lot of time taking care of our body and for the most part, we don't think twice about connecting with a professional such as the doctor, massage therapist, physiotherapist to help our body be in its best possible form.

Mental health plays such an important role in how we view ourselves, our life and the world. Over the past years, great strides have been made with reducing the stigma attached to mental health. More work is needed though. My goal is to help people feel at ease connecting with a professional in regards to their mental health. So much can be gained by attending to our mental health needs, including feeling happier and enjoying healthier relationships. When our mental health needs are met, it becomes a lot easier to feel limitless! How amazing life would become if we woke up every morning feeling energized, hopeful and looking forward to the day?