The work
The work I do is relational and pattern-focused. I don't run intake checklists or assign homework between sessions; I pay attention to what happens in the session, the moments when something shifts or goes flat, and the recurring pattern underneath the presenting problem. Most people already know the story of their situation and keep landing in the same place. What's missing is someone watching in real time who can name what's invisible from inside it. More on how I work, and how I work with couples.
Therapy in Calgary: a real market with real friction
Calgary's mental-health demand tracks an economy that runs hot and cold, and the public system does not reimburse private online work. Alberta's provincial plan does not cover therapy with a practitioner outside its public system, so private sessions are paid directly. Across Canada these generally run from roughly 130 to 240 Canadian dollars depending on the practitioner's designation, registered psychologists at the upper end, and some private and employer benefit plans reimburse depending on the category named in your policy, which is worth checking. The fuller picture of the Canadian system is on my Canada page.
The Calgary patterns
The people who come are shaped by Calgary's boom-bust rhythm. The energy and corporate professionals whose stress rises and falls with the sector, the transplants who moved for work and have not built a circle, and the partners adjusting to a city that can feel transactional. When layoffs and relocations are a regular feature of working life, continuity in the one relationship that does not reset matters.
Why people in Calgary pick online work with me
Three reasons recur. Privacy: I am not registered with an Alberta or other provincial college and write nothing into a public record. Fit: my whole practice is people living outside their home country or recently uprooted within it. Logistics: Calgary is two hours behind my US East Coast hours, which leaves plenty of workable evening slots, and the work continues if you move provinces or leave Canada. For a regulated Canadian title or an assessment, I will point you to a local provider.
Questions people ask from Calgary
What people bring to online therapy
The people I work with in English come for a wide range of reasons: anxiety, depression, stress and burnout, anger management, grief and loss, relationship difficulties, loneliness, self-esteem issues, procrastination, sleep problems, attachment patterns, self-sabotage, perfectionism, identity questions, and existential concerns. Online counseling makes this work possible from wherever you are, whether you need an English-speaking therapist, a virtual counselor, or simply someone who can work in your language at a depth that matters.
How it works
Sessions are online via secure video call. I work with individuals and couples (60 minutes). Before your first session, we have a free 15-minute call to see if this feels like the right fit for you.
Selected research on this approach
My work is psychodynamic and depth-oriented. These are some of the studies on the effectiveness of that kind of therapy. They describe research on the method in general, and are not claims about any individual outcome.
- Shedler, J. (2010). The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 65(2), 98-109. doi:10.1037/a0018378
- Steinert, C., Munder, T., Rabung, S., Hoyer, J., & Leichsenring, F. (2017). Psychodynamic therapy: as efficacious as other empirically supported treatments? A meta-analysis testing equivalence of outcomes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(10), 943-953. PMID 28541091
- Leichsenring, F., Abbass, A., Heim, N., Keefe, J. R., Kisely, S., Luyten, P., Rabung, S., & Steinert, C. (2023). The status of psychodynamic psychotherapy as an empirically supported treatment for common mental disorders: an umbrella review based on updated criteria. World Psychiatry, 22(2), 286-304. PMC10168167