My mother is a retired nurse. She has taught me so much about life and caring for others. From an early age I understood what it really costs to give yourself to a job built around caring for others. I saw her exhaustion that didn’t go away after a good night’s sleep. I heard stories about patients she watched recover from tremendous pain, and about the ones who didn’t make it. She still remembers many of their names. Their stories became part of hers. That’s where my respect for nursing comes from. It was there long before I became a therapist.
Her work and the many nurses I met through her stayed with me. When I later had the chance to volunteer in a hospital, I got an even closer look at what nurses actually carry through a shift. I watched them move from one crisis to the next, quickly and calmly, without missing a beat, while still showing up with compassion for every person in their care. It wasn’t just hard work. It was a level of emotional labour that most people never see and rarely think to acknowledge. That experience is part of why joining Dr. Kelly’s Nurse Wellness Program felt like such a natural fit for me.
In my therapy practice, I work with nurses and other healthcare professionals, and it is some of the most meaningful work I do. The nurses who come to see me are often carrying far more than they let on, at work and at home. What we work on together varies. Grief. Burnout. Workplace stress. Difficult relationships. Learning to set limits without guilt. But the people I see have one thing in common. They are used to being the capable one, and they are not used to asking for help.
That’s exactly what I’m here for. A place where you don’t have to hold it together. Where you can put down what you’ve been carrying, say how you’re actually doing, and feel understood by someone who genuinely gets the weight of this work.
You spend your days taking care of others. This is a place to take care of yourself.
Specialties
- Burnout and compassion fatigue in nurses and healthcare professionals
- Grief and loss
- Workplace stress and difficult workplace dynamics
- Boundary setting and work-life balance
- Moral distress
- Anxiety and emotional exhaustion
- Shift work adaptation
- Virtual therapy for nurses across Ontario