Tara MacMaster

CLIENT FOCUS: Individual Adults and Elders

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I offer psychotherapy services that are grounded in evidence-based practice and focused on helping people foster change.  These changes may include:

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• developing skills to manage symptoms of anxiety and depression and resolving their causes

• coping with the impacts of past trauma, which may include sexual or physical abuse, neglect, violence and witnessing traumatic events

• finding your way through grief, loss, and mourning

• resolving issues with sleep and insomnia

• building authentic relationships to address loneliness

• navigating life transitions

• managing stress (in personal or professional settings)

• developing coping strategies to meet life's challenges constructively

• identifying and changing harmful patterns of thinking/behaving/reacting and unhealthy beliefs

• learning to manage unpleasant emotions

• improving communication skills and reducing conflict

• learning to set and maintain boundaries

• growing self-acceptance/self-understanding/self-compassion

• developing greater purpose and meaning in life

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I employ a variety of approaches, weaving them together to offer treatment that is uniquely tailored to each person's own circumstances, preferences, and strengths.  My central therapeutic approaches are:

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• Narrative Therapy

• Schema Therapy

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I)

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

• Expressive Arts (E.g., journaling, collaging, photography)

• Attachment-based Therapy

• Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy (SIRP)

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

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I believe that each and every session should be useful and focused on the issues that you have prioritized.  People are the experts in their own lives and that agency and knowing is held with deep respect.

We can find ourselves in grief at many points in our lives, whether it be through the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a job, a pet, a homeland, or a dream.  We live in a society that can do a great disservice to people in grief, with expectations that they quickly "get over it", "move on", and stop feeling what they are feeling.  I believe that grief is a natural and human response to loss and needs to be tended, rather than fixed.

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My approach to grief counselling is one that focuses on companioning.  I support people in acknowledging their losses and expressing the confusing and sometimes overwhelming mixture of emotions that can come with grief.  Conversations can focus on finding ways to honour losses and learn to carry what is lost forward while finding your way.

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DO I NEED GRIEF COUNSELLING?

Sometimes it can be difficult to know when grief counselling may be needed.  You may feel alone in your grief or hesitant to share your experience with others for fear that they may offer expectations or platitudes that are simply not helpful.  A counselling relationship can offer a safe space to tend your grief.  A further perspective is offered here in this article:  Reasons You May Need a Grief Counsellor

Sometimes it can help to take things outside.  Leveraging the calming nature of a walk in the park, Walk & Talk sessions offer an opportunity to be heard and supported while strolling through Strathcona Park. With a moment to feel the breeze on our faces, or notice fall colours, outdoor therapy can help people return to their senses, remember themselves, and feel more connected to the world.  It is particularly effective for those in grief and depression.  This is not a workout kind of walk, but more like a meander.  Sometimes a bench beckons for part of the conversation.

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Walk & Talk therapy is typically suitable for later stages of therapy and together, we can decide if it is a good fit for you.  While good outerwear and wool socks go a long way, not ALL weather is Walk & Talk weather, so the forecast is important for us to make the call between park or office. 

I  offer virtual sessions using Zoom that allow people to connect from wherever they feel comfortable.  While I acknowledge that therapy through a computer feels different from therapy in person, it can provide a safe and effective platform for healing conversations.  Once familiar with the platform, the technology falls away and we are, once again, two people focused on sorting things through.

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New to video conference technology?  No problem.  This is a great time to learn a new skill!  I am happy to coach people through the setup of the Zoom platform in a “tech support” call ahead of our first session, as needed.  If you have a computer/tablet/phone with a camera and mic and a private space in which you can speak freely, you have everything you need.