You're In the
Right Place If...
You are looking for someone who understands that your story is shaped by where you come from, the relationships in your life, and the expectations that you have to carry.
Any of these describes what got you here:
- you need a space to breathe
- you want to process things that are happening in your life
- you are tired of having the same patterns in your life and your relationships
- you just need support for the "here and now" and until you're ready to do the next chapter on your own.
Holding space for...
Identity &
Self-Esteem
There comes a time when we reach a point where we ask ourselves who we are and who we want to be. It can often feel overwhelming to process and re-imagine ourselves outside of what we know, what we think, and who and how we should be.
As your therapist, I am here to hold space to help you navigate what this new identity may look like while also celebrating the incredible ways you are showing up for yourself.
People pleasing & Managing Expectations
Do you ever feel like you put everyone's needs before your own?
Do you often find yourself feeling like you've given everyone everything and there's nothing else left for yourself?
If the answer is yes, I'm inviting you to a therapeutic space where you can let responsibility and guilt rest. As your therapist, I am here to work with you in re-imagining what it can look like to honour your needs and show up for yourself without carrying everyone's expectations.
Living in the
"in-Between"
Many people of colour describe feeling caught between two worlds, carrying stories, language, and traditions from home while trying to meet different expectations around them. Over time, this in-between space can feel heavy, confusing, or lonely. It may feel like we’re always shifting parts of ourselves to fit in yet feeling like we never truly fit in.
In our work together, we’ll gently explore what belonging means to you, on your own terms — honouring where you come from while making space for who you are becoming.
Grief & Loss
Grief is a funny concept. Not in a "ha-ha" kind of way, but in a "friend-coming-for-a-surprise-visit-and-now-you-have-to-adjust your-plan-to-make-them-feel-welcome-even-though-you-are running-on-empty" kind of way.
Often times, we do not have words for grief but we know it's there. We know it in the way that part of us will never be the same. There is a before and after and we often find ourselves putting pieces together but we are simply not the same.
As your companion in getting to know your relationship with grief and loss, my goal is to offer a gentle space where you get to decide how you want to take grief with you and welcome it in your life without feeling like you have to hide it or hide from it.
Para sa kapwa kong Filipino.
May mga simpleng bagay tulad ng kamustahan, salu-salo, at kwentuhan. Meron ding malalaking bagay tulad ng pag-mamahal ng pamilya, malasakit ng kapwa, at mga kaugaliang Pilipino. Lahat 'to ay parte ng kung sino tayo bilang isang tao at bilang isang Pilipino.
Pero minsan, yung mga bagay na kinalakihan natin o minana natin mula sa ating mga magulang ay hindi katugma ng buhay natin sa ibang bansa. Minsan ang hirap maging "tayo" o "ako" sa mundong iba ang expectation sa'yo at iba sa nakagisnan mo. Ramdam mo yung pressure between keeping your roots and assimilating to make sense kung sino ka ba talaga.
As a Filipino therapist, I know what it's like to live with the in-between and I know what it's like to find a practitioner that would understand the nuances of where I come from and how that shaped me to who I am and how I'm showing up.
My role as your therapist is to create space for all of it.
The small things.
The big things.
And everything in between.
As your therapist, my goal it to join you in your journey of self-discovery and re-define what it means for you to be Filipino - in a way that feels authentic for you.
Tara, usap tayo.
About
Dignity. Humanity. Ethics. Compassion.
My name is Janine (she/her). I consider myself as a life-long learner and I come into our therapeutic space as human-first and everything else, we figure out as we go.
My goal as your therapist is to meet you where you’re at and explore how we can continue to cultivate your own process of being and becoming. Whether that be through story-telling, naming how systems shape and inform your experiences, or understanding how you show up are an act of resistance and celebration of what it means to be human. Somewhere in between, we’ll make space for tender moments, for joy, for light, for hope, and maybe even to just pause to take it all in. My invitation is, you don’t have to do it alone and you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
How We Can Work Together
Workshops
Support comes in many forms and often times it's in community with other people. I offer customized workshops for groups and organizations with focus on intersections of BIPOC-experience, justice, equity, and trauma-informed lenses.
Clinical Counselling
I offer 50- or 80-minute counselling sessions virtually or via phone. My approach weaves narrative, emotion-focused, and somatic therapies all of which are rooted in anti-oppressive and justice-informed practice. This means we’ll explore not only your inner world, but also the broader systems and lived experiences that have shaped you.
Meet and Greet
A 15-minute call to discuss your needs and to see if we are a good fit.