Get to know Carol, psychologist and owner of Therapy Alberta, in this interview blog.
Who are you?
I’m a mother, sister, daughter, friend, partner, therapist, business owner, advocate, and wounded healer. Parts of me are curious, stubborn, loving, angry, smart, and complicated. I'm driven by a passion for being better and helping people – I don’t want anyone to struggle alone.
What led you to become a therapist?
I’ve always wanted to help people since I was a child. My younger brother has autism, and I enjoyed working with children with disabilities for many years. In University, I found my spark in a psychology counselling course. Fast forward 15 years, life, kids, and my own counselling experiences, good and bad, that inspired me to become the best therapist I can be. Now I’m doing what I love in a way that I love (and always trying to improve). I bring my compassion, acceptance, and lived understanding of human harm in relationships – and how care can help you heal yourself.
What is your life philosophy?
Love and be loved.
My philosophy is centered in relationships - our purpose in life is to give and receive love - to people, animals, nature, ourselves, communities, humanity, and earth. This was the main premise of my graduate personal theory of counselling paper. Funny coincidence...the night after I presented my paper and completed the last requirement for my Masters, a friend and I were shopping and she found the cutest yellow tank top – it says loved on the front, and love and be loved on the back. I still wear it today and smile.
Do you ever get overwhelmed by the stuff people tell you?
Sometimes it hits me hard. It’s devastating knowing how badly people have been hurt by other people, especially when they were children. It’s not mine to keep though. I’ve learned how to hold people’s pain with them – I can’t take it away from them, I can only help them build safety, feel their feelings, and heal the wounds in their bodies.
What makes your job fulfilling?
So many things. As a therapist, it’s seeing the bravery of each person who shows up, guiding the unfolding of defenses, and sharing the joy of healthy connections within the self and with others.
As a business owner, it’s connecting anyone across the province to someone who can help them, and the excitement I get finding more caring professionals to strengthen the team.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love writing, reading, cuddling, camping, walking, and eating chocolate. I like playing board games and watching movies. I have a motorcycle, Lucy, and love to take her for a spin (my wind therapy). On special days off and all to myself, I get a massage, go for a float and infrared sauna, and get myself something sweet to enjoy. I should do more yoga and meditation – my poor yoga mat is just sitting out, all cold and lonely. Sometimes I dabble in painting (think paint nights), and I recently jogged a 5K night run (and officially decided I’m never doing that again).
What are you watching right now?
Superstore. It’s funny and reminds me of Brooklyn 99.
What are you reading right now?
My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem, a book helping white people heal the entrenched racism in their bodies. I’ve been working on it slowly, for a while now.
I need a new fiction book though, what should I read next?
What’s your best quote?
Feel it together to heal it together.
It came to me while writing last week. Healing is relational – by supporting others, we can share our grief and our letting go.
Cats or dogs or other?
All three! I have a dog, two cats, and a snake. But my favorite is the dog…Neo is just the cutest cuddle bug and bundle of energy, all at the same time. You can just tell he loves us so much, he’s so excited to see me, his whole butt wags along with his tail, and I still get all the puppy kisses!
What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?
An author. I still want to be one! I love writing blogs and poems, but I know the fiction novel is still brewing in me. And maybe a therapy book one day.
Indoors or outdoors?
Indoors when it’s cold, outdoors when it’s warm. I hate the cold and wonder how I survive winter every year in Alberta. My body just cannot keep itself warm!
I absolutely love the sunshine and warmth and being outside in the grass and trees, especially in the middle of nowhere camping on crown land.
What’s your wish for your clients?
I wish everyone could feel connected to their bodies, love and be loved.
I wish all people could connect with loving humans; connect with their instinctual human feelings of being worthy, playful, caring, and cared for; connect with and listen to their bodies; and connect with their inner power to protect themselves and love others.
Carol is a psychologist and the founder of Therapy Alberta, a private group practice with local psychologists, social workers, and counsellors offering individual, couples, and family counselling and therapy in Calgary and across Alberta.