Faye Gosnell
Registered Psychologist, M.C. with undergraduate degrees in psychology and sociology
Services Offered: Counselling and Assessment
Client Focus: Families, Individual adults and teens (ages 15+), Couples and Co-Parents
I work with a broad set of issues and concerns. These are some areas of specialty within my practice:
- Supporting parents and families with adolescents who are struggling with some aspect of their development or wellbeing
- Working with families to navigate the transition to separation or divorce and to develop positive co-parenting dynamics
- Improving communication and interpersonal relationships
- Depression, anxiety, ADHD
- Grief and loss or emotional trauma from past experiences
- Relationship with food, body image, and health behaviours
- Existential and spiritual concerns
(I offer faith-based counselling – meaning that I am open to incorporating my clients’ faith into the counselling process if spirituality is important for them. I am familiar with a broad range of spiritual traditions. In offering faith-based counselling, I do not operate from a particular religious stance but am open to working with persons from diverse faith backgrounds.)
Types of therapy: Family Systems, EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotion-Focused, CBT, Psychodynamic/Existential, and (sometimes) Solution-Focused
How would you explain your style and approach to therapy when working with clients?
I enjoy working with a broad range of issues and depending on a family or individual’s main concerns, I draw upon a wide range of therapeutic modalities and techniques in my work. If I had to identify a pattern at the core of how I work, it would involve striving to deeply understand my client’s emotional experience. Many of us are self-critical; it can sometimes be challenging to understand our own patterns of behaviour, especially those that feel sabotaging of ourselves or our relationships. If something isn’t adding up for you on the surface, I will try to help you to understand the deeper emotional logic and to grow your sense of self-compassion. We can then refocus on helping you grow more fully into your true potential. There tends to be a pattern in my work of first orienting toward the present moment and circumstances – where are you now and what is bringing you to therapy at this time – then often tacking back to address unresolved issues from the past but always with an eye to where you’re headed (i.e., your preferred future). In short, I often work with my clients to heal the past in the present moment while helping them develop the qualities and skills that will serve them in creating a better future.
I seek to create an environment for my clients that feels safe, welcoming, and sometimes fun (I often use humour or levity, when appropriate). I spent several years in the service industry prior to completing my professional training so customer service and hospitality are kind of ingrained in how I operate. I strive to communicate that I can handle whatever my clients bring to me; this can be a space where you give voice to things that had previously been unspeakable. I try to help bring forth greater clarity in understanding self and others, and to support my clients in becoming more intentional about how they show up in the world. When it comes time to wrap up our work together, you should ideally feel freer to live in accordance with your values and preferences and either less constrained by perceived barriers in your life and environment, or at minimum, more at peace with any circumstances that are out of your control. You should experience a sense of deepened awareness about how you came to be the person you are today and why the choices you made along the way made sense in the context of your life at the time you made those choices.
What training and expertise do you bring to your sessions?
Once upon a time, after my undergrad years, I was a bit of a vagabond snowboard enthusiast who bounced all over Canada and preferred to spend winters in the mountains and summers on the East Coast. I worked briefly in real estate before becoming a mother to my delightful daughter who is now in her teens. When my daughter was young, I completed a diploma in holistic nutrition, then my Master of Counselling degree. While completing my degree, I volunteered at a women’s center and worked on initiatives focused on addressing intimate partner violence at the community level.
I completed my earliest training ten years ago, at the Calgary Family Therapy Centre and joined Eckert Centre part time in 2015. While completing my training, I also worked in university settings in various roles (e.g., teaching and research assistant), including a one-year contract with a major university as Mental Health Coordinator. I had the good fortune to be invited to some think tank events in Texas that were hosted by leaders in the field of family and collaborative therapies and because of those connections, have had opportunities to publish some articles. I have completed more advanced training in EMDR, IFS, and group therapy.
Outside of your therapist role, what are some ways in which you express your uniqueness as a person?
I still enjoy snowboarding! Yoga, swimming, and dance are my other go-to activities. Apart from that, I enjoy nice dinners out, traveling to places that are a bit off-the-beaten path, and just connecting with friends and family.
Favourite Quote:
I often tell people that this century should be century of dialogue. Peace will not come from thought or from Buddha. Peace must be built by humans, through action. So that means, whenever we face [a problem] – dialogue. That’s the only way. For that, we need inner disarmament. So our work should make a little contribution to materialize a peaceful, compassionate world later this century. That’s my wish. It will not come immediately. But we have to make the effort. This moment, it looks only like an idea. But every corner must make the effort.
-The Dalai Lama in Rolling Stone, July 21, 2011