Welcome

Compassionate and Professional Psychological Care for Individuals and Couples

Hi, my name is Gayle Goldstein and I am a Registered Psychologist. Thanks for visiting my website. I am hoping to provide you with an introduction to who I am as a professional and what you can expect  from my services. What is most important when choosing a therapist is finding a good match between who you are and what you need and the skills and style of the professional assisting you with reaching your goals.

I work with individuals, couples, families and organizations. The focus of my intervention strategies is assisting people in finding solutions to complex problems and moving toward action and implementation of changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

I have been working as a professional therapist since 1984. Even prior to this more formalized application of my skills, I taught swimming to people of all ages and specialized in helping those that had been traumatized by a near drowning incident. I have been fortunate to practice in a variety of settings providing treatment to a diverse range of people. Initially, after receiving my doctorate I worked in medical settings with individuals recently diagnosed with severe life threatening illnesses.

Over the last 35 years I have also been affiliated with local law enforcement agencies providing counselling, training and critical incident debriefing for emergency service personnel and their families. For ten years I managed an employee assistance program providing consultation and intervention services to large corporations, universities, manufacturing industries and other businesses. Prior to beginning my current private practice, I  worked with injured workers and assisting in the physical rehabilitation of hundreds of individuals as part of a multidisciplinary team teaching about the importance of the mind/body connection in managing pain and illness.

What is Psychotherapy?

It may be helpful to understand a little more about the profession of psychology and the process of psychotherapy. In contrast to TV and popular media depictions, solutions to life’s challenges are not usually obtained through quick fixes. Most of what we as complex people living in a diverse demanding interactive world find troubling is related to messages we learned early on in our lives and have had reinforced often because of unhealthy patterns and relationships.

Psychotherapy provides a safe, comfortable environment whereby one can look at the early messages that were adopted and challenge these beliefs to create a more positive, healthy and adaptive way of viewing ourselves, our relationships and our interactions with others. It is very normal for this process to involve the re-experiencing of painful memories, thoughts and feelings.

A competent psychologist is skilled in helping someone navigate through what often feels like uncharted waters in unfamiliar tides.

For more information regarding my areas of expertise and some of the therapeutic techniques I employ, please visit my Areas of Practice page.