My experience as a performer began at a young age. I was interested in both music and athletics, and have been pursuing music at a professional level for nearly a decade. In high school, I played competitive basketball, and participated in competitive cross-country skiing. Although I loved sports, I found the anxiety of high level competitive sports to be too much for me. I quit for some time, pursuing music instead. However, I found myself having to work through a lot of anxiety in the music world and sought out professional help at times as well.
After high school, I completed my bachelor’s degree in classical Harp Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University. I went on to tour Canada and Spain with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for a season, before heading back to do my master’s degree in Music Therapy. I now split my time as a therapist and professional performer through freelance work. As an adult, I have also been returning to the athletics world, mainly through long-distance running.
The performance world is a unique one. It can be the most rewarding thing you do, and also one of the most difficult things one will do. Perfectionism often underlies many performers and athletes (myself included), and I love working with clients to better understand this part of themselves. I have spent many hours as a client working through my own performance anxiety and strive to help my own clients better understand how the different parts of themselves work, especially around anxiety, perfectionism, over-regulation, and performance. Having one foot in the performance world, I also understand the unique challenges performers face when using something so closely linked to their identity as a means for a living.
As a Registered Music Therapist, I am passionate about the role art plays in healing ourselves and our communities. My goal is to empower performers to understand themselves better so they can use the beauty of art and the joy of sport to enrich their lives.