a few questions to ponder as i answer yours below.
- What defines a good life?
- Should you chase success/pleasure or virtue/meaning, and how can you tell the difference?
- Can accomplishment be sufficient without some external criteria for determining what constitutes excellence?
- How can you embrace uncertainty and draw strength from adversity when you are indoctrinated to prioritize emotional safety?
- Which moral, civic, and intellectual virtues should you cultivate, and why?
These questions have not lost their urgency despite dating back to ancient times and shaping every system of human mythos. They are prior to typical psychotherapeutic intervention because you need to have some sense of what a meaningful life looks like before trying to build one; or some stable value system that is capable of extracting lessons from adversity before you’re able to withstand challenges with courage. In other words, philosophical exploration is a necessary prerequisite to growth and fulfillment.
FAQs
How do i know your approach is the right one for me?
We don't know if it is. This is why I offer a free no-obligations call to all potential clients. Among other things, we will discuss whether my approach is a good fit for your unique challenges. It's important to feel heard, safe, and understood, and I encourage you to 'shop around' before settling on a counselor/therapist. I look forward to hearing about your specific concerns and discussing how I may be able to help.
Do you work with people of all ages?
I primarily work with adults between the ages of 22 and 40. I don't provide mental health counseling to teens, but I am developing a character building and coaching program for High School students—please get in touch if you are a parent interested in this.
what kinds of issues do you work with?
I work with a wide range of issues that fall outside the realm of serious disorders. These include: a sense of lack of control and agency over your own life (feeling like you're in the passenger seat instead of the driving seat); feeling unfulfilled despite material success; feeling unsatisfied despite having a stable romantic relationship; experiencing difficulty getting motivated and taking action despite promising potential; feeling overwhelmed and exhausted; missing a sense of adventure and awe. Many of these are existential dilemmas that psychology alone cannot address.
do you work with first-gen, recent arrivals, and international students?
Yes! As a former international student and immigrant, I have a great deal of understanding of and empathy for the specific challenges that come with culture shock, assimilation, and value system clashes. I have a lot of experience working with Muslim and Chinese populations.
where is your office?
In the Bridle Path neighborhood of Toronto. The current address is 17 Brian Cliff Drive, in a separate dedicated office attached to my home. There is free parking on-site.
do you offer online or phone sessions?
Yes, globally. I do encourage Toronto residents to visit in-person to benefit from the more enriched experience of being in the same room. Most of human communication tends to be non-verbal, and this can be lost during Zoom calls (despite what others will tell you to maximize their own convenience).
What is your pricing? do you offer a sliding scale/reduced rates?
Sessions are $200 and last 50m. I do offer a sliding scale—please get in touch if affordability is a concern due to your circumstances or if you're a student. If you are a refugee or have sought asylum, particularly escaping state violent or occupation, I will see you free of cost. There may be a waitlist.
Are sessions confidential? Will my family/spouse/employer find out that i am seeking counseling?
Only if you want them to (by providing me written consent). Otherwise, outside of a few very specific cases specified by the law (e.g., imminent danger), both your involvement in counseling and the contents of our sessions will remain fully confidential, and you will be provided a written commitment as part of our signed agreement before your first session. This is a critical prerequisite of the process, as it allows clients to feel safe while engaging honestly. I place great emphasis on providing a totally judgement-free space to work through all manner of thoughts and feelings—from the inconvenient to the uncomfortable, from the confusing to the suppressed.
“The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions that have grown up in his mind without the cooperation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man, the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected.”
Nobel Laureate and a founder of analytic philosophy
“…if we consider the ubiquity of small effect sizes in medicine, the extent of misleading evidence in medical research, the thin theoretical basis of many interventions, and the malleability of empirical methods, and if we employ our best inductive framework, then our confidence in medical interventions ought to be low.”
Professor of Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge