About Kyle

Why did I go from Kinesiology, to Physiotherapy, to Firefighting, to a Psychologist?

I'm often asked this question and therefore I'll share a bit about myself and my journey.

My professional journey over the years has stemmed from my personal interested and personal evolution. It has taken me from the body-exercise sciences as a Personal Trainer and then as a Kinesiologist, to the body-rehabilitation sciences as a Physical Therapist, over to a career as a Firefighter for a decade, and finally to the mind-body healing sciences as a Psychologist for the past 10 years.

The main catalyst for my journey into studying psychology occured in 2003 through to 2004, when I experienced the cumulative effects of life stress while working as a Physical Therapist and before my career as a Firefighter.

My inability to deal with significant life stress (family, financial, and more) eventually led me to a very dark period of my life where I found myself spinning into a world of darkness trying to understand the complexity of the situation I was in. Hopelessness consuming my thoughts and anxiety about the future lurked around every corner. I began to journal to understand the state of my mind, and the thoughts that appeared on paper were so dark and hopeless that at my first visit with a Psychiatrist (I couldn't afford a Psychologist) resulted in a quick diagnosed of a major depressive disorder (MDD), a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and severe panic attacks.

Although I had much training in the body sciences through my degrees in Kinesiology and Physical Therapy, I had very little training in the area of mental health. The Physician who diagnosed me had impressive degrees hanging on his wall, which I believed at the time gave him credibility, but I soon understood that he only understood a drug-therapy approach. This approach led me to feel numb, cognitively impaired, and essentially a complete shadow of myself. After a month of "treatment" from the Psychiatrist I clearly expressed my disapointment in his approach, fired him, stopped taking my cocktail of medications, and emabarked on a journey of truly understanding myself in areas of mind, body, and spirit.

During this humbling time of self-discovery I learned how to go within and understand how these life events/catalysts were a time for personal growth to see the bigger picture and grow in areas such as acceptance and forgiveness. I evaluated every area of my life and decided that I needed a career that would help people in their times of need and would have me jumping out of bed each morning to do my work... so I then embarked on becoming a Firefighter in Calgary eer further opened my eyes to see how so many people suffer from cumulative stress that can result in depression, anxiety, and many other stress-related disorders regardless if someone is a civilian or a first-responder.

My Career as a Calgary Firefighter

During my 10-year career with CFD I spent most of my time on the trucks in the downtown core with part of that time on the High Angle Rescue Team. During a period of health challenges I left the trucks and trained in Fire Inspections and Fire Investigations. Although my plan was to be a Fire Investigator, I chose to work as a Fire Inspector because of the prolonged exposures to various toxins during the fire investigation process.

My personal interest in mental health let me to train with CFD's Critical Incident Stress Management team (CISM) to support my peers with job stress. This eventually led me consider the area of psychology as a career path.

During my CFD career I looked fit and strong on the outside, but after six years on the job I quietly struggled with significant spinal injuries, post-concussion syndrome from multiple events, major hip and shoulder surgeries, and an unexpected diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). With most allopathic doctors forecasting a future of disabilities and fear, I decided to leave my role as a firefighter in the downtown core and train as a Fire Investigator with CFD.

During my career I took periods of time off to return to academia and train as a Psychologist. I also focussed on my physical rehabilitation and eventually returned to "the floor" as a Firefighter on the trucks for my last two years of service. I officially retired in late 2016.

My journey repeatedly teaches me how the power of the mind (our beliefs and perceptions) can heal far more than what our current medical-model suggests is possible. Many specialists rooted in the older biochemical sciences are simply uninformed and base their opinions on outdated science that suggests we only have a biochemical/physical system. If the mind/body systems are not working in harmony together, a person feels dis-ease. Cumulative dis-ease can manifests in the body as disease.

My epipheny was understanding that stress reduction was the key ingredient, and balancing the mind, body, and spirit through meditation was a fundamental skill that helped me and could be taught to others.

Photo: stock picture

Photo: Kyle at his off-grid homestead

My Counselling Approach

Consider my approach similar to how a person trains the body: though exercise. In our work together you will learn to exercise the mind to harmonize with the body and connect metaphysically to obtain that deeper wisdom to guide you on your journey.

The way I counsel clients and use "psychological interventions" has changed over the years and is unique when compared to other psychologists and counsellors. My approach is to teach people how to reduce psychological stress in order to optimise the mind, body, and spiritual systems. Let me explain with some history for context.

In my first five years of practice I became trained in advanced areas of psychotherapy for PTSD, anxiety, depression, phobias, and more. I was trained in and commonly used therapies including EMDR, Hypnotherapy, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), ACT, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness & Meditation, and more.

I have found the most effective approach is to help my clients create their own "toolbox" of skills that are used practically each day during quiet and challening moments. My approach teaches you techniques to calibrate and balance the Mind, Body, and Spiritual systems. This is done through individual sessions and with strategic group courses that are "skills-based" (not "talk-therapy").

Some of my clients already have a counsellor, psychologist, or psychiatrist, the work with and see me for areas of stress-reduction, consciousness-expansion, and spiritual evolution.