BEING INTEGRATED
counselling - meditation - mindfulness
My Approach
Hi, I’m Jude. My core philosophy is that the roadmap to our wellbeing is within us. I consider my work with each client as a discovery of their own unique path to wellbeing and wholeness. I see therapy as a collaborative exploration, we are working together through the blocks, conflict, feelings and confusion to help discover what is needed to be a healthy, integrated individual.
My approach is integrative, meaning I have a diverse toolset drawing from a variety or modalities, traditions, and experience. I am particularly passionate about the integration of meditation and mindfulness with counselling and psychotherapy, and have facilitated workshops teaching mindfulness skills to therapists and mental health workers.
There is no one method that works for everyone. Each person is unique in their challenges, experience, and temperament. This is why having a dynamic toolkit is essential for effectively overcoming barriers to growth.
“Jude is one of my best pals and a wise and practical synthesizer of meditation and psychotherapy. He’s the person I go to when I want to talk through some mind-body insight. I think of him as the next generation of mental health guide: a meditator-psychologist-shaman mash-up, with street smarts.”
– Jeff Warren, founder of Consciousness Explorers Club, author of The Head Trip, co-author of Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics
“When I learned that Jude had been attending meditation classes from a very young age, I was not surprised. He embodies the Dharma. Jude communicates from the heart, with mindfulness teachings that are clear, accessible and relatable. He is authentic and non-judgemental, and his passion for practice is contagious.
If you choose to work with Jude, you’ll be fortunate to have him as your teacher.”
– Tamara Levitt, Head of Mindfulness at Calm, author of Happiness Doesn’t Come from Headstands, and The Secret to Clara’s Calm
Who am I?
I’m a lifelong student of meditation and psychology. I became obsessed with consciousness and eastern philosophy in my late teens and have been exploring ever since. I founded the meditation group The Toronto Sitters and teach at the Consciousness Explorers Club as well.
I’ve studied formally and informally in a number of meditation traditions, originally in Tibetan Buddhism and have more recently been studying a broad range of practices with Shinzen Young and Jeff Warren.
I’ve been a content writer for the popular meditation app Calm and regularly collaborate on meditation projects with Jeff Warren, including helping him write his landmark 30 day Calm course How To Meditate.
I’ve also studied psychotherapy at the Transpersonal Therapy Centre, The Gestalt Institute of Toronto, and recently completed the Existential-Integrative Therapy training program at The Living Institute.
Aside from all my studies in consciousness I spent most of my youth skateboarding and much of my adult life involved with art and photography.
“I began working with Jude over a year ago to deal with problems related to childhood trauma. In the beginning, the process was very difficult for me as I was dealing with emotions that I had been ignoring/repressing for most of my life. During the early months, I even tried talking myself out of going to our weekly sessions, and I realized later that I was in fact trying to avoid facing myself.
Jude helped me to face what I had been avoiding by, slowly and masterfully, easing me into those dark places within so that I could face them, while feeling safe and supported. I’ve found Jude to be very intuitive in how he approaches each session. He seems to have a sense for knowing what to do and how to handle whatever comes up in a way that has always ended up being extremely beneficial for me. I’ve always left each session knowing in my core that good work was done and grateful that I showed up for the session.
Jude is a great therapeutic facilitator with a clear desire to help individuals get better. I know my life has improved working with Jude and I’m confident to recommend him as a therapist.”
– Robert
“As a yoga and meditation teacher, I came to Jude to learn a meditation style that was new to me. I was impressed by his ability to quickly gauge where I was in my journey and to customize the session towards what I needed. Jude’s presence is a gift, his instructions are clear and I can honestly say you will feel supported in your journey by an experienced guide who’s walked the path, and who creates a fully present and safe environment for exploration. I recommend him to beginners and experienced meditators alike.”
– Parool Joshi, yoga and meditation teacher
Featured Article: Finding Wellbeing in Stressful Times
What does a session look like?
All sessions are customized around your needs. I will ask questions to figure out how I can best help you and we will structure the session from there.
Inevitably we work with what is arising in the moment, what challenges are present, and explore the root causes and patterns. From there we can explore a variety of practices to process what needs to be processed and make whatever changes necessary.
*We start with a free consultation to see if we’re a good fit for working together. All sessions are conducted over phone or zoom unless arranged otherwise
Contact
I’m quite busy these days but open taking on new clients if it’s a good fit. I also have a good referral network and happy to help you find a therapist that’s right for you.