Special Blog Post: Interview with Eryl McCaffrey, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)

In this edition of W.E. News, we speak with Eryl McCaffrey, who is one of the newest members of the West End Women’s Health Team. As a mindfulness-based and compassion-focused Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), Eryl is completing her Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (MACP). She takes a holistic and person-centred approach to therapy.

It’s lovely to have you on the team Eryl, Welcome! Tell us a bit about your background and how you came into the field of psychotherapy.

Eryl: I’m grateful to be part of the team! My personal recovery journey with mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addiction, and trauma brought me into therapy offices as a young person.

I’ve benefited greatly from being a therapy client and, as a Yoga and Meditation Teacher with over a decade of teaching experience, I’ve learned some powerful mindfulness and somatic-based tools for supporting myself. At some point, studying psychotherapy to become a therapist just felt like the next logical step in my journey, so I could share what I’ve learned and help others heal.

That’s great! Can you describe your approach to treatment?

Eryl: Mindfulness is really the foundation of all of the therapeutic work I do. I believe we can’t change if we aren’t aware of how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are impacting us. Mindfulness helps us build that mind-body connection and the ability to respond, not react to what we experience in life. It can help us regulate our emotions and feel more at home in ourselves.

From that foundation, I use tools from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialetical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), polyvagal theory, somatic work, and inner child work to help clients feel more balanced and empowered in their lives.

What types of clients do you work with?

Eryl: I work with adult female-identifying individuals who are ready to invest their time and energy into doing what it takes to self-heal. It takes patience, courage, and curiosity. I walk alongside them in the process, so they never feel alone in that sacred work. My clients tend to have challenging experiences around anxiety, depression, addiction, eating disorders, trauma, grief, relationships, and general life stress.

How do you think women can benefit from psychotherapy?

Eryl: I think those who have been socialized as women have been sold a lot of lies about their worth and what it means to be a “good woman” in the world. Society’s narrative for women is often disempowering. It tells us that we need to be self-sacrificing, needless, polite, small, and quiet in order to be loved, seen, and respected.

Psychotherapy can help female-identifying folks to release narratives sold to them by society, friends, and families about who they should be, so they can cultivate lives that feel more authentic, empowering, and liberating. Every woman deserves to take up space in the world, without apology. That’s what we’re here for.

What are some tips that all of us can use during stressful periods in our day to day lives?

Eryl: Great question! It’s important and helpful to check-in with ourselves every day to ensure we’re meeting our needs. We all have basic needs: food, water, air, and shelter. We also have greater needs: to feel seen, heard, loved, and safe.

If we set reminders/timers/notes to check-in with ourselves in the morning, noon, and night for 2-5 minutes we can better honour those needs. We can get still, take 3 deep breaths (in through the nose, out through the mouth), put a hand on our heart, and ask ourselves, “What do I need in this moment and how can I give that to myself?” If we can’t answer that question, that’s okay. Asking it is the important thing.

Well, thank you so much for this interview! It’s always a pleasure speaking with you! We are fortunate that we can offer your services here at West End Women’s Health and I’m sure you will join me in saying that it is a pleasure to be serving our diverse community of women!

Eryl: It certainly is a pleasure and an honour! I’m looking forward to supporting many women on their journeys home to themselves.

Eryl has 10+ years of experience as a Yoga and Meditation teacher, and integrates mindfulness practices like guided breathwork, mindful reflection, and meditation into her sessions.

Eryl specializes in treating anxiety, depression, addiction, eating disorders, grief, relationship issues, trauma, and general stress pulling from Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialetical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Parts Work, and Narrative Therapy. Learn more about her by checking out her instagram account @erylmccaffrey

For booking, please visit: https://westendwomenshealth.janeapp.com/locations/west-end-women-s-health/book#/staff_member/16