Trauma Focused Therapists in West Toronto, Toronto, ON

My clients are ready to do the heartwork required to overcome hardship & forge a positive path for the future. Many of my clients come to my associates and me for support to heal from trauma and to navigate the justice system. I am passionate about healthy relationships (starting with self-love) & I teach individuals, couples, families, and professionals new strategies for clear & honest communication. I use EMDR and other interventions to help you move from surviving to thriving, and from Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic Growth. I also provide trauma-informed education & consulting to journalists, lawyers, police & leaders.

NEW - Offering in person therapy on Mondays in Brampton. Do you feel a sense of disconnect from yourself? Do you feel at conflict with yourself and experience feelings of lack of control in your life and begin to wonder why? It’s important to understand that you can find the right support to guide you through these feelings. With the guidance of someone who cares deeply about your needs, we can begin to address and resolve what you think is important for you. I would be honoured to connect and support you in finding your way back to the best version of you, because I know it exists.

I am a Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychologist based in Toronto, Ontario. I work with children and youth (0-19) from diverse communities with a range of issues. I practice from an integrative, family-centered and trauma-informed framework, that is culturally sensitive and honours the strengths and wisdom of each child and family. I try to meet children/youth where they are and help them to feel empowered with the skills and tools to blossom into their fullest beings. I specialize in providing mindfulness-based therapy, with a longstanding personal meditation and yoga practice, and training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.

https://humanitytherapy.ca

Does it feel like layers of stress, pressure, anxiety, and tension are starting to pile up on you? Are the struggles becoming harder to cope with? I can help. I have 13+ years of experience supporting clients as they overcome various challenges and difficulties. I am excited, dedicated, and passionate about helping clients discover their goals, reduce their suffering, and find their way to a better life.

Taking that courageous step to seek support isn't easy, and I want you to feel comfortable knowing I'm here to create a warm and understanding space for you. I'm committed to understanding the challenges you're going through, focusing on your unique perspective. I'll adjust to what feels right for you, offering support to overcome any obstacles affecting your well-being. Our therapeutic relationship is important to me, and I'm dedicated to providing a secure and confidential space where you can share openly.

I work with children, adolescents, and adults. In my work with children we play, because for a child play is a way of making sense of his/her world and expressing what is of vital importance to them. The elements of play are clues that communicate what the child feels, what they hope for, and where the conflict is in their world that is troubling them. My work with adolescents leans more towards talk therapy. I engage with adolescent with the aim of helping them reflect on their own mind, the minds of others, helping them grasp what is stable during a time of shifting self image.

Congratulations on taking your first steps to improving your psychological wellness! Starting treatment is often daunting and scary, which is why I make it my top priority to foster a comfortable and secure connection between myself and the client, as this relationship becomes the foundation for support and healing. To foster this bond, I do my best to provide a compassionate and non-judgmental space to explore one’s concerns and challenges. As your therapist, I strive to create a safe environment to process and explore challenging emotions, traumas, and events with the goal of navigating towards a better future.

I work with people from all nations and cultures, and I work more with adults in my practice and with some Chinese when I also speak both Mandarin and Cantonese. Life is never smooth. From time to time, we need to seek help from others to face the challenges. As a professional psychotherapist, I am keen to journey with you through your life difficulties such as traumatic events, life changes, loss, and grief. I will help you to identify your own feelings, emotions, values, faith, and strength to face your life problems causing stress, anxiety or depression etc. Hopefully we work together to find meaning and transcend life changes.

All feelings and struggles welcome! Difficult emotions, unresolved experiences and life challenges are often trying to tell us something. They also provide a sacred opportunity to connect with your values, needs, inner wisdom and understanding of the self. In our work together, compassion, curiosity, empowerment and reflection are used to provide an opportunity where you can feel safe, heard and understood. I use a blend of therapeutic modalities to best fit your therapeutic needs. I also offer a mix of day, evening and weekend appointments for flexible scheduling.

Accepting new clients in person (The Junction, Toronto) and virtual. Trauma & PTSD specialization with First Responders. When most clients come to me they don't know where to start and they haven't been able to overcome their problems alone or with their friend's advice. My clients need someone to listen, someone who knows about the fake face, someone who can help them understand "why"; and help them find a way to get healthy. I have a Masters in Counseling Psychology from OISE UofT the University of Toronto where I learned to use research-supported methods to help clients be empowered. Clients are always the experts on themselves.

Are you feeling overwhelmed, anxious, irritable or burned out? Are esteem and confidence issues holding you back from being your authentic self? Are you stuck in survival mode? So was I, and my team and I can help. We will walk with you on this enriching journey of self-discovery. We are here to support and guide you toward achieving your dreams, engaging in your passions and living your life with purpose. Together, we will explore your goals, examine areas of life that you want to improve and create effective strategies to achieve the meaningful change you desire. A new, embodied sense of empowerment can be life changing!

Perhaps that you wish you could trust yourself more, use your voice, and feel more connected to yourself or others? Or that you did not have to use so much energy overthinking about the past, future, or reactions of other people? Whether you have struggled with anxiety since childhood or have begun to encounter it in areas like relationships, work, or school, you deserve to connect with support.

Congratulations on taking the first step towards a more fulfilling life. I'm so glad you're here. My name is Lisa (she/her), and I support adolescent (13+) and adult clients who are looking to overcome and heal from the challenges of life, and discover the best possible version of themselves. I've been a mental health and developmental services professional for nearly 20 years, and have supported those who experience anxiety, depression, addiction, stress, neurodivergence (ADHD and autism), trauma and relational trauma, working in emergency services and their spouses, low self-esteem, and more.

If you are struggling with overwhelming emotions, relationship issues, trauma, or marginalization, you may find hope and empowerment through therapy. As a queer, non-binary therapist, I focus on social justice and how oppression can both impact you and be resisted on a personal level. I will support you to work with overwhelming emotions so that they don’t control you or damage your relationships, and instead guide you towards a more fulfilling life. Through a supportive and collaborative relationship, we can deeply understand your experiences, help you heal from their impacts, and work towards your hopes for your life.

Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, & are stuck in one place in life? When you're used to living in a state of chronic stress, feeling calm feels unfamiliar. This is the same reason you remain in chaotic relationships. You may perceive dysfunction as love & find yourself walking on eggshells in relationships. Life becomes exhausting & you end up experiencing stress and dissociation from the overwhelming environment you're exposed to. Regulating your nervous system & living a meaningful life can be a difficult journey but one that's worth exploring so you can live a self-sufficient life.

I help adults with autoimmune & cancer overcome clinical anxiety, depression, and phobias so you can heal your body, and elevate your relationships with a combination of modern psychology and ancient yoga practices.

With 20 years of experience, I am a Registered Social Worker and Registered Psychotherapist. Working with me to unravel your challenges will help you to design your future for the better. The goal of our work is for you to reach a place where you can face life's challenges with strength and confidence. My clients prefer my approach because I don't sit idle and wait for something to happen. I like to motivate and inspire my clients by using techniques and tools that help to propel change.

I provide a comfortable and safe place to work with your emotions and develop insight into life patterns that are no longer serving you. Whether you are coming to therapy to unpack past painful experiences or work towards future goals of living a more fulfilling and meaningful life, I welcome a chance to guide you through the process. Through our work together I can help you realize your full potential, strengthen important relationships and live a more integrated and confident life. Through this process my clients develop a more in depth understanding of themselves which enables more authentic living.

You may be seeking out therapy to make sense of numbness or overwhelm. You seek understanding and moving out of that sense of wariness to engage with your life fully. Perhaps grief, anxiety, depression, and neurodivergence are all a part of your story. But asking for support may be out of reach; you've learned to cope on your own for so long. Let us walk together through your life, and make sense of some of these untouchable parts. Gently, at your pace, we will discover what comes next and how best to resource you. Coping with new parts of life means we may need to untangle the unknown of our past. I can be there as this unfolds.

I understand the courage it takes to begin and commit to therapy, and that is why my first goal is to provide you with a safe and validating environment to share your experiences. Often we reach out for help with the goal of eliminating discomfort, however, I have found that the most significant gains in therapy come from facilitating a more compassionate relationship with ourselves. Being curious about our thoughts and emotions, and how they influence us, can be the first step in feeling empowered and meeting needs which may have been neglected for some time.

I focus on working with individuals who have difficulties with anxiety, emotion regulation, trauma, grief, relationship issues and those who simply wish to learn more about themselves. I am extremely passionate about helping individuals figure out why they are the way that they are, and simultaneously help them move into the person they want to be.

At times we can feel weighed down by sadness, anxiety, shame, a harsh inner critic, or not feeling “good enough”. This can sometimes occur with difficulty with people pleasing, perfectionism, chronic worry, or unreasonably high self-standards. Are you a high performer, an artist, athlete, dancer (or former)? Has a life transition or loss left you feeling overwhelmed? I strive to help folks like you to build a more compassionate and loving self-relationship, to process difficult life experiences, and to learn more effective coping tools to manage anxiety, mood, and stress symptoms that can get in the way of living our lives.

Do you have anxiety or conflicting feelings about touch? Do you experience chronic stress? Talking about problems is certainly important, and sometimes words are not enough. Science says we need 8-12 hugs per day for optimal health and many experts have observed that "trauma lives in the body", so you could be triggered by the very thing you need for your healing and well-being. By combining talk and therapeutic touch, my integrated experiential coaching provides a safe space for you to "unpack" and process what's been haunting you, to help you to recover so you can redirect that energy toward living a happier, more satisfying life.