Trauma Focused Therapists in Montréal, QC

Licensed Couple & Family Therapist, Creative Arts Therapist. Cindy specializes in trauma-focused therapy with individuals, couples, and families. She works from an anti-oppression perspective that recognizes the systemic issues that impact mental and emotional health. Cindy is a strong believer in helping her clients tell their stories through empathic and creative engagement. She incorporates verbal and body-based creative methods to guide her clients through whatever obstacles are keeping them from being more peaceful and integrated selves. Sessions are always client-centered, inclusive and sensitive to your individual needs.

Feeling the stress of life can be an overwhelming experience. Jennifer will assist you in your journey to creatively explore your movement towards mental health wellbeing. Trauma focused art therapy can be particularly effective for the client who feels stuck or who cannot talk about their difficulties. We will work together to develop a deeper understanding of yourself through creative exploration of your experiences.  I am particularly interested in supporting a systematic exploration of the clients sensory experiences, to encourage an understanding of their physical and emotional balance.

Throughout our sessions, I strive to create an environment of compassion, acceptance, and present moment awareness. I don't see myself as fundamentally different from the client, but rather as someone who can bring a fresh perspective to their situation. I believe that the client and I are both climbing our own mountains, and I can use my vantage point to identify obstacles on their mountain that they may not be aware of. In therapy, every struggle is important, and no one's pain is greater or less than another's. Together, we can then find new ways to navigate these obstacles and chart a new course towards a more fulfilling life.

Maneuvering through the different stages of "Life Journey" can be fulfilling as well as filled with periods of high stress, and emotional imbalance. Through the guiding principles of dignity, diversity, and self-determination, individual therapy brings growth by focusing on your strengths and resilience. Couple therapy can be beneficial to couples who are looking to strengthen their emotional connection in all stages of their relationship. Through the process of couple therapy, I vow to help you understand and become unstuck from the repetitive cycle of miscommunication, stepping on each other's toes, and triggering unhealed wounds.

The heart of great therapy starts with creating a sense of safety and comfort - and being offered the opportunity to express, understand and gain mastery over one's thoughts, feelings and behavior. There is genuine respect for the person's or couple's inherent strengths and capacities to engage in a process of change and growth. A mutual, clear understanding of the difficulties and challenges as well as the motivations, goals and expectations of the client guides the development and achievement of realistic, coherent and obtainable treatment goals - as well as greater functionality, well-being, performance and emotional stamina.

People-pleasers, perfectionists, worriers, and warriors ages 16 to 66: this is your call to action. You want to be more in touch with yourself but you have been held back by anxiety, trauma, and people taking advantage of you. As part of the LGBTQ2IA+ and geeky communities, you sometimes feel like you're cast aside and rarely understood. It is so tempting to give up, but you continue to persevere! You've been fighting on your own for so long that now you're ready for some more support from someone who won't ask you to educate them about being queer/the MCU/BDSM/pop culture references.

Sometimes life leads us down a path where we have no clear direction. Some of these paths leave us with trauma, anxiety, or other stressors that leave us to feel overwhelmed, disconnected, and struggling to move forward . I'm here to help you reclaim your voice, build resilience, and regain a sense of balance to move forward. My goal is to provide a safe, creative space to help others process these experiences and navigate through complex issues journey through art, empowering them to discover new strengths, connect with themselves and others, and foster a sense of belonging and well-being.

I am trained to help adults, children and adolescents better cope with a wide variety of emotional, relational and personal challenges. If you are feeling overwhelmed, out-of touch with yourself or generally unhappy and enjoy a genuine conversation with another person, willing to reach out to help, then I believe we would be a good fit. I developed an eclectic and culturally sensitive approach to therapy, heavily influenced by humanistic/existential, positive psychology, CBT and solution focused approach.

Do you struggle with feelings of inadequacy, depression, intrusive thoughts, or anger beyond your control? Do you find yourself often in either withdrawing or pursuing patterns with loved ones? Are your coping mechanism no longer helpful? Have you experienced trauma or abuse? I can help you feel more balanced and in control. We can work on either present or past issues, whichever you choose, at your own pace.

I am an ADHD Coach with over 10 years of previous experience as an Occupational Therapist. As someone with ADHD myself, I can appreciate the challenges of living with ADHD. My focus is working with children, teens, families, and adults with ADHD. Utilizing a strengths-based approach, I utilize effective strategies to help you overcome difficulties experienced at home, school, and/or the workplace.

I believe that warmth, positive regard, and acceptance are important to find the insights and tools for an important change in our lives. It is important for me to build a therapeutic relationship with genuineness and work together to enhance self-awareness and self-compassion. I prioritize allowing each person the agency to adapt techniques to their individual experiences or needs. I have a strong interest in individuals and the impact of society, culture on the development of personality. My passion for mental health, advocacy, and counselling has guided my practice and work through trauma to find strength and resilience.

Located on Lachine Canal by Atwater Market in Montreal, I work with clients in person and online. I treat trauma with EMDR to free you from your emotional pain, disturbing images, negative beliefs, triggers, memories, and sensations. Many of my clients can't get traction in "talk therapy", or are looking for a very focused approach to their trauma experiences because they still feel "stuck". Please click on the "Schedule Consultation" button at my website to book a free 20-minute Zoom consultation.

Whether you are struggling with a long-standing issue or are in acute distress, you will find me to be an empathetic counsellor who will take the time to learn about your particular story in order to best support you. No two people or two situations are alike and therapy must similarly be tailored to the individual's needs. I will do this by first meeting you where you are and working at your pace to move in the direction you see for yourself. In the process, you will develop alternate perspectives and learn techniques to challenge self-defeating thoughts or behaviours that hold you back from living authentically.

People come to therapy for all kinds of reasons: to get help for mental health challenges, to process traumatic experiences, to get support in relation to big life transitions or external stressors... Whatever the reason, finding a therapist who is a good fit for you is the first step. Whether I'm working with individuals, couples, or families, I start with an approach that is trauma-informed and mindful of how our relationships and larger systems impact us.

Occurring at any point in the lifespan, difficult and traumatic life experiences can leave their traces on us and impact the way that we experience the world around us. Have you found that the wounded parts of you are directing too much of your life? Are you looking for better coping skills? It might be time for you to begin the work of healing and start to experience the world more peacefully. I support women, non-binary, and trans adults who are looking to heal wounds related to traumatic experiences.

As an accomplished psychologist, I have consistently helped my clients achieve meaningful progress in the areas that matter most to them, from quieting nagging worries to maximizing potential, and navigating relationships with ease. At its core, therapy is about discovery; it involves going on a journey into our interior to arrive at a deeper understanding of ourselves. Our combined efforts and collaboration will expedite this.

My practice is designed to meet your specific requirements for an individual or couple. I have an integrative approach based on emotion-focused therapy (EFT), mindfulness, Trauma, psychodynamic, and humanistic therapy. I also use Neurofeedback (ILF). I work with you to enhance your couple connection by identifying how your emotions, mind, and stress all work together to trigger inappropriate ideas, feelings, and behaviors, creating a dynamic in your relationship that may be undesirable. I help you have greater access to your own healing power, so you can help yourself and/or balance your relationship.

I work with adults of all ages navigating challenging experiences, including life transitions and life-altering events, academic or work-related stress and burnout, interpersonal difficulties, anxiety, mood disorders, and enduring effects of acute, chronic, and complex trauma. The therapeutic interventions I use are evidence-based, predominantly drawing from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

My practice focuses on supporting adolescents, young adults, and individuals across diverse age groups dealing with a range of issues including anxiety, depression, body image concerns, interpersonal conflicts, and trauma. I believe deeply in the transformative potential within each person's life and strive to create an environment characterized by empathy, non-judgment, and compassion.