Hi, I’m Rachel (she/her).  I am a registered psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, with specialized training in art therapy (DTATI). I work with children (mostly 10+), teens, and adults.  

First and foremost, I believe therapy should be an empowering and collaborative experience. At the heart of my approach is the belief that each person is worthy and capable of healing – no matter what you are going through, there is a way forward and you don’t have to go through it alone. People often start therapy because they are feeling stuck-wanting a way to move forward. Maybe you are living with anxiety/depression, feeling overwhelmed, struggling to set boundaries, or are stuck in difficult relationship patterns. Perhaps you have experienced trauma and recognize it is impacting your daily life but don’t know what to do about it. Or perhaps you are grieving a loss that has impacted your sense of self and ability to cope. Oftentimes we cannot talk our way through these experiences to fully heal, because trauma lives in the body. My approach to therapy is integrative, trauma-informed, and combines traditional talk therapy, art therapy and somatic (body based) therapies. I am committed to feminist, anti-oppressive practice and cultural humility.

Something unique about my practice is that I am trained in guided drawing for trauma treatment, which is a sensorimotor art therapy modality with similar benefits to EMDR therapy. This is a body based approach that is grounded in neuroscience, is based in somatic experiencing and can help resolve fight/flight responses and integrate trauma healing. This is my favourite art-based approach to use in therapy, please ask me more about it if you are interested!

My areas of focus include:  

• depression, isolation, loneliness
• anxiety, worry, stress
• trauma recovery: gender based violence, relational trauma, childhood abuse/neglect, sexual abuse/assault, intergenerational trauma, etc. 
• ptsd and c-ptsd related symptoms and dissociation 
• prenatal/postpartum/early parenting issues
• grief & loss
• family of origin issues and childhood wounds 
• self worth/insecurity issues  
• relationships, attachment, interpersonal conflict (note that I don’t currently offer couples therapy) 

If you or a loved one are seeking therapy support and you resonate with my approach, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I offer a free 30. min. meeting to see if we’re a good fit to work together.