Areas of Service

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) causes excessive hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattentiveness. Individuals who struggle with ADHD often find themselves easily distracted, unable to focus, forgetful of their tasks, interrupting people when they talk, or have difficulty sitting still. In fact, both adults and children can struggle with ADHD. ADHD can impact clients’ daily functioning, but behavioral therapy and coaching will help them learn to monitor and manage their behaviour more effectively.

Some individuals experience emotional or behavioral responses to major life changes. These changes can include the loss of a loved one, divorce, moving to a new city, starting a new job, the birth of a baby, or the birth of a sibling for some children. Adjustment symptoms can include but are not limited to anxiety, depressed mood, irritability, sleep difficulties, or problematic behaviors. Therapy can help clients improve communication between their family members, improve their problem-solving, impulse control, anger management, and stress management skills.

Anger is a regular and healthy emotion, especially when you have been mistreated or wronged. But anger can be harmful when it is expressed in a way that harms yourself and others. Anger management therapy is not about suppressing your emotion, but growing in awareness to triggers, identifying negative thought patterns (i.e., overgeneralizing, blaming, etc.), and developing healthy ways to express emotions and assert needs effectively.

People often over worry and panic about situations perceived as unsolvable.  As a result, the anxiety causes poor sleep, low productivity, and problematic social interactions. To name a few, anxiety can also cause physiological reactions such as shortness of breath, sweating, chest pain, dry month, lump in the throat, and rapid heart rate. Therapy can help clients improve their mental well-being through coping mechanisms that help them address challenges calmly and effectively.

Assertive communication is a sign of mutual respect. It shows that you value your thoughts, feelings, and interests, and that you are aware of other people’s willingness to resolve conflicts. This can help manage stress, resentment, and anger especially if you have a hard time saying “no” and take on too many responsibilities. Therapy can help clients gain confidence, understand themselves, earn respect, build stronger relationships, and create win-win situations through assertive communication. 

Individuals with bipolar disorder experience extreme mood swings and severe changes in behavior, thought, and sleep. Symptoms of severely “high” moods (i.e., a manic episode) include excessive happiness and excitement, rapid speech, racing thoughts, poor concentration, elevated self-esteem, high risk behaviors, doing many activities at once, less need for sleep, and decreased appetite, etc. Symptoms of severely “low” moods (i.e., a depressive episode) include loss of energy, sadness, forgetfulness, inability to feel pleasure, insomnia and suicidal thoughts, to name a few. Bipolar disorder is a long-term condition that needs on-going treatment. Therapy can help clients manage symptoms and create healthy routines.

Body image is what you think of yourself when you look in the mirror. It involves how you feel about your body weight, height, and shape, how you physically experience your body when you move, and what you believe about your appearance. People with negative body image are most likely to develop eating disorders and suffer from depression, obsessions with weight-loss, and low self-esteem. Therapy can help clients develop healthy body image and embrace who they are.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) affects the way you feel about yourself and others as well as your daily functioning. Symptoms include self-image problems, difficulty managing emotions and behaviours, and patterns of unstable relationships. Those who struggle with BPD often experience intense fear of being abandoned and suffer from intense mood swings and impulsiveness that push others away, even when the individual longs most for a loving and stable relationship. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment option for BPD.

Christian Counselling focuses on the hope found in Jesus Christ to help individuals persevere through trials and find strength and power to overcome hardships. Biblical truth is sought and referenced to guide clients through life journeys.

Each child or adolescent responds differently to life’s unexpected events. These events could be a death in the family, the birth of a sibling, bullying, natural disasters, school difficulties, self and body image issues, substance misuse, gaming addiction, peer pressure, or parental divorce, to name a few. It is important for the child or adolescent to have healthy social and emotional intelligence in order to overcome life obstacles and lead healthy and happy lives. It is also important for parents to learn how to understand the child’s emotional needs in order to increase emotional bonding and offer practical support effectively.

Conflicts in the workplace or other organized settings occur whenever disagreements emerge. Conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. Oftentimes, resolved conflicts can lead to better communication and deeper understanding. The problem occurs when individuals respond to conflict in maladaptive ways. Five conflict responses include: avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising, and collaborating. Each of these responses are appropriate for different circumstances. Therapy can equip clients to manage conflicts and thrive in any setting. 

Most dream of finding a soulmate in life with whom they can share joys and sorrows. However, misunderstanding and miscommunication can create negative barriers around couples, resulting in unnecessary arguments or hurtful actions. With the help of couple counselling, couples are encouraged to express and address their problems and concerns openly and respectfully with each other. Developing adaptive styles of communication results in stronger bonds and happiness. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based treatment option for couple therapy.

Signs of depression often start off with lack of energy, loss of appetite, and sleep deprivation or excessive sleep. Common signs of severe despondency and dejection are followed by feelings of inadequacy and guilt. Depression is commonly ignored when the individual does not understand it. Therapy can help clients engage in compassionate self-care activities, challenge maladaptive thinking and behavioural patterns, and address barriers that negatively affect their social connections.

Eating disorders are marked by obsession with food or body shape. Several eating disorders include bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or anorexia nervosa. Therapy can help clients develop healthy relationships with food, teach clients to monitor eating habits and mood, support clients in mindful eating, and help them practice healthy coping mechanisms to stressful situations.

Every family deserves to have harmony and respect. When one person struggles, it is possible that the whole family struggles as well. Family therapy helps the family address their underlying emotions, ineffective communication patterns, and maladaptive behaviors in order to improve their communication skills, resolve their conflicts and emotional bonding.

Everyone grieves the loss of a loved one differently. There is no right or wrong way to go about grieving and in fact, when individuals identify the different stages of grief, they can gradually learn how to move on. Therapy invites clients to express struggles, feelings, and behaviors in a non-judgmental therapeutic environment. Our therapists can help guide clients through the grieving process so that they may become stronger despite the sorrow, and perhaps find new meaning in life.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involves struggling with obsessions and compulsive behaviors/rituals that impact your daily functioning. The brain gets stuck on a particular thought/image/urge such as excessive hand washing, checking that the door is locked 20 times, hoarding unnecessary things in the house, or constantly worrying about hurting or harming someone, to name a few. OCD is often linked to the fear of losing control, of not being good enough, or of being contaminated by germs/contaminating others. Therapy can help you identify triggers, monitor and resist urges, and combat obsessive thoughts. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is an evidence-based treatment approach to help those with obsessive thoughts refrain from responding with compulsions or rituals.

A panic attack is the sudden onset of fear that triggers severe physical reactions in circumstances when there is no real danger or cause. A panic attack can happen at any time without warning, and although they are not dangerous, they are highly uncomfortable. Symptoms during a panic attack can include sweating, chills, hot flashes, chest pain, dizziness, feeling of unreality or detachment, and fear of loss of control or impending death, to name a few. Panic attacks can get worse without treatment. Therapy can help clients identify triggers and process whether there are caused by real threats and false alarms as well as ways to calm the nervous system down.

More and more children and youth experience severe mental health challenges that impair how they function at home, school, or in the community. Students may experience academic challenges, lack of motivation, bullying, time management issues, learning disabilities, or social issues. Therapy can help students develop coping strategies and increase support networks in order to navigate the many challenges they experience in school.

Self-Esteem involves an individual’s perception of their worth or personal value. It can be harmful when one’s self-esteem is too high or too low. Excessively high self-esteem can be linked with narcissism, but excessively low self-esteem can be linked with depression and anxiety. Signs of low self-esteem are negative outlooks in life, lack of confidence, inability to express needs, focusing only on weaknesses, or excessive feelings of shame, depression, or anxiety. Therapy can help clients address maladaptive thoughts and develop healthy patterns of thought that motivate positive changes in life. Healthy self-esteem is linked to motivation and success in life.

Stress is a normal response to life’s demands, and especially in today’s society, it is becoming more and more common. But chronic stress has very negative impacts on one’s mental and physical well-being. Behavioural symptoms of stress include unhealthy eating habits, unhealthy sleeping habits, or withdrawing from others. Physical symptoms of stress include (but is not limited to) aches and pains, nausea or dizziness, and chest pain or rapid heart rate. Emotional symptoms of stress include (but is not limited to) feeling overwhelmed, loneliness and isolation, anxiety, or depression. Therapy can help clients find healthy coping mechanisms. Getting rest, learning to relax, exercising, asserting your need, challenging your maladaptive thoughts, and connecting with people are only a few of the many methods for stress management.

Substance use refers to the use of drugs, alcohol, or other substances like cigarettes or inhalants. Substance use begins with wanting to have fun, relax, experiment, or cope with stressors, but becomes a problem when the substance causes harm to you or people around you. Therapy can help clients feel supported on their journey to overcome addiction. The therapist will also help clients find ways to cope with withdrawal, so that they may eventually experience fulfillment without reliance on harmful substances.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is triggered by a traumatizing and often life-threatening events. Symptoms can include (but is not limited to) flashbacks, sleep difficulties, nightmares, severe anxiety, uncontrollable thoughts about the trauma, avoidance behaviours related to places, people or things that remind individuals about the traumatic event, social isolation, or distorted view about self, others, and the future. Trauma-focused Therapy (including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Cognitive Processing Therapy and Internal Family Systems Therapy) intervene traumatic memories and help clients face their fears in a safe and supportive environment to lessen the impacts of trauma in order to improve their daily functioning and quality of life.

Women encounter many issues in today’s society. Oppression in the workplace, partner abuse, parenting stress, or health and biological issues are all examples of problems that can impact one’s mental well-being. These can lead to depression, anxiety, postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, PTSD, eating disorders, or mood-related challenges. Therapy can help clients identify the root of the problem and focus on the steps needed to overcome these challenges.