While our lives get painfully confusing,
Our minds need to stay clear.
Welcome!
I want to meet you in your lived reality—not with platitudes, but with genuine understanding and competence.
My practice is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). While some criticize CBT for its alleged coldness and disinterest in deeper concerns, rest assured: CBT can address both immediate symptoms and the deeper sources of your distress. Moreover, I believe that therapeutic expertise is only effective when delivered through a warm, human connection. When you arrive, I invite you to pour a cup of tea or coffee, grab a blanket, and settle into a comfy couch.
My role is to provide the clinical skills you need to change within the warmth and stability you need to heal.
Joanna
What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy?
CBT is an umbrella term that encompasses a rich family of evidence-based therapies. These approaches are rooted in a fundamental observation: our thoughts, actions, behaviors, and emotions are intricately synchronized. This means that what we think directly influences how we feel and what we do, and vice-versa. CBT includes classic CBT of Aaron Beck, metacognitive therapy, acceptance commitment therapy, schema therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy. Moreover, years of research resulted in finetuning of disorder specific treatment protocols like exposure - response prevention for OCD or cognitive reprocessing for trauma.
My Background
I am a regulated health professional registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and a member of Ontario Association for Social Workers. I have been working as a clinical social worker since 1996 in a variety of settings, including emergency department/crisis intervention, inpatient psychiatry, community outreach and hospital affiliated mental health clinics. The bulk of my professional life was spent at Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga.
I have a bachelor degree in psychology from the University of Western Ontario, and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Toronto. I pursued specialization in cognitive behaviour therapy and became accredited by the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies and the Canadian Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (CACBT-ACTCC). You can learn a lot about CBT and confirm my credentials by accessing the websites of these two organizations.
What to Expect in Therapy
Our first meeting is used to gather as much information as possible about your history, problems and strengths, as well as things that are important to you. You are likely going to be given some tests or monitoring sheets to complete before the next appointment. This is necessary for us to better understand the mechanisms that maintain your difficulties and to create a working model of what is happening in your life. Obviously, each person is different, with different life philosophies and aspirations. Yet many of us get stuck in self-reinforcing cycles of triggers, thoughts, emotions, actions and outcomes that all add up to create our lived reality. Therapy is about ensuring that your mind works for you and not against you.
Areas of Expertise
(or How We can Work Together Using CBT)
Concepts and Clichés
Concepts and Clichés is a blog dedicated to exploring the real-world application of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in everyday life. This space offers practical insights, expert advice, and thought-provoking reflections tailored for both prospective and current clients and anyone else who is interested in building a deeper understanding of common concepts. Here, you’ll find accessible explanations of CBT principles, common misconceptions (“clichés”), and how these concepts can be used to navigate life’s challenges.
