Attachment-Informed Therapists in Canada

Are you feeling overwhelmed or stuck and unsure of how to move forward, or unsure even what you are needing. You might feel like you need to have it all figured out, juggling academic or career pressures, navigating relationships, and trying to understand and define who you are. The weight of these expectations and pressures can feel overwhelming, leading to anxiety, self-doubt, and even burnout. I specialize in helping students, youth and young adults navigate the unique challenges of this stage of life. Let's work together to understand what you need and support you! I believe that when we validate our hard and our challenges and begin to explore how those challenges effect the present version of us, then we truly start to heal and can begin to work toward a more authentic connected self! I have a passion for working with people. I truly believe that every person has the innate ability to grow and change and live a happy and fulfilling life! Together we can work towards your goals and create the changes you deserve!

Are you looking for a ‘hype you up’ but call you on your shit therapist? I might just be your gal! Are you dealing with perfectionism? Going through a break up? Contemplating making a big life change? Experiencing grief, stress, overwhelm or loneliness? I prioritize authenticity in therapy, and aim to help people untangle themselves from problems that hold them back. I work with you as we navigate the peaks & valleys of life experiences. I often support, students, hospitality workers, parents, teachers, nurses, shift workers, ski patrollers, guides & 'first timers' to therapy. Life can be messy & complex. Are you looking for a ‘hype you up’ but call you on your shit therapist? I might just be your gal! Are you dealing with perfectionism? Going through a break up? Contemplating making a big life change? Experiencing grief, stress, overwhelm or loneliness? I prioritize authenticity in therapy, and aim to help people untangle themselves from problems that hold them back. I work with you as we navigate the peaks & valleys of life experiences. I often support, students, hospitality workers, parents, teachers, nurses, shift workers, ski patrollers, guides & 'first timers' to therapy. Life can be messy & complex. My office located in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver at 4th & Arbutus. I offer virtual counselling via telehealth throughout BC. *Insurance* Counselling is covered or reimbursed by many extended benefits programs. I am registered with many major Canadian insurance providers: Canada Life | Great-West Life Green Shield Canada Manulife Medavie Blue Cross Mines & Associates SunLife AMS - UBC Student Benefits Vail Resorts EAP *Education & Registration* I hold a master's degree in counselling from City University and a bachelor's degree in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria. I am dual licensed with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) as a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) as a Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC). License Numbers: RCC # 20414 CCC # 11250646 *A bit more about how I work & my background* Lexie (she/her) is a Registered Clinical Counsellor practicing on the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) territories. Lexie’s approach to counselling is characterized by warmth, authenticity, and compassion, with a goal of fostering a relaxed environment where clients can explore their thoughts and emotions without fear of judgment. Lexie roots her work in a trauma informed, anti-oppressive, social justice lens. This may involve looking beyond the individual to understand their experiences within broader social and cultural contexts, as she joins clients on the path to self-discovery, healing, and change. Lexie has over ten years of experience working in the field of mental health. She draws on her experience providing counselling and practical supports to diverse communities, including children and families with complex medical and mental health needs, new immigrants and LGBTQQ2S+ folx. She has worked as a grief and loss counsellor at a hospice, provided crisis and suicide prevention support and developed industry specific work place mental health trainings for the hospitality and tourism sector. Montira Mental Health was born out of Lexie’s own experience as a hospitality manager at different backcountry lodges across British Columbia. As a lodge manager, Lexie observed the intersection of mental health and personal challenges within remote and isolated live/work environments which lead to high rates of burnout amongst her staff. ​​The transient nature of tourism dependent communities, seasonal employment, high cost of living and limited access to low barrier community mental health offerings further impacted her staff. Lexie’s connection to the outdoor community is born out of years of living, working, and recreating in the Rocky, Purcell, Selkirk and Coast mountains. She is an avid backcountry skier, trail runner, and hiker who finds a deep sense of connection to herself and her community through time spent in the outdoors. To learn more, please see my website: montiramentalhealth.com

I support individuals navigating a wide range of challenges, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, stress, grief, trauma, life transitions, and relationship concerns. No matter what brings you to therapy, I aim to help you deepen self-awareness and develop practical strategies that help build resilience and promote healing. As a therapist, my approach is rooted in compassion, collaboration, and a deep respect for your lived experience. I offer client-centered care that draws from strengths-based and trauma-informed modalities, working with you to build a therapy plan that reflects your values, goals, and vision of wellness. My priority is to foster a space where you feel safe, seen, and empowered to be your authentic self. My educational background includes a Masters in Counselling Psychology, Masters in Anthropology, and Bachelors in Psychology and Cinema. I possess additional training in several evidence-based and trauma-focused therapeutic modalities. Together, we will design an approach that is tailored to your unique needs and preferences, and one that delivers meaningful results. I worked in public, private, and creative sectors before transitioning to counselling, where I gained experience as a crisis responder and in employment and career advising. My diverse professional experiences along with my own mental wellness journey help me to provide well-rounded support that is grounded in continuous self-reflection.

Maybe you have tried therapy before and it has helped you work through certain feelings or get through a specific crisis. But maybe you still find yourself repeating the same behaviors in subtle ways—perhaps until they become not so subtle and you find yourself back in therapy, in the midst of another crisis, one that eerily echoes your past experiences. You want not just to work through present issues, but also to delve deeper into your personality and life experiences to come to a better understanding of who you are, where you come from, and what your values are—with the goal of becoming the person you want and are able to be. Together, we will explore your past and present, thoughts and feelings, in order to help you gain a more holistic understanding of yourself and your potential. My background is in ancient philosophy and I am training to become a psychoanalyst because I believe that talk therapy can lead to genuine connection and enable self-discovery and self-understanding. If any of the above sounds intriguing, please feel free to contact me. I am open to new clients, especially those looking to dig deeper. Therapy can be truly transformative; sometimes it just takes finding the right person to connect with.

Top Specialities: trauma, anxiety, attachment issues I believe our life events shape us into who we are today. We weren’t BORN with an inner critic, perfectionism, or people-pleasing tendencies! Something happened in our lives that taught us those behaviours. Maybe we learned that it’s less painful to avoid confrontation than to risk rejection or failure. Maybe we learned that to ensure safety, we must be hypervigilant, constantly looking out for threats. Those behaviours likely helped you survive at one time, but now, they might be causing chronic anxiety, difficulties in your relationships, and low self-esteem. I will help you understand your emotions and unlearn beliefs and coping behaviours that are no longer serving you. We’ll learn how your past and present experiences are contributing to the issues you want to let go of, and carve a path forward. Therapy can help you process your experiences and develop coping skills to manage your reactions and emotions. I have experience helping with anxiety/stress/burnout, trauma, relationship/attachment issues, self-esteem, depression, emotion regulation, and borderline personality disorder. I’m especially passionate about treating developmental/attachment trauma to improve self-esteem, foster safety and security, and move towards secure attachment patterns. My Approach/Style As a therapist, I have a friendly, authentic, and warm demeanour. I believe a strong connection with your therapist is of crucial importance, so I take extra care to ensure I’m understanding your needs and perspective. (This doesn’t mean I’ll never challenge you!). I’m also happy to share appropriate information about my own life if helpful and relevant. I believe everyone has inner wisdom and resilience. I respect your autonomy, so I will always support you in coming to your own conclusions and finding your own solutions. But I also don’t shy away from sharing different insights and perspectives, or giving guidance and advice if needed. Types of Therapy After spending some time getting to know you, I’ll apply the therapy techniques that best suit your concerns. I use techniques informed by schema therapy, inner child work, IFS, ACT, CBT, DBT, EFT, mindfulness, and attachment theory. I am also trained in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) therapy, which is an evidence-based and WHO-recommended treatment for trauma and PTSD. If you’d like to learn more, please reach out for a free consultation! *Please note, I am located in Toronto, and my working hours are as follows: Tuesday and Wednesday: 11am-7pm Eastern Time Thursday: 1pm-7pm Eastern time Friday: 10am-5pm Eastern Time

Do you struggle with anxiety, people pleasing or feelings of overwhelm? Do you have a difficult relationship with your parents or get easily triggered? Maybe you have ADHD (or think you do) and feel like you can't do life "right"? If you experience any of these, I can help! You likely need to uncover unhelpful patterns, heal the past wounds holding you back, and develop actionable tools to help you return to a more grounded, regulated state. I'll help you process AND keep you accountable (warmly and compassionately of course). I'm trained in both Talk and Art Therapy. You can try both or choose whatever one feels best for you. Why try art therapy? Because sometimes our thoughts and feelings are hard to express with words alone. Creativity can provide another avenue of expression to dig in deeper. Heads up: No art skills are needed and we'll still use talk therapy approaches too! My style is warm, curious and collaborative. That involves both listening AND supporting you shift out of patterns no longer serving you. Together, we'll build on sessions over time with intention and direction. Let's get you thriving, not just surviving! To book a free consult, email or visit my site for the online booking link.

If you’re finding it hard to connect with others, feeling stuck in painful relationship patterns, or overwhelmed by anxiety, stress, or sadness, you’re not alone. Many of the struggles we face are not flaws or signs of failure. They are often adaptations to past experiences where emotional needs, like being comforted, feeling safe, accepted, or truly heard, weren’t fully met. I work with adults navigating relationship challenges, low mood, overthinking, uncertainty about themselves, or difficulties with focus and restlessness. These experiences can be influenced by many factors, such as ADHD, burnout, identity-related stress, or difficult past experiences. You might notice patterns like shutting down, feeling easily overwhelmed, or being misunderstood in your closest relationships. These are often protective responses that once helped you cope, but are now getting in the way of the life and relationships you want. My approach is grounded in a trauma-informed lens and an understanding that mental health is shaped by many layers—our biology, environment, culture, and early relationships. I also pay close attention to how the nervous system responds to stress and safety, helping you make sense of your emotional reactions with more compassion and less shame. Clients often share that they feel relieved when their struggles finally start to make sense. I walk alongside you with warmth and respect as we explore your experiences with curiosity, not judgment. My hope is to help you reconnect with parts of yourself that feel lost, hurt, or misunderstood. Together, we’ll build healthier emotional responses, uncover strengths buried beneath survival patterns, and move toward a life and relationships that feel more secure, fulfilling, and aligned with who you are.

I (she/her) have been practicing therapy since 2016. Originally from Newfoundland and Labrador I’ve made the West End of Toronto home and St. Joseph’s Health Centre my primary workplace where I work as a Child and Family Therapist. I have countless trauma trainings, plus DBT, CBT, DDP, EFFT, Psychodrama for Traumatic Stress, and exposure to Gestalt Therapy. I participate in psychoanalysis and am a true believer in the healing relational aspect of therapy. I know the importance of an intersectional approach to personal growth, and I seek to help you discover wholeness versus the elusive permanent wellness. Relational dynamics are my expertise, they play important roles in how we see ourselves and live our lives.

Hello! My name is Elika (Eh-lee-ka) and I am a neurodivergent, cisgender, second generation Okinawan immigrant settler occupying the stolen traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations. I am an intern counsellor completing a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology degree, and am excited for the opportunity to lean into over 15 years of experience working in community-based programs and social services. I have had the privilege of working alongside individuals of all ages, identities, and diverse family/caregiver structures such as young folks living in the foster care system. I bring a deep passion for welcoming and exploring the unique story of each person, nurturing their strengths, interests, and capacities while creating a supportive space to work through life’s challenges. Together, we’ll explore how your past experiences, your environment, and the different parts of who you are shape the person you are becoming today. Through developing a meaningful and trusting connection to ground our work together, I strive to support your vision of health and well-being with warmth, openness, empathy, and kind care. I believe in exploring and (re)discovering your inner resources, and nurturing your authenticity in a way that is meaningful to you.

I support clients navigating anxiety, life transitions, grief and loss, relational difficulties, burnout, and perfectionism. I work with clients to develop a more compassionate understanding of themselves and their experiences, reconnect with their strengths, and move toward a life that reflects their authentic self and values. I offer low-cost sessions for individuals through the Full Circle Program at Design Your Life Centre as a student therapist working under the supervision of Dr. Stacy Thomas. This program is for individuals who would not otherwise be able to afford therapy. My approach is rooted in humanistic and person-centred principles, drawing on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing. I bring a warm, nonjudgmental, and grounded presence to my work. I am committed to creating a space where you feel safe enough to explore difficult experiences and emotions and to supporting you, with patience and genuine belief in your capacity to change, as you work toward the life you want to lead.

In my journey as, first, a therapy client, and then a psychotherapist, one of the most striking things I've learned has been that we tend to hold deep knowledge about what we actually want, need, and feel. That the signals our bodies and brains deliver to us aren't random. The anger that we might try to push down can actually tell us where a boundary of ours - one we might not have even recognized for ourselves yet - is being crossed. The tiredness or pain in our bodies might be telling us to slow down, to pay attention to an important part of ourselves, an important feeling, that we've tried to ignore out of fear. When we have a hard time getting moving on a project, it isn't a character flaw - it's giving us important information about a need we have, perhaps around relaxing our own expectations for ourselves, or getting more clarity around what we're trying to do. It makes sense that we don't always listen to these inner signals of ours, for so many reasons. In today's world, many of us are busy just trying to survive, and might feel like turning inward is unhelpful or a waste of time. We might fear that we'll discover a part of ourselves that's asking for a change that we don't yet feel ready to implement in our lives. We might have learned throughout our lives that our feelings are too big or threatening to handle, so ignoring them becomes the default. I believe, however, that if we're able to receive support in slowing down and listening to that inner voice, we can start to truly move toward an easier, more aligned, more fulfilling life, with more fulfilling connections - with others and with ourselves. I love to support folks moving through this type of work. I often work with clients who might be feeling stuck, unhappy, isolated, or overwhelmed. I also see many clients who are neurodiverse, and hold lived experience with AuDHD myself. I love working with creative people, people who have self-identified as "people pleasers," anyone experiencing relationship difficulties or life transitions - whatever it is you're going through currently, and whoever you are, I'd love to chat about it! I am a graduate of the Toronto Institute of Relational Psychotherapy and am trained as a relational therapist, which means that I think about the rules we learn implicitly in our lives about relationships - who were we taught that we need to be in order to stay in connection with others? These often-invisible-to-us rules deeply impact how we relate to those around us, but also how we relate to ourselves, and to what degree we're able to listen to that aforementioned inner voice. If we learned our needs were too big and the people around us needed them to be smaller - we'll ignore anything inside of us that's trying to alert us to a need we have. If we learned we had to constantly fight for ourselves, we might have a harder time listening to an inner voice of ours that's asking for some softness. I would love to support you in letting all of the complex pieces of yourself have space to share and room to shine. If my profile resonates with you, please don't hesitate to reach out - I would love to hear from you, and to have the chance to chat about how we can work together! :)