Specializations

Online therapy for young adults

Anxiety

Not only is anxiety exhausting but it shrinks one’s world. In an effort to avoid feeling anxious, one begins to say “no” to whichever situations and experiences seem to trigger it.

“No” to dating. “No” to confrontation. “No” to new opportunities. “No” to whatever lies outside one’s comfort zone.

Sensing their life getting smaller, and their apparent inability to do anything about it, one tends to become anxious about being anxious, thus reinforcing the very experience they are trying to escape. In therapy, one develops a more nuanced understanding of the roots of their anxiety, and learns skills and strategies to lower it to a manageable level. In doing so, they can begin to confront situations and experiences that make them anxious (rather than avoid them), which is the key to making substantial progress over the long term.

Depression

There are many different reasons why people get depressed (a response to grief, unprocessed trauma, living in a prolonged state of stress and/or anxiety, etc.). However, the cycle is always the same: the more depressed one feels, the more they withdraw from the world; and the more they withdraw from the world, the more depressed they become.

Interestingly enough, these clients often have some good ideas about what they could do, or should do, to make themselves feel better, Yet, something inside them resists.

In therapy, they learn to give a voice to their resistance so they can better understand it. In doing so, we can begin to deconstruct the various psychological, emotional, and behavioural obstacles that stand in their way from making the necessary changes to themselves and their life.

Relationship Issues

Love and attachment are central to the human experience . So the stakes are high in relationships. As a result, the fear, anger, jealousy, and regret can be high too. For many people, their defense mechanisms come out in full force once they get attached to someone. And so, they are prone to acting in a way that they later regret.

Therapy helps one take a step back and objectively examine the ways in which they have difficulty with intimacy and relationships

In doing so, they can begin to transcend their intimacy issues rather than project them onto their partner.

Some of the common issues regarding relationships that people seek therapy for are:

Breakups
Anxious attachment style
Avoidant attachment style
Romantic obsession/idealization
Fear of setting boundaries/confrontation

ADHD

When someone is struggling with ADHD it can feel like their mind is working against them. They sit down to do a task, and all of a sudden their mind pulls their attention towards something else (i.e. checking their phone, opening a new tab, etc.); or perhaps they “zone out” and lose track of what they were supposed to be doing.

And sometimes it can feel as though the more one tries to assert control over their mind, the more it resists.

ADHD is an issue of being overly identified with your thoughts, impulses, and urges. Instead of simply being mindful of them, which allows them to pass, one has an “automatic emotional reaction, which makes them feel nearly impossible to ignore.

In therapy, one learns how to slow down their mind so that it’s less chaotic. In doing so, it starts to work for them, rather than against them.

Addiction

One’s addiction is always a tremendous source of shame and anxiety. Yet, while engaging in it they find temporary relief from these unpleasant emotions (because the brain becomes flooded with dopamine).

However, at some point this inevitably stops being the case. One’s shame and anxiety grows too strong, and they are no longer able to numb themselves to the gravity of their situation. This is when people struggling with addiction typically enter therapy.

In therapy, we don’t waste time talking to clients about what’s wrong or bad about your addiction (every person with an addiction knows they’re doing something they shouldn’t be). Instead, we explore what’s “right” about it. What does it do for you? What do you like about it?

In gathering this information, we gain a more nuanced understanding of the function of your addiction (i.e. why they’re doing it), and can start to work on developing the skills that are necessary to transcend the compulsive behaviour.