Therapy for therapists who feel deeply, but fear being fully seen
Tend to your own needs with process groups and couples therapy for mental health professionals in Ontario
I’m here for process groups
If you’re a therapy provider who wants to learn more about what makes you tick, process groups are just what you need. You spend so much time focused on everyone else (clients, friends, family), when do you actually learn about yourself? This is group therapy for the therapist.
I’m here for couples therapy
If you’re in a romantic relationship, couples therapy can help you understand how you wind up repeating arguments and learn to strengthen your positive cycle. Every couple, throuple, quad, and polycule deserves the opportunity to talk about their experiences, openly and honestly.
Sitting with another’s pain can feel easier than sitting with your own
My practice is a soft landing place for therapy providers like you to explore your own emotional experiences, move closer to others, and talk openly about your worries.
We all go into the therapy field because we want to help others.
For many of us, we feel like we’ve been in the helper role long before we got our acceptance letters into grad school.
From a young age, you may have learned to prioritize the needs of everyone else around you. It's no surprise you’ve gravitated towards a field that continues to reward taking care of others.
But, do you know yourself outside of being a therapist? How would you describe yourself if you weren’t able to speak about your professional role as part of your identity?
Being in this profession doesn't make us martyrs
We may want to believe that, as therapists, that the more skills and information we learn, the more invincible we become to condition of life .
You devote your life to studying humans, attachment, and brushing up on clinical techniques to help support your clients better. You’ve gotten into the mentality that you just need the next training, the next credential, to feel competent.
Graduate school doesn’t adequately prepare you to sit with uncertainty and what happens within yourself when silence takes over.
Counter transference is talked about only in theory, your own stories of worthiness, and subtleties of what it’s like to be someone who struggles with their own lives while helping others with similar human experiences … glazed over.
Expected that you learn how to deal with this on the job.
The strategies that once helped you stay safe may now be a double-edged sword. While they might help you excel at your job by deeply understanding someone’s world and helping you distance yourself from strong emotions, they might also hinder your personal attempts at being truly known for your unique qualities in your personal life.
Without intentional self-reflection about what you personally like, want, need, feel, or think that is uniquely yours, you may start to lose yourself in the identities of others.
I’ve always known that working with mental health workers was my calling.
I’m Ekaterina, a Registered Psychotherapist who supports other therapists.
At 10 years old, I came across an article that made me aware of the silent struggles that psychiatrists and many other health professionals go through.
That moment made me realize that, even for mental health professionals, knowing the practical skills and reaching out for help are two different abilities.
So, I decided there needs to be less focus on clinical skills and more opportunities for therapists to connect as humans, to explore their own emotional reactions and practice sharing their truths. Even when it feels scary to say out loud.
Process groups and couples therapy allow us to shift the conversations in an intentional way onto our own emotional experiences.
Because when we therapists notice our personal triggers and work through them, everyone benefits.