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MY APPROACH

I provide individual psychotherapy to adults (age 18+). My therapeutic approach is relational and attachment based. This means that the way I support you is grounded in the understanding that we are hurt, and heal, in relationship, and that transformational growth and change happen in an environment of emotional safety and connection. Together, we will use emotions and how you experience them in your body, memory, and mindful awareness as a gateway towards healing. I strive to create a deeply affirming space where you can feel safe to explore vulnerabilities and grow. Starting from a place of curiosity, and acceptance for you exactly as you are, I will tailor my skills to help you work towards meaningful change. We will work in a collaborative way to agree upon treatment plans and interventions. 

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My practice is trauma-informed and may involve the direct treatment of traumatic experiences through an evidence-based treatment called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy). This means that our work together will be guided by, and may explore:

  • The way attachment to your caregiver(s), family, parents, and early childhood experiences may have shaped how you experience your emotions, engage in relationships, and respond to perceived stress

  • How the brain and the body, in an attempt to keep you safe, can leave you stuck in suffering

  

 I will help you connect to your body and your wise inner self to navigate out of unconscious, automatic patterns that may not be serving you anymore.​ 

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My practice is also informed by an understanding of how systemic forms of oppression can create intersectional challenges and suffering for you as an individual. I work with all sexual orientations and gender identities, and provide secondary assessments for gender-affirming surgeries. My practice is affirming of all gender identities, sexual orientations, races, cultures, religions, and spiritual practices.

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Issues I work with include, but are not limited to:

  • depression and anxiety

  • childhood and adult trauma

  • sexual violence

  • PTSD

  • overwhelming emotions

  • excessive guilt and shame

  • self-esteem

  • harsh inner critics

  • interpersonal difficulties

  • setting healthy boundaries / assertiveness

  • codependency

  • insomnia

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For more information on my skills and experience see the About Me section. 

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I acknowledge with humility that I am a settler of white, colonial privilege who lives, works and finds joy on the ancestral lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg and the treaty lands and territory of the Mississauga of the Credit. This is a place that holds beauty, history, and responsibility. I commit to tending it with care, avoiding harm, and deepening my understanding of its stories—both past and present. This work is guided by a deep respect for the land and those forcefully displaced from it.  

 

©2020 by Kelsey White, MSW, RSW. 

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