Karen is a Registered Social Worker, licensed teacher, and current MSW student. She originates from Northern Ontario and understands the challenges, needs, and resilience among Northerners. For close to thirty years, she has supported teens and their families through different roles as an educator. Karen’s experiences in virtual therapy have supported clients with chronic health conditions, trauma, and the ambivalence surrounding our roles and relationships with others. She has served as a board director and volunteer with adult literacy non-profits and has been a volunteer for those experiencing traumatic incidents in need of short-term support.

Sometimes clients feel they must reach unattainable ideals in their
relationships, careers, and how they define success. This can lead to feelings of being unfulfilled, stress, and uncertainty in who we are. Therapy can be an effective way to define your life’s benchmarks based upon your own values and goals, not what anyone else including society has determined for you!

I utilize an empowerment approach that emphasizes your past and current success and resilience. Through exploring your current situation and how it is defined by you, I can work alongside you to design a plan that brings you contentment and confidence in your own capacities. Allow me to help you shape your life plan and personal goals through individual or couples therapy.
I strive to create a culturally-safe, trusting, and respectful therapeutic
relationship. You will be met with compassion, respect, and faith in your abilities! I value the therapeutic benefits that come from being challenged and presented with honesty – my commitment to you.

Client Focus: Couples, Families, individuals, teens
Types of therapy: CBT, DBT, Gottman Method for Couples

More than just my work:

Favourite Quote: “Follow your bliss” —Joseph Campbell

Other facts: I am mom to an amazing daughter who lives out of province and have two pug fur babies, who keep me busy and entertained, Arthur and Wilma!

Adult Therapy

Life’s journey is rarely a straight path. Despite our efforts to navigate it smoothly, unexpected events beyond our control can deeply affect us. Whether it’s a car accident, the loss of a loved one, or experiencing sexual assault, these traumatic experiences can deeply affect various facets of our lives.

Seeking support from a compassionate professional during the peak of trauma can provide you with a safe space to process your experiences. This support can be instrumental in helping you find peace and build resilience as you navigate through challenging times. Working with someone who understands and can guide you through these emotions and experiences can make a significant difference in your healing journey.

As a certified trauma integration clinician, I have guided numerous individuals through profound challenges, assisting them in finding peace and strength on their path to healing.

Child Therapy

Children often experience intense emotions that can overwhelm their developing minds and bodies. As they grow and face life’s challenges, they may struggle to navigate these big feelings without yet having developed effective emotional regulation strategies.

Through child-friendly methods like play therapy, art, and role-playing, I empower children to manage their emotions and navigate the complexities of childhood. Equally vital, I educate caregivers on supporting their children through these significant emotions and behaviours, equipping them with practical tools for use at home.

As a result, children and their caregivers feel empowered and equipped to confidently navigate life’s challenges together.

My Experience: 

Over a decade ago, my career began in a hospice, where I gained invaluable experience in grief and palliative care. This inspired me to delve deeper into this area, culminating in publishing my graduate thesis on the subject. My journey continued as a child and youth mental health counsellor, where I dedicated years to helping children of all ages. Here, I developed a passion for preventative mental health care, teaching young ones how to manage emotions and behaviours early on.

Returning to Timmins, I embraced a role in primary care, supporting adults grappling with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. Concurrently, I navigated a position in palliative care system navigation, supporting clients facing a life limiting illness, as well as providing grief and support services to their families. It was during this period that I recognized the pervasive impact of trauma. Motivated to deepen my ability to support my clients, I pursued further education, becoming a certified trauma integration clinician.

 Client Focus: Individuals 18+ and Children aged 3 – 12

Types of therapy: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Integrative Trauma and Attachment Treatment Model, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Solutions Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Issues: Trauma, Grief, Palliative Care, Chronic Illness, Anxiety, Stress and Burnout 

More than just my work: 

Fun fact about me: For the past several years, I’ve been a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol. During winter months, you might spot me on the slopes in my red jacket, providing first aid services.

Favourite Quote: 

“Be here now.” ― Ram Dass 

***Stay Tuned: Kelly is currently completing her training to become an autism specialist!

I know first hand how becoming a parent changes and challenges you. Whether you are in the planning process, this is your first pregnancy/child or a subsequent one, you can never fully anticipate the toll parenting can take on our mental health. For some, experiences of grief, loss and trauma shape our early parenting journey, leaving you feeling isolated, afraid, or even ashamed about the thoughts and feelings we are having. Add on parenting standards
that encourage us to sacrifice everything for our children, and to do it all with a smile – so we suffer silently.

My own struggles in parenting, including my lived reality of loss and birth trauma, bring me to this work and allow me to deeply connect with other parents who are craving a place to bring all of their parenting experiences. Accompanying my lived experience, I have specialized postgraduate training in maternal mental health, and am trained in emotionally focused therapy (for individuals, couples and families), as well as the Flash Technique for trauma. I use a client-centered, individualistic approach throughout the therapeutic process to accommodate each client’s unique experience, needs, and goals.

In my work with individuals, couples, and families, I strive to create a supportive environment where you can safely explore your emotional experiences around pregnancy, birth, and parenting, as well as the impact it has on you, while offering the tools and resources you might benefit from to make the changes you’d like to see.
During our time together, I seek to empower my clients, foster increased confidence to navigate parenthood; problem solve in a safe and non-judgemental way; live in the present; improve coping skills; recover; heal; and, ultimately, live the life they see for themselves.

Client Focus: Individuals, couples, and families in all phases of starting and maintaining a family.

Types of therapy: CBT, EFT, Narrative, Flash Technique, trauma informed

Specialties: Postpartum & parental mental health, birth trauma, fertility, pregnancy/ infant grief & loss, intimate partner violence

Credentials: BScN, M.A., R.P

Favourite quotes:
“Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean me first, it means me too.” ― L.R. Knost

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher