Toronto Psychology Clinic

💬Conversation starters are such useful tools for connection.

When you’re married, or simply in a relationship, it’s easy to have the same conversations - whether that’s conflict or simply comfort - over and over again.

If you’ve ever felt the pull towards deep and vibrant conversations, but haven’t been sure how to get back into that place, here’s a couple of great conversation starters for you and partner.🙌

If you are new to Toronto Psychology Clinic and looking to book an appointment or have questions, don’t hesitate to book a phone call with our intake team!✨ Please email us at [email protected] or call 416-551-1759 (ext 2) to get started!🙌

✨Reminder!✨

Depression looks different for everyone.

The type of depression you're diagnosed with will depend on your specific symptoms, when they arise, and how long they last. No matter the type of depression you have, depression looks different from person to person! But all types have symptoms that can affect your daily life, relationships, and work or school life.

💭When should you seek help? If you feel this way more days than not and do not find a resolution, reach out for help. The good news is depression is treatable. We’re here to support you.

Tap here to get started: https://torontopsychology.com

Intimacy, in general, refers to the level of proximity between two people. It requires vulnerability, openness, and trust.🤍

Getting intimate with someone else on one level doesn’t necessarily guarantee intimacy in other aspects.

Whether it’s your relationship with your parents, significant other, friends, or employers, you may experience different intimacy types depending on the power dynamics at play.

🔑Acknowledge these needs, and be open to practice them in your everyday relationships to build and help them grow.

Have questions about our services? Please don’t hesitate to contact us. We would love to chat!💬

David Richo believes the five A's form the basis of mature love. They help us to move away from judgement, fear, and blame to a position of openness, compassion, and realism about life and relationships.💫

1️⃣ Attention to the present moment; observing, listening, and noticing all the feelings at play in our relationships.
2️⃣ Acceptance of ourselves and others just as we are.
3️⃣ Appreciation of all our gifts, our limits, our longings, and our poignant human predicament.
4️⃣ Affection shown through holding and touching in respectful ways.
5️⃣ Allowing life and love to be just as they are, with all their ecstasy and ache, without trying to take control.

The 5 A's of a Loving Relationship
- David Richo

🔁The cycle of anxiety is a process where a person avoids their fears, and as a result, those fears grow increasingly powerful. Many anxiety treatments work by breaking this cycle.

💭Do you know how to break this cycle?💭

We’re here to help.🤝 Tap the here to get started: https://torontopsychology.com

🌟What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)?🌟

👉Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based model of psychotherapy that combines important aspects of cognitive behaviour therapy and traditional models of behavioural therapy.

In ACT, client are encouraged to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their emotions and learn to accept such feelings as adaptive responses to situations. Such acceptance and giving up the fight against the emotions allows them to move forward in their life. Such acceptance along with evaluation and understanding of one’s values leads to commitment to making necessary changes in their behaviour.

The ACT therapist helps you listen to your inner dialogue, particularly about traumatic events, relationships, physical problems and other issues. You decide if the issue requires immediate action and change or if you need to accept it and make behaviour adjustments. You may examine past behaviours that did not work so that your therapist can help you stop repeating unproductive patterns of behaviour and identify ones that are more productive. Once you face and accept your issues, you can make a commitment to stop fighting your past and emotions and start engaging in constructive behaviours that are consistent with your personal values and goals.🔑

The rationale underlying ACT is that it is counterproductive to try to control painful emotions or psychological experiences as such reactions lead to greater distress. The ACT therapist assists the client in adopting the view that there are valid alternatives to trying to change the way one thinks these include being mindful, attentive of one’s personal values and at the same time accepting one’s psychological experiences.

✨Get to know the TPC team!✨

Toronto Psychology Clinic is one of the fastest-growing clinics focusing on inclusivity and diversity. Every team member brings a unique perspective to the clinic based on their own identification with diverse backgrounds. We like to think of our clinic as a “home”.🏠 We are currently seeking several associates to join our team on a full or part-time basis. (Link down below for more information!)

👋Meet Banupriya Balachandra, Psychological Associate, MPhil

Banupriya has over 8 years of experience in the field of mental health and offers assessment and individual psychotherapy services to adults at the Toronto Psychology Clinic.

She has a strong commitment towards being helpful, no matter the approach. Her approach to psychotherapy is integrative and is rooted in the belief that longstanding difficulties in our relationships with ourselves and others have their origins in our early developmental experiences. She works in collaboration with her clients towards co-constructing a coherent narrative of their past, their present experiences, and their fears and aspirations for the future.

Banupriya’s work draws from the following approaches to psychotherapy:
〰️ Attachment based psychotherapy
〰️ Cognitive behavioural therapy
〰️ Psychodynamic psychotherapy
〰️ Relational psychotherapy
〰️ Trauma-informed psychotherapy

She works with a wide range of presentations that include:
〰️ Anxiety
〰️ Bereavement
〰️ Childhood trauma
〰️ Conflicts with family of origin
〰️ Depression
〰️ Dermatotillomania
〰️ Difficulty asserting boundaries
〰️ Difficulty being vulnerable with others
〰️ Emotional dysregulation
〰️ Excessive self-blame
〰️ Feeling stuck in relationship patterns
〰️ Losses related to life transitions
〰️ Obsessive compulsive disorder
〰️ Perinatal mental health
〰️ Procrastination
〰️ Work-life balance

🗣Banupriya is fluent in English, Hindi, Urdu and Kannada.

Tap here to book your visit with Banupriya today: https://linktr.ee/torontopsychology

Learn about Toronto Psychology Clinic!💫

Our main goal is to form safe, nonjudgmental and collaborative relationships with clients so that we may improve their emotional and psychological well-being and help them live productive lives.

Our team remains at the cutting edge of best practices in psychotherapy and counseling that includes Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Mindfulness Based Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Everyone has trained in more than one approach to psychotherapy.

Located in the core of downtown Toronto, the most diverse city in the world, we specialize in a variety of subjects such as race, language, ethnic, s*xuality, gender, identity, and physical abilities. Every team member brings a unique perspective to the clinic based on their own identification with diverse backgrounds.

Our clinic is LGBTQ + friendly.🏳️‍🌈

💭Wondering how to get started? Whether you already know what kind of help you’re looking for, or just want to ask a few questions, we are here for you. Our intake team can provide you with all of the necessary information, and book you in for your first appointment with one of our associates. During your first appointment you will have a chance to discuss your needs, get an idea of how therapy can help you, and see if your therapist is a match for you. No therapy approach can be successful without a strong and trusting alliance between the client and the therapist.🙌

✅Tap here to learn more: https://torontopsychology.com

✨Get to know the TPC team!✨

Toronto Psychology Clinic is one of the fastest-growing clinics focusing on inclusivity and diversity. Every team member brings a unique perspective to the clinic based on their own identification with diverse backgrounds. We like to think of our clinic as a “home”.🏠 We are currently seeking several associates to join our team on a full or part-time basis (tap the link down below for more information).

👋Meet Dr. Adrienne Li, Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Neuropsychologist, PhD

Dr. Adrienne Li is a Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Neuropsychologist registered with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. She completed her doctoral training at University College London in the United Kingdom and is also registered as a Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (UK).

Dr. Li works with adults and seniors experiencing a range of difficulties including depression, anxiety, trauma, brain injuries, and adjustment due to factors such as migration, separation and loss. She employs evidence-based therapies, integrating approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), mindfulness, narrative therapy, trauma-informed and anti-oppressive practices.
With a warm, non-judgmental and collaborative style, she endeavours to create a safe space in sessions to allow clients freely self-explore, work through emotions and help them meet their treatment goals.

🗣Dr. Li is fluent in English, Cantonese and understands Mandarin and Japanese.

Tap here to book your visit with Dr. Adrienne Li today: https://linktr.ee/torontopsychology

🧘‍♀️Mindfulness-Based Therapies🧘‍♀️

Today there is much research to support the benefits of mindfulness to a person’s physical and psychological health. Mindfulness refers to meditative ideas and practices that involve observing thoughts and feelings and letting go of the need to change or ruminate about things. Mindfulness-Based Therapies encompass mindfulness philosophies and techniques in their intervention approach. In a world that is becoming increasingly fast-paced and competitive with technology and social media, it’s hard not to feel the intensity of time, the demand to get things done and be the very best, to the point that one is not really paying attention to what is happening on the inside. This directing of awareness to one’s inner world in a way that is non-judgemental – thoughts are neither good nor bad but are just that, thoughts – leads to greater contentment.💫

Mindfulness-based strategies and ideas are included in therapies such as Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Mindfulnes-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). At our clinic we use mindfulness strategies within various models of therapy to help with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, etc. Mindfulness techniques include breathing and relaxation exercises along with guided imagery to direct attention to one’s thoughts and feelings in a more mindful way.

If you are a new client looking to book an appointment or have questions, don’t hesitate to book a phone call with our intake team.🙌

https://linktr.ee/torontopsychology

What is the difference between a psychologist, psychiatrist and psychotherapist?💭 Which one do I need?💭

Psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists all provide psychotherapy. Their training and licensing requirements are different. Of all three designations, psychologists have the most extensive training in psychotherapy and comprehensive psychological assessments. Also, the majority of research and development of effective psychotherapy approaches are conducted by psychologists.

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor. They complete medical school just like any other medical doctor. They then complete a residency in psychiatry where they receive training in medication management, diagnosis and psychotherapy for a range of mental health disorders. A psychologist completes their Masters and, in most North American states and provinces, must also have a PhD in Psychology and have completed several supervised years of psychotherapy that include placements in hospitals and other mental health facilities. After the PhD, they complete a minimum of one year of practice under the supervision of a psychologist before being licensed as an autonomously practicing psychologist.

Physicians and psychologists are legally allowed to provide a mental health diagnosis. Making a diagnosis is a legally regulated act. Making the right diagnosis is important as the wrong diagnosis can have a harmful impact on a person.

A psychotherapist is a relatively new designation that was created after Ontario passed a law to regulate the service of psychotherapy. Psychotherapists typically have a graduate degree and assuming they meet certain minimum requirements, they can register as a psychotherapist. A psychotherapist cannot provide a mental health diagnosis.

👉For more information on what is a psychologist, visit the following link: http://www.cpa.ca/public/whatisapsychologist/

💭Is Psychodynamic Therapy an Evidence-Based Approach?💭

Contrary to what some believe, psychodynamic therapies are supported by rigorous scientific research. There are active research centres evaluating the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy models such as Transference-Focused Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder.

The Transference-Focused approach is based on the idea that the way you feel, think and react in relationships with important people in your life are patterns from early in your life that repeat themselves and contributes to your problems. You will work together with your therapist to reflect on these feelings and reactions in a nonjudgmental and empathic manner, in an effort to change and try new ways of relating.

If you are a new client looking to book an appointment or have questions, don’t hesitate to book a phone call with our intake team.🙌💫

https://linktr.ee/torontopsychology

🌎

That's what we're all about at Toronto Psychology Clinic.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to diversity and inclusion. Our team is made up of people from all walks of life, who believe that all people deserve access to the best possible mental health care, regardless of their age or background. We believe there is no such thing as "normal" when it comes to mental health—we all have different needs and experiences, and our team is committed to helping you find the best path forward for your unique situation.

We believe that mental health is a human right, and we are dedicated to helping everyone access the care they need. We are here for you, we will listen, help and support you no matter where you are in your journey.🤝

We hope this day inspires you to take care of yourself—both inside and out.💙

What kinds of issues can be treated with Psychodynamic Therapy?🤔

A psychodynamic approach can be very helpful for a number of issues including:

〰️ General distress
〰️ Difficulty in relationships
〰️ Depression
〰️ Anxiety
〰️ Trauma
〰️ Personality disorders

Often when clients feel other approaches didn’t help or helped for certain symptoms (e.g., reducing their OCD symptoms) but feel that they are still stuck in life and repeating unhealthy patterns in their life, a psychodynamic approach can help uncover something much deeper that can resolve the issue. Often a psychodynamic approach helps with more complex and hard-to-treat issues.

Have questions about our services? Please don’t hesitate to contact us. We would love to chat!💬

Let’s talk about Psychodynamic Therapy and how it works!🌟

In psychodynamic therapy, we collaborate with the client to explore and uncover deeper thoughts, ideas, and feelings and share observations about certain themes and patterns that repeat themselves in what a client is sharing. We don’t believe in pushing interpretations on people. Insight only helps a person if it comes from within their own frame of reference. The feedback we often get from clients working with this approach is that they didn’t know it, but now that it has been brought to their attention, it makes a lot of sense.

Up next, we’ll jump into the kinds of issues that can be treated with Psychodynamic Therapy. Follow along!🙌

Have you ever heard of Psychodynamic Therapy?💫

Psychodynamic therapy refers to a group of approaches to psychotherapy that focuses on uncovering and understanding a person’s thoughts and feelings at a much deeper level than some other forms of therapy. It focuses on bringing one’s awareness to not-yet-fully-conscious ideas and feelings that are contributing to their unresolved symptoms.🔑

➡️Psychodynamic therapy often gets confused with psychoanalytic therapy. Some people think it involves putting a person on the couch, attempting to hypnotize them or telling them their problem boils down to being in love with their mother. This is not the case at all, although we do have a couch to make you feel more at home.

Psychoanalysis is an older approach that was developed by Freud, where a person is asked to lie on a couch and say everything that comes to mind. We do not practice psychoanalysis at our clinic. We use the term “psychodynamic” to refer to a group of models that were developed over the years by clinicians after Freud who revised and built on his ideas to make them more relevant to people’s lives today. Psychodynamic models include object-relations, transference-focused (early attachment), self-psychology, and family systems. This is why we prefer to call it ‘contemporary psychodynamic’ approaches. In fact, approaches such as CBT, DBT and EFT include ideas based on psychodynamic principles.

Stay tuned to learn more about Psychodynamic Therapy in our upcoming posts!👀

Are you considering counselling for grief or loss?💭

Losing someone important to us such as a parent, partner or friend is very difficult. Grief is a normal response to the loss of a loved one. And although such a response is normal, it’s not easy and we often need the support of other people to get us through such painful periods. We need to process the emotions around the loss so that we can get to a place of acceptance and be able to cherish the memories of that person, honouring them in our hearts and minds. It helps to talk to family and friends who listen empathically, but for some people grief can get in the way of life. Psychotherapy allows a person to explore the meaning of the loss to them and learn to cope in healthy ways.

We typically think of grief as an emotion in response to death. But often we are grieving more than just that kind of loss. Grief fundamentally is a response to something or someone being gone. We can grieve changes that come as we get older and relationships change. We can grieve when we move and leave behind one place for another.

Areas of loss can include:
〰️ Loss of a family member
〰️ Estrangement from family
〰️ Dealing with a family member with mental health issues
〰️ Changing school, jobs or countries
〰️ Immigration-related stress
〰️ Break up of a romantic relationship
〰️ Divorce or separation

We’re here to support you during these difficult times. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions you may have about our services! We would love to chat.✨

🙇🏻‍♀️Work & Academic Stress🙇🏻‍♀️

We spend most of our lives in school and our jobs. Even if we love our work, these situations can produce stressful moments and situations, often compounding the “regular” stress in our lives. Stress is common to human life, but sometimes the stress we experience in these settings can start to wear us down and interfere with our ability to be productive and enjoy what we are doing.

Here are some reasons people have come to see us:

🌟Procrastination, difficulty with motivation and completing tasks
🌟Difficulty asserting oneself with people who are in a position of power
🌟Difficulty with finding work-life balance
🌟Poor physical health such as irritable bowel syndrome or heart issues related to workplace stress
🌟Constant conflict with others
🌟Difficulty with setting boundaries around work load, feeling overworked
🌟Feeling lack of joy or control over the work assigned
🌟Dealing with a toxic environment

We’re here to help.🤝 Tap here to get started: https://linktr.ee/torontopsychology

✨Strategies to Stop Procrastinating✨

1️⃣ The 5-minute Rule
Commit to spending only 5 minutes of focused attention on the project. The reason this strategy helps is that getting started is often the hardest part. However, once you get started, another part of your mind kicks in and you feel interested and motivated to work on that project and less concerned about how much you have to get done and how well you are doing it.

2️⃣ Break Down the Project into Steps
When you focus on the steps you need to take towards your final goal, it is more doable. Be sure to make these steps very clear and specific. This strategy counters the all-or-nothing approach to getting things done. It also counteracts the negative feelings you experience when you are getting closer to your deadline and have made no progress towards your goal.

3️⃣ ‘Throw the Hat over the Wall’ Technique
This is a great way to trick yourself in getting something done. Start the project in a way that you have to get it done. For instance, if you wanted to paint a room, get all the paint material out. This way you have to finish the job before you can move on to something else.

4️⃣ Don’t Break the Chain
This technique involves doing one thing towards your goal every day and to make a cross in your calendar or any other method you have of tracking your progress to show that you did something. Keep this up for an entire month. The reason this one works is it helps you build the habit of working on your project.

5️⃣ Have a ‘Get it Done’ Mindset
Rather than focusing on how well you will do on the project, focus on getting it done. Often the wish to make it perfect and the very best work we have done makes us put it off because we are never satisfied with what it looks like as we get it done. At the end of the day, a complete project is better than no project at all.

Procrastination is a tough habit to break, but just because you have habitually procrastinated on tasks for most of your life does not mean you cannot change this.🙌

✨Today is International Women’s Day✨

"Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all .

Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to drive gender parity. IWD belongs to everyone, everywhere. Inclusion means all IWD action is valid." (Credit: internationalwomensday.com)

➡️➡️Learn more at internationalwomensday.com

✨We are looking for registered psychologists, psychological associates, social workers, and psychotherapists to join our growing team! ✨ We value diverse perspectives, training and backgrounds.

If you're interested in working with us, please email your resume to [email protected] with subject heading ‘Associate Position.’📨

Head to the link below for more information. We look forward to hearing from you!🤝

https://torontopsychology.com/about/career/

💭Why Do We Procrastinate?

Here are some reasons why people tend to procrastinate:

➡️Short-Term Anxiety Relief:
People procrastinate not because they are lazy, unintelligent, or uninspired. They do so because it provides short-term relief from the anxiety we experience when we are trying to get something done well. We fantasize about all the great things we plan to achieve yet when it comes down to putting the work in we just cannot seem to get moving.

➡️All-or-Nothing Approach:
Another reason we procrastinate is the attitude we have towards getting the work done. People often do not realize they have an “all-or-nothing” mindset to completing projects. They want to get it all done in one go. Just thinking about how much work that will be increases your feelings of anxiety and of course heading to Starbucks to grab a quick coffee is going to feel so much better.
If you think of your goal as building a house, each brick of that house represents the tasks that you need to complete to get that house built. Your job is to focus on laying one brick at a time, not building the entire house in a day. While there may be days you lay down more bricks at a time and days you do not, at the end of the day each brick you lay down counts towards your final goal.

Stay tuned - we’ll be providing some tips to STOP procrastinating in an upcoming post!🔜

🤔Which Psychotherapy Approach is Right for me? (part 2)

While each approach does so differently, they are a means to facilitate the process of self-reflection that creates change. It's like taking a different set of tools to examine yourself but the end result is you see something more deeply about yourself. Which tool works depends a lot on you.🔑

The clinicians at Toronto Psychology Clinic have made it a point to train in more than one model of therapy. Having a solid basis in each of these models allows us to integrate across the different approaches and provide treatment based on your needs and goals. In terms of what approach we use, this is a decision we make in collaboration with the client.🤝

Our initial appointments are an assessment that allow us to identify the problem, the source of the problem and the best treatment option for you. Sometimes clients start off with one approach such as CBT in order to target symptoms that are part of a challenging condition (e.g panic attacks, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, trauma) and later shift to a longer-term approach. We would be happy to answer any questions you have about the ins and outs of each approach during our consultation sessions.

New to our services?💭 Whether you already know what kind of help you’re looking for, or just want to ask a few questions, we are here for you. Please email us at [email protected] or call 416-551-1759 (ext 2) to get started!

💫Which Psychotherapy approach is right for me?💫 (part 1)

You may have heard of different therapy approaches such as CBT, EFT, DBT, psychodynamic therapy, etc. It can be difficult to understand the difference between them and which one would work best for you especially when you've heard that most of these therapy approaches have been shown to demonstrate success.

The reality is that all these approaches overlap and share many concepts and ideas that are just labelled and described differently. What works best depends on the nature and severity of the issue you are dealing with, as well as your own personality and style of working on problems. Some approaches, such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), are more structured, short-term, and focus mainly on challenging errors in the way one thinks about their situation.

Approaches such as Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) typically require more sessions than CBT, and focus primarily on identifying and validating feelings, particularly the ones we find most difficult to share. Finally, approaches such as Contemporary Psychodynamic or psychoanalytically informed therapy are longer-term and focus on gaining deeper insight into the ways in which your childhood and family experiences shaped the way you think, feel and behave.

Be on the lookout for part 2!👀

I started the Toronto Psychology Clinic because of my vision to bring together a group of highly trained and passionate registered mental health professionals of socially diverse backgrounds, with a deep understanding of diversity.

✅A clinic based on inclusivity.
✅A clinic that helps clients deal with systemic forms of racism.

And here at our 7th year anniversary, I am so proud of my team to help me fulfill that vision.🙌

When I say diversity, I mean it in the broadest sense.

💫Diversity in therapy approaches.
💫Diversity in training.
💫Diversity in life experiences, race, ethnicity, language, s*xual identity, gender identity, religious affiliations and whole host of physical abilities and mental abilities.

I sometimes get asked why did you choose the name Toronto Psychology Clinic. While simple and generic, I chose it because if there is going to be a clinic named after Toronto, it had to be one that represented who the people of Toronto. Collectively our team represents the essence of Toronto and models what a mental health clinic in Toronto needs to look like. On the website, when people come into the clinic, when they see us, they recognize the different expertise, different experiences and different views. We are stronger together.🤝

Each and every therapist brings something unique to our clinic. Together we became one of the most well-respected clinics in this city.

✍️ - Dr. Saunia Ahmad, Clinical Psychologist & Director at Toronto Psychology Clinic