My Approach
Let’s connect and take the first step in your healing journey.
About Psychotherapy
Individual psychotherapy sessions can focus on a variety of topics – really anything that is causing distress or difficulty in your life. This can involve exploring thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and past, present, and future experiences – all within the context of a non-judgemental therapeutic relationship.
Therapy can help you look at things from different perspectives and bring on new ways of being. It is a space where we connect, explore, and reflect on life’s challenges together – human-to-human – and journey toward healing and wellness.
What I help with
So much in our modern life can create stress and anxiety – work, school, relationships, fears and phobias, the list goes on. Therapy can help by exploring why we feel so much stress and/or anxiety, by learning new coping skills, and finding new approaches to life’s stressors.
Depression can develop for a number of reasons – significant life changes (i.e., loss), trauma, or even in response to a history of negative beliefs, low self-esteem, self-confidence, or self-worth. Depression can look different for everyone, yet often times it can show up as low motivation and energy, and withdrawal from others and life’s joys. Working through depression in therapy can help you find yourself again, or find the person you want to be.
Substance use occurs on a spectrum, with one end of the spectrum being low risk and the other addiction (physical or psychological). Similarly, gambling also occurs on a spectrum of low risk to addiction. Broadly, addictions can develop for many behaviours – even those outside of substance use and gambling – and can have significant impacts on various life areas (relationships, responsibilities, physical and mental health, financial, etc.). Often times addictions and problem use can develop in response to other mental health issues, as an unhealthy coping mechanism. Part of working through substance/addiction issues can be building healthier coping skills, and exploring any underlying drivers of the behaviour.
Negative thoughts and beliefs can be about yourself, others, or the world, and can impact your daily life. It’s almost like looking through coloured glasses, except they’re “negative”-coloured lenses. Sometimes these can be sneaky and not even be obvious to us, and sometimes they only show up under certain circumstances. The goal is to see how negative beliefs are blocking potential and wellbeing, and find more supportive, positive beliefs.
The word “trauma” can imply big or serious events that had significant impacts on emotional life and wellbeing (“big ‘T’ trauma”). Yet trauma can also take form in more subtle, less obvious ways, as little repeated events that happen over the course of a longer period of time (“little ‘t’ trauma”). We all have experience with traumas, and identify and feel “big T” and “little t” traumas differently. Both types can have significant impacts on mental health and can compound over the course of a lifetime if left unprocessed. Therapy can help work through unprocessed traumas in various ways and move towards a sense of resolve and greater wellbeing.
This is our ability to manage our emotions effectively. Sometimes if we struggle with moving through emotions, coping with difficult or unpleasant ones, or feeling them intensely, therapy can help develop skills to be able to manage our emotions in healthier ways.
These are times when we have significant change happen in our lives. These can be school or work-related, a big move or commitment, or can even be a change in our relationships. Having support during these times can be helpful to navigate the most challenging aspects – whether that be decision-making, overwhelming or intense emotions, adjustment to change, or something else entirely.
We’re learning more and more about how diverse our brains are. Sometimes our neurodiversity can be an asset, and other times a barrier. Therapy can be helpful for neurodivergent folks who are trying to learn how their unique brains work best, and learn how to navigate barriers with success. I support people who are ADHD-minded and/or high-functioning on the autism spectrum.
Sometimes our self-confidence, self-esteem, or self-worth can be negatively impacted after traumas and life events. Sometimes boosting these involves healing from traumas, looking at any negative beliefs, and skill building.
When our relationships with loved ones become strained, this can take up a lot of mental and emotional space. Therapy can help improve relationships by helping you learn new communication skills, developing healthy emotional expression, or even through healing trauma.
These can develop when we have an unhealthy relationship with our food, our bodies, or even ourselves. They may also develop in response to other underlying mental health issues, and overall can cause significant distress. I am available to provide support for those struggling with eating and body image issues who are not experiencing severe eating disorders.
• A standard session is 50 minutes in length
• Receipts are provided for all services to submit to any insurance you may have
Frequent Questions
Yes! You can choose whatever method works best for you. If you are unable to come in-person for your appointment, please ensure you have a private space for your virtual session so that you do not feel the need to censor yourself.
A psychotherapy hour is 50 minutes long.
One hour of psychotherapy is $170.
Frequency of therapy sessions varies, and is based on the presenting concerns as well as the level of support needed at any given time. However, when starting psychotherapy, it is typically most beneficial to begin at weekly or bi-weekly intervals. This allows for the therapeutic relationship between the client and therapist to strengthen, and to address any immediate concerns/needs.
Sessions are confidential, with a few exceptions: if there is an immediate risk of suicide or causing harm to someone else; sharing details of a child being abused/at risk of abuse; sharing details of abuse by another health professional; and a court subpoena of clinical notes. Your consent would be required for me to share any details with any person or entity that falls outside of these exceptions.
For youth clients, I usually offer the youth to decide if they want their parent to join them in their first session; having a parent present in the first session can help with understanding the presenting concerns fully and/or manage some nervousness from meeting their therapist for the first time. Sessions afterwards are independent of their parent.
Confidentiality works just the same for youth as it does for adults. However, for some youth (i.e., preteens) I will ask for their consent to debrief with parents at the end of sessions. This can help in having the parent be informed of any skills learned or “homework” that the youth should practice outside of session.
Receipts are provided for all services rendered which you can submit independently to your insurance company.
Therapy costs can be a hurdle to getting care. However, I encourage my clients to be open about what is within their means so that we can find a frequency that allows for continued care, versus exhausting resources too quickly.
Yes, I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation before starting therapy. This helps determine if we would be a good fit.
You can schedule an appointment by reaching out via email, phone, or text, or through the contact form available on the website.
It’s understandable that sometimes life throws curve balls and you won’t be able to make our appointment. That’s okay – you can cancel or reschedule up to 24 hours before your appointment time by sending me an email, a text, or over the phone.
Your appointment time is reserved for only you. Canceling within 24 hours of your appointment may impact other clients wanting support, and may be subject to a cancellation fee.
Therapy is a highly individualized experience that is impacted by several factors. The timeline to see changes varies from person to person; some clients may notice changes as soon as the first session, others may need more time. It’s important to remember that meaningful and lasting change takes time and patience.
I offer individual psychotherapy sessions for teens and adults.
EMDR is an evidence-based treatment modality that can be very helpful for reducing negative beliefs and processing traumas, big and small. It works by using distracting stimuli (often times eye movements) to help the nervous system move through stuck points (negative beliefs and pieces of trauma), and toward more supportive beliefs and healing. It helps us to access more positive beliefs about ourselves and our life experiences.
When considering EMDR, it is good to keep in mind that the first phases of treatment involve some preparation for processing sessions. How much preparation and processing can vary from client to client, however this is something we would discuss in your treatment.
Send a Message
- mconte.rp@gmail.com
- 22 Main St. North, Suite 6, Newmarket, Ontario, L3Y 3Z7
- 437-999-5311
Benefits of a call
