Our Services
It can be difficult to ask for help. The first step is reaching out. We strive to work collaboratively so that we can figure out your needs.
A consultation is free and will assist individuals who are struggling to understand what service, treatment, or support they may require. A consultation will help you navigate what service is best suited for your needs. An assessment, psychotherapy, or a different type of service altogether are examples of recommendations we may offer during the consultation. Additionally, we will work with parents to determine if an assessment would be beneficial for their children.
Psychotherapy is a collaborative, relationship-based process that helps people make sense of their experiences, understand what may be affecting their thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and relationships, and move toward healing and meaningful change. At different times in life, the path forward can feel clear and manageable, while at other times it may feel overwhelming, uncertain, or difficult to navigate. Psychotherapy offers a safe, supportive space to pause, reflect, and work through those challenges with the guidance of a qualified professional. Through conversation, reflection, and evidence-informed therapeutic approaches, psychotherapy can help individuals, couples, and families better understand themselves, express difficult emotions, shift unhelpful patterns, strengthen coping strategies, and build healthier, more adaptive ways of living. The outcome of therapy is often shaped by the quality of the therapeutic relationship, the client’s readiness for change, and the creation of a space that feels safe, respectful, and supportive. Psychotherapy is a regulated health service and a controlled act under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. This means it is a protected area of practice that may only be performed by authorized regulated professionals who are competent to do so. Psychotherapy involves the treatment of serious concerns related to thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception, or memory through psychotherapeutic techniques delivered within a therapeutic relationship. Registered social workers, psychologists, and psychological associates are authorized to perform psychotherapy in Ontario must practise in accordance with their professional legislation, standards of practice, code of ethics, and ongoing expectations related to competence, consultation, supervision, and continuing education. Psychotherapy is not simply supportive conversation. It is a skilled, ethical, and clinically grounded form of treatment aimed at helping people improve functioning, reduce distress, and create lasting change. At our practice, we provide psychotherapy for children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. We support clients with concerns related to: •Trauma, complex trauma, and post-traumatic stress •Grief and loss •Anxiety and depression •Burnout and vicarious trauma •Relationship, family, and interpersonal difficulties •Life transitions and ongoing stressors •Emotional regulation and behavioural challenges •Sexual abuse, interpersonal violence, and family violence •ADHD, learning, and mental health assessment •Support for helping professionals, caregivers, and first responders •Equine facilitated psychotherapy
Family therapy is a specialized form of psychotherapy that supports people within the context of their closest relationships. Rather than focusing only on one person in isolation, it looks at patterns of interaction, communication, roles, and relationship dynamics that may be contributing to distress or making change more difficult. This means that family therapy is not only about resolving conflict. It can also help people strengthen connection, improve communication, navigate transitions, respond to parenting or caregiving stress, repair trust, and better understand the emotional patterns that shape relationships over time. At our practice, we emphasize a systemic perspective, meaning that concerns are explored in the context of relationships, family history, environment, and broader social influences, rather than being viewed simply as one person’s problem. Family therapy may involve family members participating jointly, or an individual engaging in therapy with an explicit focus on their relationships and family system. In Ontario, when family therapy involves the treatment of significant cognitive, emotional, or behavioural difficulties through psychotherapeutic techniques delivered in a therapeutic relationship, it falls within the regulated framework for psychotherapy. Authorized regulated professionals must practise within their competence and in accordance with their professional college’s standards, ethics, supervision, and continuing education requirements.
A psychoeducational assessment typically involves evaluation of cognitive functioning (intelligence testing), psychological processes related to learning (memory, auditory processing, visual-motor integration, etc.), academic achievement, and social/emotional development. An assessment includes administering standardized tests, gathering information regarding developmental and school history, and evaluation of current functioning through interviews, surveys, and questionnaires. Most assessments will include a measure of intelligence, academic achievement, various psychological processes impacting learning (such as memory, phonological processing, graphomotor skills, executive functioning). In addition, we examine potential social emotional, and behavioural challenges (such as mood, anxiety, attention/hyperactivity, peer relationships, self-esteem).
This assessment refers to the process of identifying and diagnosing mental health and personality issues. These can include diagnosing anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A psychodiagnostic assessment includes a structured interview along with standardized measures such as questionnaires.
Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) is a form of psychotherapy that intentionally incorporates horses into the therapeutic process. It is still psychotherapy at its core, guided by a registered mental health professional and grounded in clear therapeutic goals, clinical skill, and a trusted therapeutic relationship. The horse is not the therapist; rather, the presence of the horse becomes part of the therapeutic environment and supports the work of psychotherapy in a unique and meaningful way. In EFP, clients have opportunities to notice emotions, patterns, body responses, and ways of relating in real time. Because horses are highly sensitive, relational animals, they can help bring awareness to issues such as nervous system activation, emotional regulation, boundaries, trust, connection, and safety. This can be especially powerful for people who have felt stuck in conventional talk therapy alone and may benefit from a more experiential, relational, and body-aware approach. At Shady Hills, Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy is provided as actual psychotherapy, not simply horse time, recreation, or equine-assisted learning. Sessions are directed by a registered social worker/psychotherapist and supported by an equine professional who helps ensure safety and offers insight into horse behaviour. The clinical work remains psychotherapy, with the horses helping to deepen presence, reflection, regulation, and healing. This approach may be helpful for youth (12+), adults, families, and helping professionals who are working through trauma, burnout, anxiety, relational stress, grief, or challenges with emotional regulation. For many, the herd offers a different way of accessing therapeutic work, one that can support clients in feeling more grounded, connected, and able to return home to themselves.
We can provide specialized training and clinical consultation for professionals and organizations working with children, youth, adults, and families impacted by trauma, abuse, violence, and complex relational harm. Our faculty consists of experienced clinicians who remain in direct practice and bring decades of experience in adult education, clinical intervention, and organizational capacity-building. We create training that is practical, relational, trauma-informed, and grounded in the realities professionals face in child welfare, children’s mental health, education, foster care, and live-in treatment settings. Our areas of expertise include trauma-informed care; assessment and treatment for children and youth who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, or exposure to intimate partner violence; children under 12 who have engaged in problematic sexual behaviours; youth who have engaged in sexually harming behaviours; youth and young adults involved in dating violence; sibling sexual abuse and reunification; and trauma-informed, relational Child and Youth Care practice for professionals supporting children and youth in foster care, milieu, and residential settings. Our consultation services also support professionals and organizations navigating complex case-specific questions related to intrafamilial sexual abuse, safety planning after sexual abuse, disclosure responses, clinical ethical dilemmas, family reunification, and specialized supports for families affected by interpersonal abuse. We work alongside organizations not only to deliver meaningful training, but also to strengthen clinical specialization, deepen staff confidence, and support thoughtful, ethically grounded responses to some of the most complex issues facing service systems today.
Clinical supervision is an essential part of ethical and competent psychotherapy and social work practice. It provides clinicians with a dedicated space to reflect on their work, strengthen clinical judgment, explore complex assessment and intervention issues, and consider how their own responses and experiences may be influencing the therapeutic process. In many Ontario organizations, especially within larger amalgamated or consolidated community-based settings, supervision has increasingly become focused on administrative responsibilities such as documentation, accreditation, caseload management, organizational policy, and program mandate. While these areas are important, they do not replace the need for meaningful clinical supervision that supports direct practice, critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and ongoing self-reflection. Clinical professionals may also find that they are not receiving supervision from a member of their own profession, which can create added effort in determining whether a supervisor has the relevant clinical expertise, experience, and understanding of the profession’s values, ethics, and standards of practice. Members of this practice offer clinical supervision opportunities for professionals seeking thoughtful, practice-based support in their work. Please connect directly with an available member to learn more about supervision options.