Compassion Focused Therapists in Aurora, ON
Julia Finetti
Registered Clinical Counsellor & Couples Therapist
Julia Finetti (MA, CCC, RCC) is a compassionate therapist specializing in relationships, life transitions, and emotional healing. She creates a warm, grounded space where clients finally feel at ease. With a practical, insight-driven approach, Julia helps people set boundaries, break old patterns, and reconnect with themselves - delivering real, lasting change.
Mara Behan
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
I help couples and individuals find growth, healing, and stronger connections. Using evidence-based and individualized approaches, I support those struggling with women's health concerns (e.g., pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause), relationship concerns (e.g., resentment, infidelity), and life transitions (e.g., separation/divorce, parenting). I offer a free 15-minute consultation!
Varshini Skantharajah
Registered Psychotherapist
Ummehani Rehmani
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” – Dr. Seuss This quote has stayed with me since childhood. It reminds me that everyone deserves to be seen, heard, and supported—no matter their age, background, or story. Hi, I’m Ummi (short for Ummehani), and I work with individuals, children, and couples navigating the complex emotions that come with change, identity, and disconnection. I bring ove…
Eleni Anagnosti
Pre-Licensed Professional, MS, HBA, BA
My approach is compassionate, culturally attuned, and collaborative. I draw from CBT, strengths-based, solution-focused, and trauma-informed approaches to support ADHD, anxiety, depression, burnout, grief, life transitions, and relationship patterns. Together, we focus on building practical tools, emotional balance, and a stronger sense of self-trust.
Katelyn Matias
Registered Psychotherapist
Hi, I’m Katelyn Matias, a Registered Psychotherapist and the Founder of Anchor & Bloom Psychotherapy. My approach to therapy is trauma-informed, relational, and grounded in attachment theory. I believe that our experiences, relationships, and nervous system responses shape how we understand ourselves, navigate emotions, and connect with others.
Carolyn Holmes
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Offering affordable virtual sessions for infertility, ADHD, PMDD, grief/loss, stress, anxiety, and depression. Trained in DBT, CBT, humanistic/client led, solution focused, narrative therapy approaches. A warm, open counsellor to help with immediate availability.
Jessica DeMille
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), MACP, B.Sc (Hons)
I work with individuals, couples, families, and children (10+), providing a safe, supportive space for exploration and growth. Using an integrative, client-centered approach, I help clients navigate anxiety, depression, relationships, and life transitions, fostering resilience, self-awareness, and meaningful change. Together, we explore tools and strategies to support emotional well-being.
First Step Men's Therapy
Registered Psychotherapist
Disconnected. Isolated. Angry. Stuck. Many men we work with feel this way. You may be struggling with anxiety, depression, anger, shame, trauma, addiction, or relationship difficulties while trying to hold everything together alone. At First Step Men’s Therapy, we help men better understand themselves, build healthier coping strategies, and reconnect with the life they want to live.
Lylla Goheen
Registered Psychotherapist RP (Qualifying), Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC)
Do you and your partner speak different languages? Whether it’s the silence of a "roommate phase," sexual dysfunction, or the weight of chronic illness, you don't have to navigate it alone. I provide inclusive Sex Therapy, Gottman Couples Counselling, and Chronic Pain support in Etobicoke & Toronto. My practice is judgment-free and not "one-size-fits-all." Let's start your new era.
Maya Awad
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), ADHD-SP, HBSc (she, her)
Accepting NEW clients - Are you feeling overwhelmed or like you’re carrying a lot on your own? Feel like you're doing everything you’re “supposed to do,” but something still doesn’t feel right? Have a desire to better understand your thoughts, emotions, or patterns, work on building confidence or self-esteem, or find support for your relationship?
Maya Dousti
Registered Psychotherapist
I am a BIPOC trauma therapist, and I work with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, trauma, emotional dysregulation, self-esteem, life transitions, racial/cultural issues, new parenthood, identity, family and interpersonal relationships. I work eclectically, borrowing from several modalities to meet my client's needs.
Manisha Grewal
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
I offer a compassionate space to address both immediate struggles and deeper patterns. Together, we’ll build tools to manage symptoms in the present while exploring past experiences, identity, and meaning. My approach blends existential therapy, parts work (IFS), and ACT, and is inclusive, culturally sensitive, and LGBTQIA+/BIPOC affirming.
Bethany Jacobs
Registered Social Worker
Who I Work With: - Individuals navigating the impacts of trauma, grief, or emotional overwhelm - Adults seeking support with nervous system regulation, stress, or anxiety - Clients processing relational harm, life transitions, or spiritual disconnection - Those seeking therapy through an anti-oppressive, culturally sensitive lens
Salima Jadavji
Registered Social Worker, MSW, RSW, CHyp™
I support high-functioning professionals and caregivers who feel exhausted, anxious, or disconnected beneath the surface. Using a trauma-informed, collaborative approach, I help you move beyond coping toward steadiness and self-trust. Email [email protected] to book a free consultation and see if we’re a fit.
Yasmin Ahmad
Registered Psychotherapist
Sisu Therapy offers virtual psychotherapy to adults across Ontario. A calm, collaborative space for anxiety, overwhelm, life transitions, and navigating cultural or family expectations, with care taken to move forward at a manageable pace.
Heather Andrew
Registered Clinical Social Worker MSW RCSW
Heather Andrew is the founder of Aspen Wellness Centre. Heather has been a Mental Health Therapist for over eight years, supporting clients with a variety of needs including complex trauma, ADHD, PTSD, grief, anxiety, depression, family conflict and more. Heather is passionate about providing trauma informed care to her clients and is a fierce advocate for mental health awareness.
Allison Mundle
Registered Psychotherapist, Sandalwood Psychotherapy
Online therapy for women in Ontario navigating anxiety, relationships, and emotional overwhelm. You may look like you are holding everything together, while inside you feel anxious, emotionally drained, or disconnected from yourself. Maybe you are used to keeping the peace, carrying too much, or saying yes when something inside you is saying no.
Regina Yakubov
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Hi, I’m Regina Yakubov, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying). I understand how challenging it can feel to start therapy, and I strive to create a warm and nonjudgmental space where you feel supported in sharing your experiences at your own pace. My approach is collaborative and flexible, drawing on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT), Acceptance and Commitment…
Katie Whiteley
Registered Psychotherapist
I offer individual therapy in a warm, supportive environment where you can explore your experiences, build insight, and work toward meaningful change. My approach is compassionate, collaborative, and tailored to your unique needs, drawing from a variety of evidence-based modalities. I’m here to support you with care, respect, and practical tools for growth.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Compassion Focused
What is Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT)?
Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) is a form of psychotherapy developed by Paul Gilbert that integrates evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, cognitive therapy, and Buddhist psychology. CFT targets what Gilbert identified as a core feature of many people's psychological suffering: intense, chronic shame and self-criticism. It aims to cultivate compassion — for oneself and others — as a means of reducing shame-based suffering, regulating threat-based emotional systems, and activating the soothing-affiliation system associated with warmth, care, and psychological security.
What does CFT treat?
CFT is particularly suited to people with high levels of self-criticism and shame — which are common across depression, anxiety, eating disorders, personality disorders, trauma, and addictions. It was originally developed for people with severe, complex presentations who had not responded adequately to CBT. Research supports its effectiveness for depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and borderline personality disorder. CFT is also used in oncology settings, chronic pain, and with people experiencing psychosis, where self-compassion is an important resource.
What does a CFT session look like?
CFT sessions involve psychoeducation about the evolved nature of our emotional systems (threat, drive, and soothing/affiliation), exploration of how early experiences shaped the person's particular patterns of self-criticism and shame, and practices specifically designed to cultivate the compassionate self — including compassionate imagery (imagining a deeply wise and compassionate figure), compassionate letter writing, and mindfulness practice focused on warmth and care. The emphasis is on experiential rather than purely cognitive work.
Why is self-compassion so important in CFT?
Gilbert's research showed that changing the content of self-critical thoughts (as in CBT) was often insufficient for people with deep shame — because the problem was not just the thoughts but the hostile, contemptuous tone in which they were delivered to oneself. Cultivating a warm, compassionate inner voice — one that responds to one's own pain the way a deeply caring person would — produces psychological change that thought-challenging alone does not. Many people initially find self-compassion very difficult, which is itself part of the therapeutic work.
How long does CFT take?
CFT is typically delivered over 12–20 sessions for focused presentations, but longer-term work is common for complex trauma or personality difficulties. The time needed to establish a compassionate self-relationship and overcome resistance to self-compassion (which is often strong) varies significantly between individuals. CFT can also be integrated into longer-term psychodynamic or CBT work as a specific intervention for shame and self-criticism rather than used as a complete standalone therapy.