Compassion Focused Therapists in Oakville, ON
Cierra DoCouto
Registered Psychotherapist
Helping adults in Burlington, Ontario navigate anxiety, self-esteem challenges, relationship concerns, and attachment patterns. Offering in-person and virtual psychotherapy that is collaborative, evidence-informed, and tailored to support personal growth, emotional well-being, and resilience.
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.
Varshini Skantharajah
Registered Psychotherapist
Caitlin Kemmett
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
I’m Caitlin, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) offering individual and couples therapy in Ottawa and virtually across Ontario. I support adults facing anxiety, burnout, ADHD, relationship challenges, and life transitions. My warm, collaborative approach blends CBT, ACT, and the Gottman Method to help you feel grounded, connected, and confident moving forward.
River Page
Registered Psychotherapist
I offer a warm, non-judgmental space for individuals and relationships to explore life’s challenges and deepen self-understanding. My work supports those navigating religious or relational trauma, 2SLGBTQIA+ identities, non-monogamy, neurodivergence, gender and sexuality, suicide and self-harm, and environmental anxiety. All with compassion, curiosity, and care.
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.
Martha Li
Registered Psychotherapist
I am a Registered Psychotherapist based in Oakville, Ontario. I help you feel understood and supported as we explore what's weighing on you. Together, we uncover patterns, build coping strategies, and nurture the skills you need to thrive. My goal is to create a safe space where you can grow, heal, and feel more connected.
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.
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.
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.
Mackenzie Fournier
Registered Psychotherapist
Hi, I’m Mackenzie! I’m a Psychotherapist who loves keeping therapy real, down-to-earth, and practical. I help people untangle patterns around anxiety, food, and self-trust using tools grounded in science. In sessions, I bring my authentic self—you can expect a mix of support, guidance, and maybe a little humour when it feels right—so we can tackle challenges together without the extra pressure.
Meredith Bailey
Registered Psychotherapist
I believe that as a therapist, it is a privilege to be invited into another person’s life & one I never take lightly. Reaching out for support may feel overwhelming, & the task of finding the right person for you can be daunting. I want to assure you this is a safe space, & my primary objective is YOU finding the right person for YOU. Your confidence in that decision is extremely important to me.
Jodi Evers
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Providing person-centred, psychodynamic therapy for adults across a wide range of treatment goals. Using an integrative approach that considers the whole person, treatment is adapted to the individual and is deep, experiential, challenging, trauma informed and focused on the body, emotions, and patterns of behavior.
Mehek Somani
Registered Psychotherapist
Hi there! I'm Mehek. I'm glad you're here! I specialize in burnout, stress, people-pleasing, self-esteem and relationship issues, intergenerational trauma for POC and immigrant communities. Using an emotionally focused, attachment-based, IFS, DBT, trauma informed and culturally sensitive approaches, I offer online therapy across Ontario (Mon–Fri) and Walk & Talk sessions in Oakville on Saturdays.
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.
Rachelle Trudel, RP / PA, CCC - *Psychothérapeute bilingue*
Registered Psychotherapist / Psychothérapeute autorisée
Welcome! I support my clients in healing from burn-out so that they can get back to feeling like themselves and to being able to handle the demands and pressures of work and home life in a healthy way. I use my knowledge in CBT, SFBT, and mindfulness to support my clients in a compassionate, collaborative, pragmatic, goal-oriented, and trauma-informed way. I look forward to meeting you!
Annie Szalkai
Registered Psychotherapist
I work with adults from diverse backgrounds, supporting those navigating anxiety, stress, and self-esteem challenges. My approach is client-centred and integrative, drawing from CBT, ACT, EFIT, Solution-Focused Therapy, and more to meet each person’s unique needs.
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.
Grace Gao
Registered Social Worker
Grace is passionate about creating accessible and culturally responsive mental health support, particularly for individuals who may feel hesitant to seek formal counseling services. As a bilingual professional fluent in English and Mandarin, she values creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment where clients feel heard and respected.
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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.