Culturally Sensitive Therapists in Ottawa, ON
Zarifa Andani
MPCC-P, RTC-C
This work isn’t about fixing your parts—it’s about helping you feel more like your whole self again. We can work together to slow down, get curious, and listen deeply. Our internal body wisdom is an integral source of information that speaks more significantly than words. Real change is possible when ALL of you feels safe enough to be seen and supported, just as you are.
Carla Barbosa
Registered Social Worker
I’m a bilingual psychotherapist (English | Portuguese) offering LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent-affirming therapy for adults navigating autism, ADHD, burnout, and identity exploration. I integrate compassion, cultural awareness, and evidence-based care to help clients feel seen and empowered across life’s transitions.
Samantha Duarte Alvarez
Registered Psychotherapist (RP)
New clients are welcome! I'm Sam, a Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario specializing in trauma, grief, and work stress for adults navigating difficult experiences and life transitions. Together, we work to make sense of what you’re experiencing, gently connect with your nervous system and emotions, and support meaningful shifts that feel aligned with who you are.
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.
Christina Hong
Registered Provisional Psychologist
Hello there! I am Christina, I have a genuine love and care for connecting with people. I’m here to support you if anxiety has been making life feel heavy or overwhelming. I believe that, counselling at its core is the genuine collaborative connection of individuals coming together to navigate this wonderfully bizarrely life of ours. In my role, my mission is to create a warm, supportive, and j…
Katharine De Santos
Registered Psychotherapist
Healthy Minds Psychotherapy was founded in 2018 with the mission of providing psychotherapeutic care to individuals from diverse backgrounds, fostering resilience in each person and our community as a whole.
Varshini Skantharajah
Registered Psychotherapist
Mahum Ahmed
Registered Social Worker
Struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, or PTSD? You may feel overwhelmed or stuck and want deeper understanding—not just symptom relief. I offer compassionate, tailored therapy using evidence-based approaches like CBT. Together, we’ll build emotional regulation, stronger relationships, and a more fulfilling, empowered future.
Anastasia Berezowsky
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
My practice blends talk therapy and structured accountability to help you find balance and resilience—especially when life feels demanding and you need some direction. With a background in Kinesiology and Psychology, I take a whole-person approach that connects mind and body. I support clients who feel misaligned and need the space to untangle themselves from the stressors of every day.
Tanja Ivic
Registered Social Worker
*Accepting new virtual clients across Ontario, supporting teens and adults navigating anxiety, trauma, addiction patterns, identity and life transitions.
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.
Kumasi Jay Gwynne
Registered Psychotherapist
Relationships of any kind can be challenging. I never underestimate how complicated things can get once we tease out the relational pieces in our lives and try to understand how they are affecting us.
Johanna Benoit
Registered Psychotherapist
NIHB provider, specializing in CPTSD and trauma, perinatal grief and loss, PTSD, anxiety, depression and borderline personality disorder.
Mandeep Lalli
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Are you feeling anxious, overwhelmed or stuck? Maybe something feels wrong? I help people navigate anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma, and relationship struggles, with culturally sensitive care that honours your full background, including pressures others may miss. As a South Asian therapist who spent 15 years in the corporate world, I bring lived experience and real-world context to therapy.
Sarah Perone
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
I help individuals and couples break painful relationship cycles so they can feel more connected, secure, and confident. I support concerns like recurrent conflict, relationship anxiety (and ROCD), limerence, and resentment. Using an attachment- and evidence-based approach, I offer warm, non-judgmental virtual therapy across Ontario. Book a free 15-minute consultation to get started.
Edna Mitander
Registered Therapeutic Counsellor RTC
What is your understanding of joy and happiness? I'd like to hear your definition. Do you find it difficult to understand the suffering and challenges you face in your life? Do you still experience past trauma and feel like you're going through life on autopilot? Do you question your faith and finding yourself scrolling the internet to find answers?
Joey Mercer
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
I support adults and young adults healing from addiction, social anxiety, and depression, and guide trauma recovery through an EMDR-informed lens. As a non-Indigenous person working with Indigenous clients, I strive to honour a Two-Eyed Seeing perspective and practice with cultural humility. Recovery doesn't happen to you, it happens because of you. I'll be there beside you.
Yasmin Rombola-Bacchus
Registered Psychotherapist
Picture a road map through counselling therapy to find more meaningful connections with yourself & others, gaining more confidence & peace. Picture finding yourself again, a greater love for yourself & your life. Imagine a transformed you and a better future. In my practice, you will be provided with a safe & caring environment. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life!
Eleni Anagnosti
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), ADHD-CCSP, 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.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Culturally Sensitive
What is culturally sensitive therapy?
Culturally sensitive (or culturally competent) therapy is practice that recognizes and respects the ways in which a client's cultural background, identity, and community context shape their experience of distress, their understanding of mental health, their help-seeking behaviour, and their healing. A culturally sensitive therapist does not treat culture as incidental but as central — understanding that concepts like family obligation, spirituality, collectivism vs. individualism, experiences of racism or discrimination, and cultural expressions of distress must all inform the therapeutic approach.
Why does culture matter in therapy?
Mainstream psychological frameworks were largely developed in Western, White, educated, industrialized contexts — which means they do not always apply accurately or helpfully across all cultural groups. The meaning of symptoms, the role of family in decision-making, the acceptability of discussing certain topics, the stigma of mental health in different communities, and the impact of historical trauma (such as residential schools for Indigenous Canadians) all vary significantly by cultural context. Ignoring these factors leads to misdiagnosis, poor therapeutic alliance, and premature dropout from treatment.
Who benefits most from seeking a culturally sensitive therapist?
Culturally sensitive therapy is valuable for everyone, but is particularly important for people from racialized communities, immigrants and newcomers, Indigenous peoples, people navigating bicultural identities, religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ2S+ people of colour, and anyone whose cultural identity has been a source of discrimination, shame, or misunderstanding in healthcare settings. If you have previously felt unseen, misunderstood, or pathologized in therapy, a culturally sensitive therapist may make a meaningful difference.
Does my therapist need to share my cultural background?
Not necessarily, though shared background can offer valuable understanding. What matters more than matching identity is cultural humility — a therapist's genuine curiosity about your experience, willingness to learn about your background without making assumptions, and awareness of their own cultural biases. A skilled therapist from a different background who approaches your culture with curiosity and respect may serve you better than one from a shared background who has not examined their own cultural biases or done the training in multicultural practice.
How do I find a culturally sensitive therapist in Canada?
When searching for a therapist, look for those who list culturally sensitive, multicultural, or anti-oppressive practice in their specialities. You can ask directly in a consultation: "How do you approach cultural differences in therapy?" and "Have you worked with clients from my background?" Trust your initial sense of whether a therapist seems genuinely curious about your experience. Theralist allows you to filter by speciality including culturally sensitive practice, and many therapist profiles describe their approach and the communities they serve.
