Trauma and PTSD Therapists in Ottawa, ON
Tanja Ivic
Registered Social Worker
*Accepting new virtual clients across Ontario, supporting teens and adults navigating anxiety, trauma, addiction patterns, identity and life transitions.
Sandeep Kaur Marwaha
Occupational Therapist, Psychotherapist
As a brown kid of immigrants from the Global South, I appreciate the nuances, struggles, and beauty of being from immigrant and global majority communities. My values of acceptance, compassion, curiosity, and connection guide my work. With an anti-oppressive, relational lens, I will support you to soften towards yourself, slowly heal, and move in alignment with your values instead of fear.
Lauren A. Jeffery
Registered Psychotherapist, Certified Executor Advisor
Life’s challenges—emotional turmoil, financial stress, unhealthy habits, and loneliness—can feel overwhelming and deeply impact your well-being. You’re not alone. Using a compassionate, person-centred approach blending CBT, SFBT, financial therapy, and mindfulness, I offer empathetic support to help you build the life you truly want. Let’s talk and start your journey.
Christy Laarakker
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Specializing in trauma, anxiety, identity transitions, and emotional dysregulation. I offer a neuroscience-informed, evidence-based approach using modalities like CBT, DBT, ACT, and Somatic Experiencing. I work with adults (18+) navigating trauma, grief, anxiety, and life changes. Sliding scale fees, free consultation available.
Delia Bagi
EMDR Therapist
Délia Bagi, RP(Q) is a warm, intuitive EMDR therapist who specializes in helping self-aware people finally feel the change they've long understood. With expertise in anxiety, trauma, and relationships, she blends EMDR, CBT, and mindfulness into a thoughtful, unhurried approach - creating real, lasting shifts between sessions, not just during them.
Payton Newby
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
A warm and open therapist offering accessible therapy for ADHD, PMDD, trauma, anxiety, depression, and life stressors. I create a safe space to share your journey, using a blend of CBT, DBT, mindfulness, solution-focused, emotion-focused focused and humanistic therapy. Offering sessions for children, youth, teens, adults, couples, and families.
Geneviève Fontaine
Registered Psychotherapist
Hi, I'm Geneviève! I offer individual counselling and psychotherapy for adults. My approach to therapy is guided by the belief that every individual deserves meaningful human connection: to be seen, to be heard, and to be acknowledged. As a queer therapist, my role is to provide guidance, support, and practical tools that empower individuals to make choices that enhance their well-being.
Mandeep Lalli
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Are you feeling anxious, overwhelmed or stuck? 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.
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.
Feel Your Way Therapy
Registered Psychotherapist
Feel Your Way Therapy is a Toronto-based psychotherapy clinic offering individual, couples, child, and family therapy. Our diverse team of therapists provides support for anxiety, trauma, ADHD, depression, stress, and relationship issues, using evidence-based approaches in a compassionate and client-centered way.
Khysandra Lee
Registered Psychotherapist
Hitomi Yokota (she/her)
Registered Psychotherapist (RP)
I specialize in relationship-based trauma and anxiety. My clients come to me for relationship challenges, Anxious or Avoidant attachment styles, people-pleasing, boundaries, and childhood trauma. I provide somatic therapies, EMDR, and Attachment-based therapy based on your needs.
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!
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.
Mala Dorai
Therapist Intern
I offer a collaborative, trauma-informed therapy space for adults, couples, and families navigating anxiety, burnout, trauma, neurodivergence (including ADHD/autism), grief, and life transitions. Grounded in neuroscience and cultural humility, my work integrates mind, body, and environment, with gentle structure, practical tools, and care for meaningful growth.
Ornella Harris
Registered Psychotherapist
An experienced, skilled, and compassionate therapist who embraces trauma-informed, holistic, and somatic therapies. I provide culturally safe, anti-oppressive mental health services across Ontario and northern territories, grounded in anti-racist and culturally responsive frameworks. I offer NIHB coverage for eligible clients.
Sophie Marie McPherson
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) B.A., M.A.
I offer psychotherapy services to teens and adults struggling with a wide range of presenting concerns. I have experience working with ADHD, anxiety, life transitions, stress, self-esteem and body image issues, chronic illness/pain, gender dysphoria, sexuality exploration, and non-monogamous relationships.
Myra Meier
Registered Social Worker
My aspiration as a therapist is to create a safe environment in which work can be collaborative, address the impacts of trauma, stress, anxiety, depression and/or grief and make the changes necessary to live the healthy and fulfilling life that my clients want.
Sophia Wolsfeld
Registered Psychotherapist, CCC, RD
Hello! My name is Sophia. I am a trauma therapist who is passionate about supporting those looking to heal from past wounds that are impacting them in the now. Experiencing trauma does not have to hold you back.
Gina Lihou
Registered Psychotherapist
Trauma-informed and EMDR-trained, I offer a warm, collaborative space for healing and self-discovery. I help clients process trauma, navigate life transitions, and build emotional resilience. My approach affirms your identity and lived experience, supporting lasting change rooted in safety, clarity, and inner strength.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Trauma and PTSD
What is trauma and when does it become PTSD?
Trauma refers to an overwhelming experience — such as abuse, accidents, assault, natural disasters, or witnessing violence — that exceeds a person's capacity to cope. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs when symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbing, hypervigilance, and avoidance persist for more than a month and cause significant impairment. PTSD affects an estimated 9–10% of Canadians at some point in their lives.
Which therapy approaches are most effective for trauma and PTSD?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy have the strongest evidence for PTSD. Trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT) is the leading approach for children and adolescents. Somatic and body-based therapies are increasingly used alongside these approaches for complex or developmental trauma.
What is complex trauma (C-PTSD) and how is it treated?
Complex PTSD arises from repeated, prolonged trauma — often in childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or domestic violence — rather than a single incident. It involves additional features beyond standard PTSD, including difficulties with emotional regulation, identity, and relationships. Treatment is typically longer-term and uses phase-based approaches that build safety and stabilization before directly processing traumatic memories.
Do I have to talk about the traumatic event in therapy?
Not necessarily, and not right away. Effective trauma therapy begins with establishing safety and building coping skills before approaching traumatic memories. EMDR processes trauma without requiring you to narrate it in detail. Your therapist will move at a pace that feels manageable, and you always retain agency over what you address in each session.
Is it safe to start trauma therapy if I am currently in crisis?
Trauma therapy is most effective when you have some degree of stability and safety in your current life. If you are in acute crisis — such as active suicidal ideation, ongoing abuse, or severe dissociation — your therapist will prioritize stabilization and safety planning before any trauma-processing work begins. If you are in immediate danger, contact the 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline or emergency services (911).
