Culturally Sensitive Therapists in Thunder Bay, ON
Cristal Hines
Clinical Social Worker & Therapist
I am a Registered Social Worker, and trauma therapist specializing in complex trauma, PTSD, family therapy, and racial trauma. I provide culturally responsive, trauma-informed care using CPT, CBT, DBT, and Narrative Therapy to help adolescents, adults, and families heal, build resilience, and create meaningful, lasting change.
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.
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.
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!
Maya Awad
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), MACP, 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?
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!
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.
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.
Amelia Traer
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), BA, PsiChi
My work is shaped by CBT, ACT, DBT, ERP, and trauma-informed, mindfulness-based approaches. I support clients with anxiety, burnout, OCD and phobias, ADHD, grief, life transitions, women's health, and chronic health concerns. Our therapy space adapts, with a focus on connection, emotional regulation, and practical strategies that fit your life.
Connie Coda
Registered Nurse Psychotherapist, Certified Nurse Psychotherapist
Connie is a Registered Nurse Psychotherapist and Certified Nurse Psychotherapist offering virtual therapy to individuals aged 16 and up across Ontario. She supports clients coping with chronic illness, anxiety, grief (including pet loss), stress, and life transitions, using a compassionate and collaborative approach.
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.
Sydney Tricand
Registered Psychotherapist
Are you navigating the tender seasons of family building, pregnancy, postpartum, or early parenthood? You might feel overwhelmed, unlike yourself, or wonder if you’re experiencing postpartum anxiety or depression. A tough birth, NICU stay, feeding issues, or grief may have shaken your sense of self, body, or relationships. Are you hoping to feel more seen and understood in this vulnerable time?
Li Li
Registered Psychotherapist
Li offers relational psychoanalytic and trauma-informed somatic/EMDR/IFS/EFT therapy, to support individual, couples and families in communities such as immigrants, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent (ADHD), and professionals, whose experiences resonate with her own life journey the most. She holds a compassionate, culturally attuned space where clients can express freely and rediscover their authentic self.
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.
Kanica Coshal, MSW RSW
Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist
Welcome! My name is Kanica and I am a registered Social Worker with over 10 years of experience working with children, teens and adults. I work from a trauma informed lens and specialize in providing support to individuals experiencing anxiety, OCD, depression, ADHD, relationship challenges, parenting, school-related stressors (i.e. academics, attendance, bullying), self-harm, suicide, and self-e…
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.
Varshini Skantharajah
Registered Psychotherapist
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.
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.
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 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.