Anxiety is one of the most common concerns that clients start psychotherapy with. However, a common concern does not make this a normal physiological response or experience. Anxiety can be described as an emotional state where a person experiences an excessive or overwhelming amount of nerves, worry, unease, or fear about perceived or actual situations. Whether perceived or actual situations, the anxiety towards it can be related to something that occurred or might occur in the past, present, or future. Some clients experience an immense amount of nerves about all the above. Anxiety can be mild, moderate or severe with how the physiological responses show up in your body and daily functioning. Some symptoms of anxiety are: an increased heart rate, spiraling thoughts, poor concentration, sweat (sometimes cold sweat), trouble concentrating, feelings of nervousness/worry/fear, tension in chest, and much more. Some people experience one or more of these symptoms over a period of time or during a period of time. What triggers someone to experience their anxiety symptoms are dependent on the person. However, common roots of what can cause anxiety in a person are emotionally triggering (e.g. fear-based) experiences in childhood, adolescence, and/or adulthood. There are various types of specific anxiety such as social or phobia.

Depending on your experience with anxiety and your hopeful outcome of psychotherapy treatment, some beneficial therapeutic approaches to ensure your therapist is competent with are: Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solution Focused Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy, and others. At One Peace Therapy, regardless of the approach and modalities that your Psychotherapist uses, the goal is to understand you wholly to get to the root of the concern for the most sustainable growth

Depression is one of the most common concerns that clients start psychotherapy with. However, a common concern does not make this a normal physiological response or experience. Depression is an intense emotional state involving sadness and/or a lack of interest and pleasure in life. Depression typically occurs with anxiety, although anxiety can occur without experiencing depression. Depressive symptoms can appear differently for everyone, but also different symptoms can appear for one person. Typically, the symptoms of depression are: hopelessness, changes in appetite and/or worth, low self-worth, thoughts about dying or suicide, and others. The common root causes of depression are trauma, stressful events, and losses (not necessarily death related). Regardless of when depression is experienced, it generally negatively impacts the way one feels, thinks, and acts towards themselves and with/towards others.

Your identity encompasses a lot of different parts of you, that creates your whole. This sum of parts can include your age group/generation, ethnicity, personality, sexual orientation, gender, memories, relationships and much more.

Thus, it can become quite confusing and challenging to know who you are or maybe what you would like to next in your life with who you know yourself to be. Psychotherapy is not about changing who you are, it is about a healing journey into discovering you are and accepting and loving your sense of self.

Research has shown that the following are great approaches to supporting clients to overcome their identity concerns: Narrative Therapy, Existential Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and others. To find out more about these approaches, please contact our administrative support and/or schedule a Meet & Greet today!

Unfortunately, sometimes, trauma and PTSD go hand in hand. Thankfully, this is not the case for all situations or all persons. Trauma is an experience that disrupts the flow of and distresses your nervous system. The disruption can be due to a emotional event, physical event, psychological event, sexual event, and others. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) starts after experiencing a traumatic event (either directly or indirectly). This is a clinical diagnosis that occurs when the disruption and distress with your nervous system lasts for a prolonged period of a time (e.g. over a month). This includes numerous symptoms such as, nightmares, avoidance of person or context to which the trauma occurred, daily function has plummeted, easily started, intrusive thoughts, and much more. As Psychotherapists cannot formally diagnose clients, please speak with your physician or Psychiatrist about your symptoms.

Nonetheless, Psychotherapists can support you with your healing journey to overcome your symptoms of trauma and/or PTSD. Research has shown that there are a variety of therapeutic approaches that can support clients with these concerns; what is most effective is the relationship you have with your therapist and how safe and comfortable you feel. However, here are some concrete examples: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Narrative Therapy, Trauma-Informed approach, and much more!

Please contact our administrator or schedule a Meet & Greet to find the right fit for you!

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a specialty treatment that only certain practitioners can perform depending on their educational background. This approach is not meant for every client and is specially designed to support clients who experience trauma and PTSD.

This technique involves going into the past (main focus), present and the future. Being able to tolerate discomfort is essential to allowing your therapist to guide you smoothly through this experience. Our therapist, Hossein specializes in this treatment modality and ready to support you when you are!

Please feel free to reach out to our administrator or click the “Book Now” button to schedule a Meet & Greet today!

Emotion Focused Therapy focuses on healing your emotional experiences. This approach acknowledges your concerns to be related to emotional blockage and what has been suppressed, repressed; ultimately what emotional needs are still left unmet.

In these sessions, there are often a lot of processing of your experience and experiencing of what was not let go of. As overwhelming and scary as this may sound, with the right therapist for you, the benefits abundantly outweight the risks. Expect triggers, but also expect tools and techniques to overcome them and better regulated.

Please reach our to our administrator or book directly with one of our practitioners to begin your healing today!

Narrative therapy is a therapeutic approach centered around the power of storytelling. In this method, individuals collaboratively explore and reframe their life experiences, focusing on the narratives they construct about themselves and their problems. By examining these stories, clients can gain new perspectives and challenge negative patterns of thinking.

Therapists in narrative therapy help clients separate themselves from the issues they face, allowing them to view challenges as external to their identity. This process enables individuals to rewrite their narratives, emphasizing their strengths, resilience, and ability to overcome difficulties. By reshaping their stories, clients can redefine their identities and develop a stronger sense of agency, leading to positive change and personal growth.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a goal-oriented, evidence-based psychotherapy that focuses on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and behaviors. In CBT, clients work closely with therapists to recognize and challenge distorted thinking, replacing it with more balanced, realistic thoughts.

CBT operates on the principle that our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are interconnected. By addressing and altering unhelpful thoughts, CBT aims to modify emotional responses and behavior patterns. Clients learn practical techniques and coping strategies to manage stress, anxiety, depression, and various mental health issues.

Through structured sessions, clients develop a deeper understanding of their triggers, thoughts, and reactions. They learn to reframe negative beliefs, develop problem-solving skills, and gradually face situations they fear, fostering a sense of empowerment and emotional resilience. CBT is time-limited and highly effective, making it a widely used therapy for various psychological challenges.