Meet Shira

I am a Registered Psychotherapist. My work as a therapist is based on our connection and understanding of where you are right now, to help you grow and move forward.

I offer a safe, therapeutic relationship where you can work through your past and current issues, find your strengths, and feel more like yourself. I believe in the innate capacity we all have for growth, learning, and healing. I know the need to feel felt and be understood without judgement.

Lived experience

I am a mother of four beautiful souls and this journey is not always what I thought it would be. From pregnancy through the young adult years, it is more challenging and rewarding than I could have imagined. The most profound things I have learned so far are that parenting can unexpectedly bring up so much for us and that connection has an unbelievable power to heal. I know the struggle is overwhelming, and I have also needed help along the way. We all do!

I enjoy ongoing learning. I have an ever evolving stack of library books on my floor. I engage in creative arts, handy crafts and enjoy gardening. Everyone should have the opportunity to learn, grow and find joy. And I also know it’s hard to do that when you are in chronic pain, when parenting is overwhelming you, or life in general is just getting the better of you.

Let's chat and see how I can help you begin this journey

Let's get to know each other

Evidence shows that therapeutic rapport, or a feel-good-and-safe relationship between a client and their therapist, is the most important factor in positive therapeutic outcomes. When you work with me, I take a person-centered approach, based on Carl Roger’s work. I may hold some expertise in psychotherapy and psychology, but YOU are the expert on yourself. I take your lead on what’s working or not working for you, and how to improve our relationship.

I also incorporate a variety of other approaches and resources, based on each client’s unique needs. This can look like:

Pain Reprocessing Therapy,
Emotional Expression and Awareness Therapy,
4 Blinks Flash,
HSP-informed, aphantasia-informed, perinatal-informed, and food allergy-informed,
Internal Family Systems informed (IFS-informed, parts-work) activities,

talking about relationships and experiences,
looking at patterns of thought, emotions and behaviour,
the ways we all cope (resilience factors & also sometimes roadblocks to change),
boundaries and your sense of self,
mindfulness and grounding

However, the main purpose of all of the above goes back to my home, in Carl Rogers work. Understanding your self. Together we help you build a deeper understanding of where you’ve come from, where you are, and who you want to be. You get to discover how you make meaning and what is meaningful to you. You are invited to find safety in a therapeutic relationship, and supported to find courage toward looking at those bruised and painful parts of yourself. You have the opportunity to see how your ideal self has become misaligned with your true self, and to reimagine your self.

I am a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO).