Registered Psychotherapist
MACP, RP

Hello! My name is Shirley Watchorn (she/her), and I am a Registered Psychotherapist and completed a Master of Counselling Psychology Program at Yorkville University. I am a Registered Yoga Teacher, and hold a Master of Arts in Leadership from the University of Guelph with interest in individual wellness, healthcare administration and quality improvement.

I am deeply honoured as a non Indigenous person to provide mental health support to our Indigenous community. They have trusted me with leading group therapy for trauma survivors, I’ve played a role in special healing ceremonies, and have learned from Elders to use Medicine Wheel Teaching in therapy. With the permission of local Indigenous groups, I integrate the Medicine Wheel Teaching into therapy sessions with my nonindigenous clients as well.

Supporting clients in finding deeper meaning and more joy in life, is something that I love to do. I work from a humanistic, client-centered, strength-based, multiculturally affirming approach. I use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Solutions Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and Trauma-specific Cognitive Processing Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Moment by moment, the struggles we face tend to block our growth or propel our capacity to find new ways of coping, signaling us to show up in our lives and find deeper significance in our experiences.

Whether you are experiencing a life transition, grief, burnout, trauma, depression or anxiety, I can be there for you. Let me support you in being present for this chapter of your story, while you learn to consciously engage with your inner truth and wisdom.