Mariel Swadden

Therapy should be a place where you don’t have to edit yourself, not your words, or your feelings, or the parts of your story that still feel unsettled or unclear to you. It should be a place where being seen doesn’t come with a cost.

A lot of the people who find their way to me are somewhere between lost and stuck. The forward motion has stalled, or something has shifted, and they’re not sure who they’re becoming on the other side of it. For some, it shows up as anxiety or grief. For others, it’s a feeling of self-doubt, or numbness that has crept in slowly. Sometimes it’s a particular loneliness of being in a body, a family, or a culture that has never felt right for you.

I work with teens, young adults, and adults, including members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community who are looking for affirming therapy that doesn’t ask them to explain the basics.

With adults, the work often involves understanding how past experiences are still shaping the way you show up today, and gently making room for something different. With younger clients, it’s often about catching patterns early, before they set in, and building the kind of emotional footing that makes belonging feel possible again.

Whether you’re looking for anxiety therapy, trauma therapy, grief counselling, or support through a life transition you can’t quite name yet, my work is grounded in evidence-based therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) alongside narrative and solution-focused approaches when they fit. Drawing on additional advanced training in DBT, I help clients develop practical skills for managing overwhelming emotions, navigating distress, strengthening relationships, and creating lasting change.  You’re not a case to be solved. You’re a person with a story that deserves to be heard well.

What drew me to this work in the first place was a deep curiosity about people’s stories, about how we make meaning from what happens to us, how old patterns shape the way we move through the world now, and how real connection, the kind where you don’t have to translate yourself, helps us come back to who we actually are. I don’t believe healing means pushing past what you feel, and I don’t think the goal is a more polished version of yourself. The goal is to come home to yourself, at a pace that feels steady. You get to set the tempo here.

My practice is grounded in trauma-informed, affirming, and culturally responsive care, shaped by an anti-oppressive lens. I’m also trained in conflict resolution and mediation, and several years of crisis work through the Distress Centres of Greater Toronto taught me how to stay grounded when things feel like too much. Seven years in community advocacy shape the way I show up, too. I know that identity, oppression, and systemic pressure aren’t abstract concepts. They live in our bodies, our relationships, and the way we move through the world. You won’t need to explain that part to me.

My approach is also neuroscience-informed. I’ve completed a 32-hour Certificate in Neuroscience for Mental Health Professionals, with a focus on clinical interventions for anxiety, trauma, and emotional regulation. What that means in practice is that I pay attention to how your brain and nervous system actually respond to stress and overwhelm, and we work on regulation strategies that are grounded in how your body is wired rather than in willpower. I help clients understand their own emotional and physiological responses, develop practical tools for regulation, and build resilience in a way that actually sticks in daily life. What I’m working toward, with every client, is the same thing: helping you move from feeling overwhelmed and reactive to feeling more regulated, more confident, and more in charge of your own emotional experience.

If any of this is resonating, I offer a free 20-minute consultation, available in person in Pickering or virtually anywhere in Ontario. It’s a low-pressure way to ask questions, get a feel for how I work, and see whether we might be a good fit. I’d love to hear from you.