Services

We offer psychological services in person or online. We are now treating all of Ontario and Quebec.

Assessment Services

Our clinic offers psychological assessments, including psychodiagnostic, psychoeducational, and cognitive assessments, to individuals aged 12 to 60. Assessments may require interviewing yourself and others in your life, completing questionnaires, undergoing testing, and reviewing relevant academic and psychological records. Our assessments conclude with a feedback session and a written report, during which the results are reviewed, recommendations are discussed, and clients are given time to process the findings and ask questions. Reports and/or letters can be sent to a physician’s office, school and/or a treatment provider if requested.

Assessments are currently offered using a hybrid approach, with options for virtual or in-person interviewing and questionnaires. However, testing must be completed in-person. Evening spots are available to minimize disruptions to work and student schedules.

We take great care to ensure our assessments are evidence-based and comprehensive, and to provide clients with individualized, accessible recommendations that address their needs and concerns. Our goal is to provide clients with clarity regarding their problems and direction so that they can be addressed.

Lower-cost options are also available with some of our doctoral-level trainees.

We currently offer assessments for a variety of concerns, including, but not limited to:

ADHD
Specific Learning Disabilities (e.g., Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, etc.)
Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Personality Disorder assessment
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Psychosis Spectrum Disorders

We are also hoping to offer both adolescent and adult Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) assessments in the near future. Stay tuned!

Individual Adolescent, Adult and Couples Therapy

We offer a range of individual therapy services including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy and mindfulness and acceptance based treatments. Our individual therapy is focused upon addressing the problems in your life most affecting your quality of life including problems related to mood, anxiety, substance use, anger and impulsivity, among a range of other concerns. We have clinicians who also have additional expertise dealing with more severe problems such as suicidal ideation, trauma, self-harm and psychosis. These one-on-one sessions occur for 50 minutes per week with the length of the treatment dependent on your individual needs.

Low-cost Program
We have a speciality program where we provide lower rate services to individuals from marginalized groups with advanced level Doctoral trainees. Our trainees receive direct and extensive supervision from experienced, licensed Psychologists on our team to ensure the highest quality of care.

First Responder Program
We prioritize first responders for services with our clinicians who have specific training and experience working with trauma and know how to provide the support you need. We offer evidence-based care, in the form of either assessment or therapy, to meet the mental health needs of first responders who work in high-trauma sectors. We are able to see First Responders either using their extended-health benefits or through WSIB.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment. Originally, this treatment was designed for individuals who were in frequent crisis, suicidal and struggled with coping with their day to day life. DBT has now been validated for a variety of other disorders, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, addictions, eating disorders, mood disorders, impulse control disorders, personality disorders, and for those with other self-injurious behaviours. The main goal of this treatment is to assist people in improving their quality of life.

DBT works best when you participate in both group and individual skills training. You will learn new skills to help you learn to better identify and cope with your emotions, better tolerate distress and learn more effective ways of communicating in a skills-based training course. In individual therapy you will focus on reducing or stopping problematic behaviours that interfere with achieving your goals, address crises and learn how to tailor the DBT skills to your needs. Between session skills coaching is also available with your individual therapist.

We offer a comprehensive DBT treatment program that includes both group skills training and individual therapy. We currently have two groups running virtually offering you flexibility, and we will match you with a DBT trained individual therapist.

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychological treatment used to help people with a variety of different mental health problems. CBT is based on the idea that psychological difficulties often result from the interplay of thinking patterns, emotions, actions, and situations. Learning CBT can give you greater insight in the types of thought patterns that generate your depressive, anxious, angry or many other problematic and distressing emotions and reactions that are having a significantly negative impact on your life.

Research has suggested that CBT should be considered the first line of treatment for depressive and anxiety disorders, it is that effective.

CBT will target the hopeless and negativistic thoughts in depression, the helpless and catastrophic thoughts that trigger anxiety and, overall, the types of thoughts that negatively impact a person’s mental health. CBT involves learning to identify problematic patterns of thinking, emotions and actions and to change behaviours and develop new coping skills.

CBT is particularly effective for depression, anxiety disorders, problems with anger, and general stress. There is also evidence that CBT is helpful for people struggling with substance use problems, symptoms of psychosis, chronic pain, and other problems.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a specific type of cognitive behavioural therapy that has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD. CPT is generally delivered over 12 sessions and helps you learn to challenge and modify unhelpful beliefs related to your trauma. After undergoing CPT, clients learn to create a new understanding and conceptualization of the traumatic event so that is reduces the ongoing negative effects on their lives.

Prolonged Exposure (PE) teaches clients to gradually approach their trauma-related memories, feelings, and situations. Exposure is an intervention strategy commonly used in cognitive behavioural therapy to help individuals confront fears. By facing what is feared and avoided, clients can decrease their symptoms of PTSD by actively learning that trauma-related memories and cues are not dangerous and do not need to be avoided.

Group Therapy

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy – Group skills training

This is an ongoing group which is skills training group that is designed to teach you specific skills to help you better understand and manage your emotions, relationships and build a better life for yourself. This group is much like being in a classroom for 2 hours teaching you skills that, when practiced, will become new and more effective ways of coping with difficult emotions and situations.

Mindfulness: These skills will help you become more aware of your thoughts and emotions, learn to be less judgmental of yourself and others, and become more attentive to the present moment.

Emotion Regulation: These skills will assist you in better managing your emotions by providing strategies for increasing your emotional awareness, decreasing your emotional vulnerabilities, and changing unwanted emotions.

Distress Tolerance: These skills are designed to provide you with a variety of strategies for more effectively managing stressful situations.

Interpersonal Effectiveness: These skills are designed to teach you how to more effectively ask for what you want, building more meaningful relationships, and feeling better about yourself when doing so.

First Responder

First Responders are those who are always first on the scene during an emergency, crisis, or disaster. First Responders are subject to frequent, intense crisis scenarios, often leading to the development of an Operational Stress Injury.

If you are a police officer, dispatcher, paramedic, firefighter, correctional officer, nurse, doctor or military member who is struggling, you may have an Operational Stress Injury. At West End Psychological Services, we are experienced in working with First Responders and will prioritize your care. We have experience treating PTSD, depression, sleep disorders, grief, burnout, and other symptoms that can often develop as part of the challenging work you do.

We offer private-pay options (usually covered by your Employee Health Benefits) and have experience working with WSIB (we are part of the WSIB MH-POC or can assist you in obtaining additional funding through organizations such as Boots on the Ground).

We understand the invisible wounds often carried by first responders and will develop a confidential and tailored treatment plan suited to your needs.