Registered Psychotherapist in Vaughan Ontario

Psychotherapy for Adults, Children,
Couples & Families in Vaughan

Trusted Psychotherapy
in Vaughan and Richmond Hill

It’s human to face challenges along the way. When life gets overwhelming and you need help navigating adversity, psychotherapy can provide the tools you need to move forward. At Psychotherapy Essence, our team of registered psychotherapists is dedicated to guiding and supporting you on a path toward a healthier, happier life. Whether you’re seeking individual therapy, couples counseling, or family therapy, our compassionate and experienced team is here for you every step of the way.

Our Services

Anxiety & Fear

Most of us feel some level of anxiety and fear every so often. But when anxiety interferes with daily life, causing a range of symptoms like constant worries that are difficult to control, insomnia, fear of losing control or dying, shortness of breath, shaking, dizziness, digestive problems, and an overwhelming sense of panic – this prevents you from getting things done and enjoying life.

Therapy for Depression

The emotional pain of depression can be no less than the physical pain. It can reveal itself in a variety of ways for different people. Physically, depression can manifest itself through extreme fatigue, lethargy, a loss of appetite or overeating/binge eating, lack of sleep, or oversleeping. Emotionally, depression can present itself as a feeling of utter pointlessness and hopelessness, low self-esteem, feelings of guilt and shame, and a deep sense of sadness among many others.

Anger Management

Anger is an important human emotion that requires expression as much as our other feelings like happiness and sadness. It is when anger turns violent and is difficult to control, affecting your relationships – it brings your attention to addressing it. When we learn to manage anger, it allows us to stand for ourselves, protect our personal boundaries and express our needs and feelings in an assertive and respectful way.

Stress Management

Stress is inevitable in our life. We deal with various factors in our environment like health problems, stressful work situations, balancing career and family, relationships, and financial strain. Even positive life events like getting married, or starting a new job can be stressful. As a result, when under a significant amount of stress, we are more likely to experience higher levels of fear and anxiety, as well as a worsening of other mental and physical health problems.

OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)

OCD manifests itself in unwanted and disturbing thoughts, images, and urges or compulsions. People with OCD are preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, and a need to be in control to the point that it is difficult to complete tasks. By engaging in repetitive behaviors, you might be dealing with a great deal of anxiety, which is caused by deep and typically unconscious anxiety-related beliefs and emotions like different fears, shame, and guilt.

Grief & Bereavement Counselling

The loss of a loved one changes your life in every way and invites a range of emotions. One day you may feel shock and denial and the next day the extreme feelings of sadness, loneliness, and anxiety catch you when you are most vulnerable.

Trauma & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Many people experience trauma in their lifetime: neglect, emotional, physical, sexual abuse, or a sudden loss of a loved one. While vivid flashbacks might linger in the early days after trauma, at later stages for many people it becomes unconscious, causing daily struggle, affecting the mind, emotions, relationships, and health.

Self-Esteem - Relationship with yourself and others

Have you ever felt not good enough, overly criticize yourself, felt inferior, compared yourself to others, practiced negative self-talk, or acted indecisively in minor and major decision making? Self-esteem issues may affect many areas of life: relationships, professional and personal growth, your mental or even physical health.

Life Changes & Transitions

It is inevitable for us to experience change at various stages in our lives. Starting a new job, getting married or divorced and having children – these are the changes that many of us get to experience in a lifetime. Often, these changes and life transitions may be overwhelming since they intensify and surface our inner unresolved issues, fears and insecurities.

Parenting Challenges

Raising children brings on a set of unique challenges at every stage in life. Aiming for the best for our children, we might end up battling with them over homework, bedtime, technology, chores, sibling relationships, or dealing with teenager’s common “traps” like backtalk and not taking responsibility. You are not alone!

Couples Counseling

Do you feel like your relationship is at a standstill? Are you and your partner stuck in the same argument loop every night? Do you feel like you and your partner are drifting away? Do you desire more intimacy between you and your partner?

Family Counselling

Our Registered Psychotherapists are dedicated to understanding your unique family dynamics and individual goals, ensuring a safe and compassionate space for every family member. Together, we will work to bridge the gaps, foster open communication, and help you make positive changes that strengthen your relationships and facilitate lasting connection and harmony.

Emotional Regulation Skills Training

Our DBT Skills training is designed to help clients reduce their suffering, solve problems, and build the lives they envision. Participants in the DBT Skills training must also attend individual therapy sessions at our clinic or with another provider at least twice a month. This ensures they receive personalized support in applying these skills to their unique circumstances.

DBT Skills training includes four key modules:

Mindfulness Skills

Mindfulness Skills enhance your awareness of both your internal experiences and external environment. These skills help you gain better control over your mind, thoughts, and emotions.

Distress Tolerance Skills

Distress Tolerance Skills equip you to handle crises without resorting to behaviors that could worsen the situation. These skills enable you to manage intense emotions and take care of yourself during challenging times, ultimately reducing the suffering that often accompanies crises and severe distress.

Emotion Regulation Skills

Emotion Regulation Skills help you understand and manage your emotions more effectively. They provide strategies to change unhelpful emotions and decrease the frequency of unpleasant emotional experiences.

Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills

These skills address the challenges intense emotions pose in relationships and vice versa. Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills empower you to ask for what you need, set boundaries, maintain important relationships, and assert yourself confidently.

Our DBT Skills training is conducted on a one-on-one basis, ensuring individualized attention and tailored support for each client.

Our Team

Yana Konchin, MA, RP (Q)

Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)

Currently Accepting New Clients

Specializing working with: Teens and Adult Individuals, Couples & Families and Groups
Modality: In-Person & Virtual Services
Approaches: Comprehensive Dialectical Behavioral Therapy(DBT)
Specialties: Substance use, Life Transitions, Eating Disorders, Trauma and Prolong Exposure, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Self-harm, Intrusive thoughts, Grief, Loss, Emotional Dysregulation, Relationship Challenges
Languages: English, Russian

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Eda Mucaj, M.A., R.P.

Registered Psychotherapist

Currently Accepting New Clients

Specialising working with: Adult Individuals & Couples
Modality: In-Person & Virtual Services
Approaches: Psychoanalytic Therapy based on Object Relations Theory, Ego states Therapy (EST), Hypnotherapy, Internal Family Systems(IFS), Somatic Experiencing and Polyvagal Based Therapy
Specialities: Sexual and Complex Trauma, Attachment Issues, Developmental Trauma, Life Transitions, Relationship Challenges, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Panic, Mood Disorders, Grief, Loss, Emotional Dysregulation
Languages: English

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Stephen Garfinkel, MA, RP

Registered Psychotherapist

Currently Accepting New Clients

Specializing working with: Children, adolescent and adult individuals; couples and family therapy.
Modality: Virtual and In- person
Approaches: Attachment-based interventions, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) informed, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Family Based Treatment (FBT) for Eating Disorders.
Specializations: Anxiety, depression and chronic emotion dysregulation; families overwhelmed by life’s challenges; high conflict/ extreme stress situations; Eating Disorders.
Languages: English

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Rosita Ratnarajah, MA, RP

Registered Psychotherapist

Currently Accepting New Clients

Specializing working with: Preteens, Teens, Adult Individuals and their Families
Modality: Virtual
Approaches: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy( DBT), Mindfulness-Based Therapy, Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Art and Play therapy
Specialties: Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Self-Esteem issues, Life transitions, Relationship & Parenting Challenges
Languages: English, Tamil

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Larysa Strizhevsky, MA, RP

Registered Psychotherapist

Clinical Supervisor & Director

Specializing working with: Adult Individuals, Couples
Modality: In-Person & Virtual Services
Approaches: Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy( DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Gestalt, Mindfulness-Based Therapy, Experiential Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Imago Relationship Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Integrative, Somatic
Specialties: Relational and Childhood Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Self-worth, Relationship issues and life transitions
Languages: English, Russian

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Trusted Psychotherapyin Vaughan and Richmond Hill

Our Services

Emotional Regulation Skills Training

Mindfulness Skills

Distress Tolerance Skills

Emotion Regulation Skills

Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills

Our Team

Let's connect online and get started!

Trusted Psychotherapy
in Vaughan and Richmond Hill