Team Categories: Adults

Paula Laitila is a registered social worker in Ontario with over 18 years of experience supporting children, youth, young adults, and families. She has worked in community settings, including child welfare and the public education system with experience supporting individuals and families encountering acute mental health crises, anxiety, depression, ADHD, stressors related to the demands of life and various life stages, relationship challenges, difficulties with parental separation/divorce, and emotional dysregulation.

Paula is a compassionate therapist whose non-judgmental approach provides a welcoming space for clients to safely express their thoughts and feelings. She uses a trauma-informed lens and evidence-based interventions including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), emotionally focused therapy (EFT), mindfulness, and narrative therapy with an integrative framework. Paula’s training has centered on child development and attachment, along with environmental and structural impacts on personal adjustment and general well-being.

Paula provides in-person sessions to children, teens, young adults, and families. She takes a holistic approach to therapy, seeing the whole as greater than the sum of its parts, with each of us being the expert of our lives. She believes that we all have the ability to change, and can use our individual and innate strengths, talents, and abilities to reignite hope and light in our every day.

Licensing Body: Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Education: Master of Social Work (York University)

Professional Association: Ontario Association of Social Workers

Gillian MacPherson is a registered social worker and holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto. She completed a certificate in adoption, and received training in several areas of psychotherapy. As an enthusiastic professional, she engages in ongoing professional development.

Gillian brings over 25 years of experience supporting and counselling children, youth, adults, and families. She works in the public education system as a school-based social worker and has held a supervisory position. She also worked as a Clinical Investigator with the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, conducting custody and access assessments.

Gillian uses a wide range of evidence-based interventions, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), motivational counselling, solution-focused and brief solution-focused therapies. She counsels through a strength-based, anti-oppressive lens and works with her clients to leverage their own strengths to help them achieve what they want and need.

Gillian provides counselling services to young children and teenagers, and works with parents to address parental issues, for a wide range of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and stress management. She has extensive experience supporting individuals through crisis situations, grief / loss, life stresses, mental health challenges, and traumatic life events.

She easily develops rapport with clients of all ages, and is known not just for her compassion and empathy, but also for her ability to help her clients arrive at their own solutions while providing them with practical tools and life skills.

In her spare time, Gillian enjoys going to the theatre, cooking, gardening and travelling. She is a mother of three children and enjoys spending time with them. Gillian was born in Trinidad and moved to Canada in 1986.

Licensing Body: Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Education: Master of Social Work (University of Toronto)

Professional Associations: Ontario Association of Social Workers

Pronouns: she / her / hers

Debra-Anne Ben is a registered social worker in Ontario with over 25 years of experience supporting children, youth, adults and families. She has worked in community settings and within the public education system, and has extensive experience supporting individuals through crisis situations, grief/loss, child welfare, life stresses, mental health challenges, and traumatic life events.

Debbie provides counselling and psychotherapy services for children, teens, and parents, for a range of mental health needs, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), grief, trauma, stress management, and general wellbeing.

Debbie counsels through a strength-based, anti-oppressive lens for effective problem solving. She utilizes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Harm-Reduction therapies, Problem Solving therapy, and mindfulness stress reduction approaches.

Debbie believes that we are the experts of ourselves; however, we can all find ourselves losing our path in life at times. If you or your child are feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed by negative thoughts and emotions, Debbie will provide tailored support to help you get back on track.

Licensing Body: Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Education: Master of Social Work (University of Toronto)

Daniela Merenda is a registered social worker offering psychotherapy and counselling services. Her practice uses a wide range of evidence-based interventions including but not limited to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), motivational counselling, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), emotion focused therapy and brief solution-focused therapy. She brings with her a well-rooted feminist, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, harm reduction and trauma informed practice framework.

Daniela has had the privilege to work within the field of social work for over 21 years where children, youth, women and families have allowed her into their lives in the midst of the crisis they have experienced. The foundation of her years of experience stems from work across several sectors: Criminal Justice System, Violence Against Women sector, child protection services, sexual assault sector, crisis intervention, the health system, and the education system.

Daniela offers online sessions only. She provides psychotherapy and counselling services to children, adolescents and young adults seeking support in the areas of mental health, anxiety, mood, grief & loss, parent / adolescent conflict, addictions, suicide ideation, and behaviour.

When it feels as though things are falling apart, Daniela is committed to helping you put the pieces together.

Licensing Body: Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Education: Master of Social Work (York University)

Professional Associations: Ontario Association of Social Workers

Pronouns: she / her / hers

Courtney Fuciarelli is a registered social worker in Ontario with over 14 years of experience in children’s mental health, and school based support. Courtney has worked with children and youth experiencing acute mental health crisis, and has had extensive experience in the education system as a school social worker. She has also provided counselling services within outpatient health settings, and in private practice.

Courtney brings passion and energy to working with children and youth who are experiencing a wide range of difficulties including: anxiety and mood related disorders, adjustment issues, family and peer relationship difficulties, bereavement, self-esteem, difficulties in family change (i.e. separation and divorce), and school refusal.

Courtney’s eclectic approach is grounded in a combination of training in the areas of child development, attachment, and environmental/structural impacts on personal adjustment, while also using a trauma-informed, emotion-focused approach to inform her perspective supporting children and youth in their journey to feeling better, and doing better in their lives. Courtney uses a combination of therapeutic modalities including: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Narrative Therapy, and play-based approaches to engage clients in session, as well as other integrative practices blending activity and psychotherapy.

Licensing Body: Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Education: Master of Social Work (University of Windsor)