Dr. Sarah Thompson, C. Psych.
Sarah launched her part-time private practice in 2017 after thirteen years of full-time practice at the Centre for Student Development and Counselling at Ryerson University. She has a deep interest in utilizing evidence-informed practice to assist individuals and couples in overcoming emotional and relational challenges. Sarah works with clients to transform repetitive or stuck emotion and relationship patterns into the healthy and adaptive responses needed to support individual mental well-being and healthy and satisfying connections with loved ones. The cornerstones of her practice include respect for each client’s lived experience, a focus on the intersecting identities that each person brings to their successes and challenges, acknowledgement and respect for the impact of systemic oppression on personal development and lived experience, and knowledge that, once safe environments have been reached, neuroplasticity and supportive relationships allow us to heal from past hurts. Sarah practices Emotion-Focused Therapy from a trauma-informed perspective. She draws upon her training in experiential, relational psychodynamic, and cognitive behavioural therapies to tailor her treatment to each client.
Sarah earned her doctorate in psychology at the University of Toronto (2006) and is a member of The College of Psychologists of Ontario.
Ms. Naomi Weir
Naomi Weir is our Administrative Assistant at Transforming Emotions. She strives to be approachable to all clients and wants you to feel welcomed at our practice. Her goal is to understand your needs and to work with Dr. Thompson in pairing you with the best fit on our team.
Naomi brings a diverse background with her to Transforming Emotions. This includes an education in Medical Administration and a former career as a Paramedic. She currently volunteers at a local food bank. Her clinical and personal experiences give her the ability to provide you with a professional and supportive experience.
David McNeill, MSW, RSW (he/him)
David is a registered social worker providing clinical counselling to young adults and adults. David believes in creating a space of non-judgement, safety, and connection where clients can explore their emotional experiences. David is predominantly trained in Emotion-Focused Therapy, but also incorporates person-centred, cognitive-behavioural, and relational therapies into his approach.
David has worked with different types of anxiety, depression, trauma, and family relationship difficulties. Goals of therapy are to help people accept, express, regulate, make sense of, and transform emotion. David’s approach focuses on identifying and expressing adaptive, helpful, and healthy emotions while transforming maladaptive, "stuck", and deeply painful emotions.
David recognizes the importance of long-term therapy, where safe and careful exploration of painful experiences can take place. He also believes the ultimate goal of helpful and responsible therapy is for clients to feel independent, confident, and capable in their lives.
David received his Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto, and since then has been practicing therapy at Ryerson University’s counselling centre (Centre for Student Development and Counselling) and in private practice.
Dr. Immaculate Antony, C. Psych. (she/her)
Immaculate is a registered clinical psychologist who obtained her Doctoral degree from the University of Toronto. She works with adults facing challenges with anxiety, depression, prenatal and postpartum experiences, relationships, life transitions and emotional regulation difficulties. Immaculate empowers clients by increasing their awareness and understanding of their emotions to promote healing and wellness.
Immaculate's approach to therapy is grounded in evidence-based practice. Her primary therapeutic modalities include Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), and mindfulness based approaches. Immaculate practices with a multi-cultural diversity lens and an anti-oppressive framework. She has a particular interest in acculturation stress, cultural identity and the intersections with emotional well-being.
Immaculate's clinical training and professional experiences include psychology positions in outpatient, inpatient, private practice and community settings including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences and Ryerson University. Additionally, Immaculate provides supervision and training in Motivational Interviewing for community organizations.
Angela Cole, M.A., C.Psych Assoc. (Supervised Practice)
Angela maintains an evidence-based therapeutic practice grounded in a trauma-informed approach. She works collaboratively with individuals to uncover, understand, and transform underlying core emotional processes that drive behavioural, thought, emotional, and relational problems. Angela values building strong therapeutic relationships with her clients and upholds an accepting, compassionate, and safe environment that is rooted in deep empathy.
While Angela works primarily from process experiential and Emotion Focused therapeutic orientations, her training and experience in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Family Systems Therapy, and Psychodynamic Therapy allow her to draw on interventions from a range of theoretical orientations to best meet clients’ needs and goals. Angela provides psychotherapy to individuals struggling with a range of mental health challenges including anxiety disorders, depression, body image concerns, trauma and related stress disorders, and relationship issues.
Angela is in the final stages of earning a Doctoral degree in Psychology at OISE, University of Toronto. Her pre-doctoral clinical training comprised hospital and counselling settings including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto Western Hospital University Health Network, and the OISE Psychology Clinic, University of Toronto. She completed her clinical internship with rotations at the Toronto General Hospital University Health Network and Ryerson University Centre for Student Development and Counselling. Angela works part-time at the Toronto Western Hospital Bariatric Surgery Program providing assessment and psychotherapy to individuals living with obesity and related emotional and physical health conditions. Previously, she has been employed at the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario in Kingston providing supportive care to individuals diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness and their families. At Transforming Emotions Angela’s work is supervised by Dr. Sarah Thompson, C. Psych.
Esztella Vezer, M.A., Clinician (she/her)
Esztella recognizes that emotions are an enormous part of our experience of being human, bringing us both joy and pain. She believes we all have the innate capacity for growth and strives to build a level of connection and trust that allows clients to share difficult feelings, thoughts and experiences, sometimes for the first time. Esztella finds it a privilege to work with each of her clients and is frequently moved by the transformations that occur along their therapeutic journeys as they explore their internal worlds, learn about themselves in deeply profound ways, and experience tangible shifts in their day-to-day lives.
Using primarily Emotion-Focused Therapy, Esztella helps clients understand, tolerate and alter their emotions, a process that she believes is both transformative and empowering. Esztella incorporates other approaches such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy as needed.
Esztella is a senior doctoral student in Clinical Psychology and has trained in various settings, including a hospital-based clinic, university counselling centre, private practice and in clinical trials. She has worked with individuals and couples experiencing anxiety, depression, interpersonal difficulties, trauma, self-esteem issues, psychosocial stressors and other challenges. Esztella is supervised by Dr. Sarah Thompson, C.Psych.
Amanda Masterton, MSW, RSW
NOT CURRENTLY ACCEPTING CLIENTS
Amanda is a Registered Social Worker with 14 years experience providing counselling support to young adults. She has been in private practice since 2019. Her gentle, whole-person approach focuses on creating safety and building a trusting therapeutic relationship. She works collaboratively with clients to help them gain new perspectives, shift towards preferred ways of being, and create space for new possibilities. Amanda helps clients tap into their existing strengths and abilities, develop new skills and internal resources, and foster resiliency to realise their goals and make positive changes. Amanda utilises neuro-narrative, relational, trauma-informed, and Emotion-Focused Therapy approaches to support clients with a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, chronic illness, learning disabilities, self-esteem and identity difficulties, interpersonal challenges, and life transitions.
Amanda holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto. She has completed clinical training at The Toronto Western Hospital, Women’s College Hospital, and the Hinks-Dellcrest Centre.
Dr. Andrea Martin, C. Psych. (she/her)
ACCEPTING CLIENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2021
Andrea is a registered clinical psychologist who works with individuals experiencing a range of presenting concerns including anxiety, depression, self-criticism/self-esteem, life transitions, family/relationship difficulties, grief and loss. Andrea’s therapeutic approach is warm, empathic, and grounded in trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment practices. Andrea practices primarily from an emotion-focused therapy (EFT) perspective and integrates treatment approaches from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), solution-focused, and dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), as needed, to tailor her approach to the presenting concerns of each client. Andrea strives to create an empathic, safe, and trusting relationship with her clients and is attentive to understanding each client’s unique lived experience, strengths, challenges, and goals for therapy.
Andrea has clinical training and professional experience in a range of outpatient mental health settings including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Michael Garron Hospital (formerly Toronto East General Hospital), Ryerson University, and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, where she completed her pre-doctoral residency in the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre, the Mood Disorders clinic and the Women’s Health Concerns Clinic.
Andrea earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at York University (2010) and is a member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario. Andrea is a member and certified EFT therapist with the International Society for Emotion Focused therapy.
Elizabeth Wong, M.A., Clinician
ACCEPTING CLIENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2021
Elizabeth provides therapy to individuals struggling with depressed mood, anxiety, interpersonal difficulties, difficult life transitions, and academic challenges. She recognizes the difficulty associated with disclosing and discussing difficult topics and aims to work collaboratively with clients to understand, attend to, name, and shift emotions within a warm, understanding, and empathic environment. Elizabeth draws from emotion-focused therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, and relational therapies to help meet client’s needs.
Elizabeth is a senior doctoral student from the University of Toronto who will be completing her residency training, in part, through Transforming Emotions. She has completed prior training providing psychotherapy and assessment services at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and the Bariatric Program at Toronto Western Hospital.
Giulia Rinaldi, M.A., Clinician
ACCEPTING CLIENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2021
Giulia has a warm, compassionate, and collaborative approach and she believes in the importance of meeting her clients ‘where they are at’. She helps clients gain clarity and understanding in their problematic experiences and move through difficult emotions to more helpful emotions. Her therapeutic orientation is experiential in nature and primarily draws from the evidence-based practices of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). She further integrates aspects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and Mindfulness. She has over 5 years experience working with clients across a variety of issues including challenges with: anxiety, panic, depression, OCD, trauma, life transitions, relationships, anger, grief, identity, and emotion regulation.
Giulia is completing her doctoral training and holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from York University. She has worked within hospital and counselling centre settings, including Sunnybrook Hospital’s Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre, the York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), and the Ryerson University Counselling Centre, where she did individual and group therapy for those struggling with complex psychological and emotional issues. Giulia’s research focuses on emotional processing and examines the specific emotional processes that help clients resolve depression. Giulia is a member of the Canadian Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Exploration and Psychotherapy Integration, and the International Society for Emotion Focused Therapy. Giulia’s work at Transforming Emotions is supervised by Dr. Sarah Thompson, C. Psych.