Therapy for university and college students
School stress is not a small problem that you should be able to manage on your own. For a lot of students it is the first time everything has landed at once.
What students usually come in with
- Exam and deadline anxiety that starts weeks out
- Procrastination that looks like laziness and is almost always avoidance
- Being top of your class in high school and average here, and what that does to your sense of self
- Choosing a program you are no longer sure about, or that someone else chose
- Homesickness, or feeling isolated in a city of three million people
- Money stress layered on top of everything else
- Sleep that has quietly fallen apart
- Pressure from family, spoken or otherwise
- Wondering what happens after graduation, and feeling behind already
Why campus counselling is often not enough
University and college counselling services do genuinely good work and they are free, which matters. They are also stretched. Waitlists are common, and many services cap you at a small number of sessions, which is not always enough for something that has been building for years.
Seeing someone privately means continuity. You are not starting over with a new person each term, and the work is not interrupted by a session limit.
What we would work on together
- The anxiety underneath the deadlines. Usually there is a belief about what failure would mean about you
- Getting started. Practical strategies for procrastination that do not rely on being more disciplined
- Perfectionism. Which quietly costs far more marks than it earns
- Identity outside of achievement. Especially if school has been your main source of worth
- Boundaries. With family, with friends, with a course load that keeps expanding
- The bigger questions. What you actually want, as distinct from what you are supposed to want
Practical details
I see students in person at 401 Bay Street in downtown Toronto, and online by secure video anywhere in Ontario, which matters if you go home for the summer or are studying outside the city.
Sessions are $170 for 50 minutes. A limited number of reduced-fee spaces are available, and students are welcome to ask about one. If you are on a student health plan it is worth checking what it covers, though plans differ in whether they include a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying).
Common questions
Can I keep seeing you over the summer or a reading week?
Yes. Because I can work with anyone located in Ontario by video, sessions can continue when you are away from the city. Some people also pause and pick up again, which is completely fine.
Is this confidential from my parents?
If you are an adult, yes. What you share stays between us, with the small number of legal and ethical exceptions I explain clearly before we begin.
I am not failing. Should I still come?
Yes. Coping on paper and being fine are not the same thing, and it is far easier to work on something before it becomes a crisis.
You might also find the pages on anxiety, burnout and ADHD useful, along with the free resources.
You do not have to go through this alone.
Send a short message and I will get back to you personally to arrange a free 15-minute consultation. In person in downtown Toronto, or online anywhere in Ontario.