Therapy is the treatment for your emotional health. Just as you would visit a doctor for physical ailments, a trained therapist can help you manage your mental well-being. Therapy provides you with insight and tools to manage many things. It can help you cope with crises and life changes, complex personal issues and relationships, the death of a loved one, PTSD, anxiety, depression and more. You can experience trauma in events like a car accident, assault or witnessing a crime. Chronic trauma can occur from long-standing family violence, bullying, academic pressures, etc. A therapist can help you heal from past trauma and allow you to move forward and lead a fulfilling and joyful life.

Seeking therapy is deeply stigmatized in many cultures. Often, mental health concerns are invalidated, ignored or trivialized. Only you can decide if therapy is for you. We can help you work through your memories, emotions, body responses, unhelpful thoughts and belief patterns that were rooted in the past. We can support you in developing skills and coping abilities so you can unburden yourself and thrive. A successful therapy experience is not about fixing you because you are not broken! It is about increasing your internal and external resources and support infrastructure so you can better cope with the ups and downs of life.

Many of us were raised to keep private issues within the family. This leads to secrecy, feelings of isolation and worsening mental health. You should never worry about speaking to a licensed therapist about your mental health because our therapy sessions are completely confidential, and we are guided by law, specifically the Personal Health Information and Privacy Act.

Your therapist needs your honesty and openness in order to help you. We keep anything you share directly or indirectly with us private. We can only release it with your expressed written consent or that of your legal guardian. You can withdraw this consent at any time. In a few circumstances, laws limit the extent of confidentiality. We will review all of this with you before we begin therapy sessions.

In our experience, when people learn to heal their emotional wounds, they become confident about sharing the benefits of therapy with others. But of course, that’s completely up to you.

Yes! Shanti Psychotherapy serves clients from all cultural backgrounds. We are a polycultural therapy group committed to providing culturally sensitive and inclusive care for everyone. Additionally, we have a unique specialization in supporting clients from South Asian backgrounds. Our team includes therapists with the expertise, compassion and many shared lived experiences to meet your needs.

A Polycultural Therapy Group is a therapeutic approach that recognizes and embraces the interconnectedness and diversity of cultures, emphasizing how cultural experiences shape individuals’ mental health and well-being. Here, therapists create an inclusive and respectful space where people from diverse cultural backgrounds can feel seen, heard, and validated. This approach goes beyond acknowledging cultural differences—it highlights the shared histories and interactions between cultures while addressing nuances that may influence mental health, such as intergenerational trauma, acculturation stress, or cultural stigma.

You should feel completely free to discuss any matters with them, and if you find that difficult, share this with your therapist, who will support you over time with the discomfort to find safe ways to communicate all of what is important to you.

There are several ways to book an appointment with us. We recommend starting a consultation with our intake team, as they can match you with a therapist best suited for your needs and goals.

All our therapists offer a free 20-minute consultation during which you can ask questions and explore whether they are a good fit. Many clients book their first appointment during this consultation.

If you already have a therapist in mind, contact our intake team at  (437) 747-0692 or book through the online portal on each clinician’s bio page.

Our Intake Coordinator, Rohama Kabeer, and our Founder and Clinical Director, Angie Agarwal Holstein, conduct initial screenings with new clients to understand your unique needs and preferences. From there, they match you with the therapist best suited to support you.

You can schedule this consultation by calling our reception at (437)-747-0692 or visiting Rohama or Angie’s bio pages, which are linked above.

Children and youth experience a lot of pressure, particularly during puberty, when physical changes and rapid brain development turn them into people their parents may not recognize or relate to.

Therapy can help them better understand their emotions, improve communication, and maintain strong bonds with their families in the face of challenges such as peer pressure, academic stress, social media influences, and more. It can also equip them to handle adversarial moments productively and thoughtfully.

Trauma is a mind-body reaction that occurs when events overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope with emotions, sensations, and other information connected with the experience. It is an involuntary reaction that one cannot control. There are two categories of trauma:

“Big T” Trauma includes sexual assault and abuse, natural disaster, car crash, death of a loved one (particularly if sudden), medical emergency or serious diagnosis, job loss, violence (enduring, witnessing or perpetrating), betrayal or breach of trust. ​

“Little t” Trauma: “Little t” trauma might include bullying, troubled relationships and breakups, poverty or money worries, addictions (yours or someone you love), racism, homophobia and other forms of chronic oppression.

Healing from trauma allows a person to break free from dread, fear, hurt, shame and more, which chronically take up space in your life. At Shanti Psychotherapy, we have both trauma-informed therapists and trauma specialists who can help get you to a place of acceptance and self-love so you can live your life unburdened, with a new healthier version of yourself and experiencing joy in the abundance that you deserve.

Epigenetics is the study of how events in an individual’s life impact future generations. Evidence shows that trauma can cause genetic changes that pass to offspring.

In many cultures, legacy events such as colonialism, poverty, war, religious discourse, patriarchy and even immigration play a deep role in how the burden of those long-gone events impacts people alive today.

Therapy can help families living with intergenerational trauma heal and bond again, breaking the cycle so the trauma is shut down and completely blocked from future generations.

We offer an initial 20-minute consultation that is completely free.

Unfortunately, OHIP does not cover the regulated services provided by Psychotherapists and Social Workers. However, since 2012, our fees have been considered a tax-deductible medical expense. Your therapist will provide you with a receipt at the end of every session to use for this purpose.

If you have a private insurance plan through work or school, most of them will reimburse you fully or partially for our services. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many have increased their coverage for mental health services, and you should contact them for a list of what they will cover for you.

We charge therapy fees to your credit card at the end of your session and email you a receipt that includes your therapist’s credentials, so you can forward it to your insurance company for reimbursement.

If you are insured with Green Sheild, we will bill them directly. Please ask our intake team or administrators about this during your screening.

If you do not use a credit card, please let us know so we can work out an accommodation.

Each clinician at Shanti Psychotherapy holds a limited number of spaces to ensure therapy is accessible to those in need. Our sliding scale fees for college, university, and international students are reduced to $140 per session. Please contact our intake team to discuss these options.

Yes, you can stop therapy when you feel the time is right. Speak to your therapist about this first so you can celebrate your progress and create a healthy and supportive ending to your therapeutic journey. Your therapist will also discuss the options available to arrange periodic check-ins, should you need them.

This exit interview also allows us to learn what worked and did not work for you during therapy, allowing us to improve our offerings for others.

We value your care and comfort, and you can contact Angie Agrawal Holstein, the owner and founder of Shanti Psychotherapy, directly to discuss anything you are not satisfied with.