Ruby Willems

Life is messy, difficult, and confusing and if you are here, you are likely seeking relief and support in your struggle. My hope is that you find a therapist who is a good fit for you. I welcome you to arrange a phone consultation to determine if this might be me. 

For over thirty years, I have been working with youth and adults using strengths-based, family systems, and lifespan development approaches to understand, support, and provide insight to individuals at any phase in their lives. These practical strategies provide individuals the resilience to manage anxiety and depression, life transitions, relationships, and everyday struggles. I have been witness to the transformation that can happen in lives and I am committed to continuing to work alongside folks to help them deepen their understanding of themselves, reframe their narratives, and develop the strengths and skills to manage change and growth. 

After working in the school system as a secondary school English teacher for a number of years, I completed a graduate degree in Counselling Psychology, and moved into school counselling, which allows me to keep in touch with youths’ challenges and successes within the school system. This role provides me with insight about students with learning disabilities, and mental health struggles as well as the world of career exploration and post-secondary planning.  I love working with young people as they are discovering and understanding themselves as well as navigating the post-secondary world.  I have access to professional assessment tools to help with career and vocational assessment and have worked with hundreds of students and their families in applying to post-secondary programs. I have seen the impact that the pandemic has had on our youth and have compassion for folks who are journeying through the world as we undergo other massive changes.

In my clinical work, I have had specialized trauma-informed training and use CBT, DBT, emotion-focused and family systems to work with adults to process grief and loss, parenting, personal trauma and relationships . I have supervised a number of graduate students through their practicums to obtain counselling credentials. This interplay of providing supervision as well as seeking therapeutic clinical supervision has allowed me to move forward in my own counselling practice, confident that my work is sensitive to the complexity involved in addressing human needs. I am deeply curious about what makes people tick and how to help them move to a healthier, happier place in their lives.