Individual counselling is not about being broken. It is about having a space — private, unhurried, and without judgement — where you can say the things you have been carrying alone. A space where someone trained in the mechanics of change actually listens, not to fix you, but to help you understand what is happening beneath the surface and what to do about it.
At Resilient Foundations, individual therapy is offered entirely virtually across Canada. Sessions are conducted by Ummara Ashfaq, a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO #15095), in English, Urdu, and Hindi.
"You do not need to have a crisis to deserve therapy. You just need to be tired of carrying it alone."
What Individual Counselling Addresses
People come to individual therapy for all kinds of reasons — sometimes a specific event, sometimes a pattern that has been building for years. The concerns I work with most frequently include:
- Anxiety — generalized worry, social anxiety, health anxiety, panic, and the high-functioning kind that looks like success on the outside and exhaustion on the inside.
- Burnout — professional depletion, compassion fatigue, chronic overwhelm, and the inability to rest even when you finally have time.
- Identity and life transitions — immigration adjustment, cultural identity conflicts, career uncertainty, matrescence, and the disorientation that comes with outgrowing the version of yourself everyone else still expects.
- Grief and loss — death, relationship endings, ambiguous loss, and the kind of grief that does not have a name but sits in your chest every morning.
- Perfectionism and people-pleasing — the pattern of making yourself smaller, safer, and more accommodating until you cannot find your own preferences underneath everyone else's expectations.
- ADHD and neurodivergence — executive function challenges, rejection sensitive dysphoria, masking fatigue, and the emotional toll of living in systems that were not designed for the way your brain works.
Therapeutic Approaches
There is no single method that works for every person or every concern. I draw from several evidence-based modalities and match the approach to what you actually need:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) — for trauma, distressing memories, phobias, and anxiety rooted in past experiences. EMDR helps the brain reprocess what got stuck.
- EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) — for understanding attachment patterns and the emotional logic beneath behaviours that feel automatic.
- Narrative Therapy — for clients who feel defined by a story they did not choose. Particularly effective with cultural identity, immigration grief, and intergenerational patterns.
- DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) — skills-based work for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
- ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) — for learning to hold difficult thoughts and feelings without being controlled by them, and for clarifying what actually matters to you.
The approach is always collaborative. You will never be asked to do something that does not make sense to you, and you will always know why we are doing what we are doing.
Who This Is For
Individual counselling at Resilient Foundations is designed for adults across Canada. Many of my clients share particular experiences:
- South Asian professionals navigating cultural expectations, family obligation, and the pressure to appear fine while privately struggling.
- Newcomers to Canada adjusting to a new country while managing the grief of what was left behind and the pressure to succeed quickly.
- Working mothers who are chronically depleted, carrying invisible labour, and wondering where they went inside their own life.
- Students and young adults dealing with academic pressure, comparison, identity formation, and the gap between who they are and who they feel they should be.
You do not need to fit a category. If something resonates, that is enough.
Pricing and Insurance
Individual counselling sessions are $175 for 50 minutes. Direct billing is available for Greenshield and Sun Life. For all other insurance providers, a receipt is issued after each session for you to submit under Registered Psychotherapist (RP) coverage.
Discounted rates are available for students, seniors, and clients experiencing financial hardship. If cost is a barrier, please mention it during your consultation — we will find a way to make it work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens in a first individual counselling session?
Your first session is an intake assessment where we explore what brought you to therapy, your history, and your goals. There is no pressure to share everything at once — we move at your pace. By the end, we collaboratively outline an initial plan for the work ahead.
How long does individual counselling take to work?
Most clients notice meaningful shifts within 8–12 sessions, though this varies depending on the complexity of what you are working through. Some concerns, like specific anxiety patterns, may respond in fewer sessions. Deeper work around trauma, identity, or relational patterns often benefits from longer-term support.
Is virtual therapy as effective as in-person?
Research consistently shows that virtual therapy is as effective as in-person therapy for most concerns including anxiety, depression, burnout, and trauma processing. Many clients find it more accessible — no commute, no childcare logistics, and the comfort of being in your own space.
Do you accept insurance for individual counselling?
Yes. Resilient Foundations offers direct billing to Greenshield and Sun Life. For other insurers, you receive a receipt after each session to submit for reimbursement under Registered Psychotherapist (RP) coverage. Discounted rates are available for students, seniors, and low-income clients.
If you have been thinking about therapy — even quietly, even uncertainly — that impulse is worth following. I offer a free 15-minute consultation with no pressure, no paperwork, and no obligation. Just a conversation to see if this feels right.
