Shahaa Kakar, MTC

I often work with people who come to me because they are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, burnt out, fed up or desperate. It can be confusing and lonely when going through life’s struggles – and at times the well-meaning advice of friends and family doesn’t fully get to the root of what needs to be healed.

As a Master Therapeutic Counsellor, I believe that every person has inner wisdom that can help them navigate through difficult times. I provide a safe and caring environment where people can process what they’re feeling and gain the insight they are looking for. Sometimes we all need support to reconnect with our own inner compass.

Whether you are in crisis, or simply ready to change some deep seated patterns that are no longer working for you, it’s a huge step to decide to get professional help. I am here to help and I encourage you to reach out!

COUNSELLING PHILOSOPHY / THERAPEUTIC APPROACH:

Counselling is not a formula. Each person is unique and your healing process is unique too. I work with my clients to chart a path towards healing that works for each individual. I draw on a number of counselling modalities, including Trauma Informed practice, Relational Somatic Therapy, Bowen Family Systems Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Transpersonal Psychology, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness practices. I also draw on my intuition to help get to the root of what is happening for my clients and support them to find their own answers. I will work with you to determine your own goals for therapy, with me as your guide and supporter.

Relational Somatic Therapy is a trauma-informed model of therapy that is body-based and present moment focused. It acknowledges that your body holds your history (both good and bad) and also the wisdom of how to resolve that history. Drawing on this modality helps to ensure that my work with you is supportive and strengthening for your nervous system. It is a wonderful modality for healing trauma, which often cannot be resolved through talk therapy alone.

We all carry both intergenerational wounds and intergenerational wisdom and therapy can help us learn what to draw on and what to put down from our unique family inheritance. Drawing on family systems theory, we may explore your family to identify what is being passed on through the generations and what is landing on you from your family of origin. This can include unconscious family rules about life, how we deal (or don’t deal) with feelings, and much much more. 

Transpersonal psychology is grounded in the belief that we are more than the sum of our experiences and we each have a unique purpose and unique gifts to offer the world. Transpersonal psychology also understands our anxiety as rooted in our sense of separation and disconnection from ourselves and from each other. Drawing on this framework, I will encourage you to explore your own spiritual beliefs, personal values and unique purpose in the world.

I strive to be inclusive and intersectional in my practice. I am welcoming to people who are LGBTQ/2S; I am body positive and sex positive; and I deeply value the diversity of human experience and expression.

I commit to meeting you where you are at with radical compassion, curiosity, acceptance and honesty. I work alongside you to create a therapy environment that works for you – including the pace of therapy and what kinds of modalities/practices work for you. I will walk beside you offering gentle encouragement and a steady belief in your ability to learn to tap into the part of you that is always solid, full of wisdom and able to create the life you want for yourself.