Our mental health counsellor offers a safe and supportive environment.
mental health counsellor
Kitchener-Waterloo and Stratford, Ontario counselling and therapy services.
about me
Joe White
MACP RP
Registered Psychotherapist
Life can certainly steer you into the most unusual paths. I feel that my life has led me through the most amazing adventures and eventually got me here today. I am currently a Registered Psychotherapist. I graduated with a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University. I also hold another Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics, which helped develop my skills as a teacher at a post-secondary institution. Prior to that, I lived overseas in Asia and Europe teaching and helping. I knew, as a teacher, I wanted to do more than just stand in front of the classroom, which, don’t get me wrong, I found extremely rewarding. However, I also enjoyed the one-on-one sessions with my students. It gave me opportunity to actively listen, observe and teach. That is what led me to the counselling path. I have travelled to so many places in my life, learned so much about culture and diversity, and my education has helped bring me to those places. I have lived a life of learning (and will continue to do so), and I want to share what I have learned with others.
Our journeys can lead us to so many obstacles; there have been times where I felt like quitting, but I also had times of perseverance and determination. I remember when I first started teaching overseas, I had played a monologue in the classroom that resonated with me. The speaker started off saying “When I was young, I dreamed I could fly”. Not all dreams of flying often have a deep meaning to them, but it is kind of cool thinking about it and wondering, “What if I could fly? What if we all had invisible wings? What would they look like?” Imagine each feather on those wings representing our life choices. So many choices, so many dreams and so many despairs. Like many, I have experienced thoughts of stress, worry, anxiety, depression, heart break and grief. I know how physically and mentally exhausting it can be experiencing those unhelpful thoughts. If we place each of them on a feather, imagine those feathers falling off our wings leaving only the ones that bring joy, happiness and pleasure. Unfortunately, more unhelpful feathers fall off than stay on. Here’s the thing; I am not an anomaly. There are so many who have had those unhelpful feathers drop from their imaginary wings. However, the important thing is to have the opportunity to receive support and guidance from someone who will help sweep those feathers away and develop new ones.
At Wings to Fly Counselling, I am here to work with you, to get through those difficult times, and develop those new feathers through mindfulness, self-awareness, self-compassion, and self-development. I am here to offer a safe and supportive environment and offer the most effective and helpful mode of therapy to reach your personal growth. Transparency is important to me. If I am unclear about something, I am going to ask. If I do not know about something, I will work together with you to figure it out. I do not just stop at “I don’t know”. I have worked hard to integrate the best evidence-based approaches into my treatments. Having said that, I do not structure my practice so that you can only follow my therapy approaches; I structure therapy to fit you and provide you the best support. I am here to help develop those new feathers and make those imaginary wings become stronger, so that you can have those wings to fly towards that path to happiness.
