Jareeda Walters-Leatherbarrow

Current online availability.

Limited in-person sessions available.

Life can be heavy, whether you’re navigating big life transitions, carrying the weight of past experiences, or simply feeling unsettled in your day-to-day. If you’ve found yourself craving a space to pause, breathe, and make sense of it all — therapy can be that place.

I work with adults walking through life transitions, untangling mental health struggles, healing from painful experiences, or simply trying to find their way back to a steady sense of self. My space is one where you can lay down the weight you’ve been carrying and slowly learn to listen to yourself again.

I’m an Integrative Counsellor, which simply means I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. I draw from different therapeutic methods to meet the needs of unique person sitting in front of me. Together, we’ll work with what’s real for you — whether that’s anxiety, depression, loss, generational trauma, identity, or anything else shaping your world.

I often weave in creative ways of processing, because sometimes feelings don’t speak in tidy sentences. Art, imagery, music, metaphor — they can help give shape to what words can’t quite hold.

I aim to create a space that honors all of who you are. It’s culturally aware, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and deeply human. Here, you don’t have to perform or edit yourself. You just get to be.

I aim for my practice to be warm, collaborative and non-judgemental. I want therapy to feel like a space where you can be honest about what’s really going on, without feeling that you need to have the “right” words or present a polished version of yourself.

Our sessions will be shaped around you. Sometimes we might gently explore your thoughts, feelings and experiences; at other times, we might slow things down and use creative approaches to help you connect with something that feels difficult to put into words.

I won’t tell you what you should do or give you a list of things to fix. Instead, I’ll support you in exploring what feels true for you, understanding yourself with greater compassion, and finding ways forward that feel authentic to who you are.

Therapy can be challenging at times, but there can also be space for humour, curiosity and moments of lightness. You’re welcome to bring your whole self into the room — messy bits included.

Starting therapy can feel like a big step, so I want your first session to feel welcoming, relaxed and like a space where you can simply arrive as you are.

We’ll begin by talking through confidentiality and what you can expect from working together, so you can feel safe and comfortable before we get into anything deeper.

I’ll then gently get to know you and the different parts of your world. While there is an assessment to complete, it won’t feel like you’re filling out a clinical checklist or being put under a microscope. I take a holistic approach, so we might explore things like your beliefs and values, eating habits, movement, sleep, relationships and the ways you currently care for yourself, alongside what’s happening emotionally.

We’ll look at your past, including experiences that may have shaped you; your present, including what has brought you to therapy now; and your future, exploring what you would like to feel, understand or have shifted through our work together.

Just as importantly, the first session is an opportunity for you to get a feel for me and decide whether I’m the right fit for you. Therapy is a relationship, and feeling comfortable, understood and able to be yourself matters. There’s no pressure to decide anything on the spot.

There’s also no expectation that you tell me everything in the first session. We’ll go at a pace that feels manageable for you. The first session is simply about beginning to build a relationship, understanding where you are now, and starting to work out together where you’d like to go.