My name is Kaitlyn. I am a friend, partner, parent, aunt, daughter, sister, and social worker. I am grateful for the ways that these roles intersect and impact me personally and professionally. I have lived experience with trauma and have spent many hours as a client of psychotherapy. I believe in the healing power of therapy because I live it.

 

I grew up shuttled between my parents' houses—half of the time in the queer community in a midrange city and the other half in a highly conservative small town. I enjoy nuance and conversation. I have lived internationally for close to a decade: first in East Africa and then in South Asia.  I love the outdoors, challenging hikes, and calm moments in kayaks. I feel most grounded by lakes, trees, or mountains. I delight in slightly dark humour, time with my loved ones, and reading a good book.

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While Paper Birch Counselling is an online practice, I currently live and work on the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. This land was promised to the Haudenosaunee in the Haldimand Treaty of 1784, which includes six miles on either side of the Grand River. I am committed to ongoing personal education, engaging in advocacy, and making financial reparations to local Indigenous organizations and communities, and I am grateful for the opportunity to live and work on this land.

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(For those of you who are more education-oriented: I have a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Education, and a Master of Social Work. I have completed extensive professional development in the areas of grief, trauma, attachment, and clinical skills for online counselling. Check out the "Approach" section of the website for more on my clinical practice.)

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