Please note: For the care of our clients, all therapy sessions are now exclusively held by video or phone.
Welcome to Mindful
Beginnings
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Simply put, mindfulness is to be aware. It's the reminder we need to come back into this present moment.
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Naturally, our mind wanders to either a moment that has already passed or, we focus on something that hasn't happened yet, in the future. Mindfulness and relationships go hand in hand. Developing the awareness of where our relationships are, and where we would like them to be gives us the ability to move to the next step.
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At Mindful Beginnings, we offer Mindfulness Psychotherapy virtually to individuals and couples looking for a safe, and non-judgmental space to help them navigate through their overwhelming feelings and challenges. Our specialty is giving individuals tools to help move through anxiety, depression and relationship issues. We use Mindfulness as well as many other therapeutic modalities to help individuals cope with life’s constant changes.
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Our minds easily wander to the past- thinking of situations that have already happened that we wish we could change, or to the future, which brings feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. Our approach of using Mindfulness, focuses on the present moment and provides clients with the necessary tools to handle everyday stresses, overwhelming emotions and triggers.
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We are committed to your best interest and will stick by you every step of your journey. Our goal is to help you navigate your way and grow through your struggles, heal from your pain and help you move forward to where you want to be.
Check out our online scheduler below!
OUR TEAM
Founder, Clinical Director, Mindful Beginnings
Registered Psychotherapist
Melanie is the owner of Mindful Beginnings, a corporate speaker and an Individual and Couples Therapist. She helps individuals and couples looking for a safe and non-judgmental space by giving them tools to help guide them through their overwhelming feelings and challenges. She helps her clients navigate through anxiety, depression, relationship issues and life transitions.
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Her approach of using mindfulness, focusing on the present, provides clients with the necessary tools to handle everyday stresses, overwhelming emotions and triggers, ultimately allowing them to feel lighter and more in control of their everyday life.
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Melanie approaches everything through the lens of a relationship. Everything in our life is a relationship. The most important relationship is the one we have with ourselves. She focuses on all relationships we have such as the one we have with our partner, a family member, the relationship we have with food etc.
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Have any questions about working with Melanie?
email the clinic at: info@mindfulbeginnings.ca
Kyle Haycock
Office Manager
Kyle Haycock holds a BSW from York University, and is currently completing his M.S.W. at the University of Toronto within the Clinical Mental Health & Health stream.
He is currently completing his clinical M.S.W. placement at Sheridan College in the Student Counselling Office, alongside the Office Manager role with Mindful Beginnings. Kyle has many years of experience within the social services field. His previous experience has included direct community engagement work, social policy research, community based participatory research, peer support, and brief counselling.
Kyle is passionate about working with young/emerging adult populations and their families with particular emphasis on 2SLGBTQ+ identifying folks. In his work, Kyle uses an intersectional and anti-oppressive approach, and seeks to foster a safe space of inclusion, connection and respect.
Laura Polisuk
Registered Social Worker
Laura is an authentic and compassionate registered social worker with a commitment to improving the lives of her clients. With a strong educational foundation, Laura earned both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Social Work, honing her skills and knowledge to provide the highest level of care. Laura has many years of experience supporting individuals with a dual diagnosis (mental illness and intellectual disability), as well as anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, and body image concerns.
Laura utilizes modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Solution-Focused approaches to support her client's needs. Laura is committed to meeting clients where they are at in their journeys. She understands that every individual's experiences and needs are unique. Therefore, interventions are tailored to each person, ensuring that therapy is a personalized and transformative experience.
Laura’s areas of expertise include: Individuals aged 15-35, depression
anxiety, confidence and self esteem, trauma, suicidal ideation, dual diagnosis (mental illness and intellectual disability), and body image.
Nicole Waldston
​Registered Social Worker
Nicole’s approach to therapy is simple – support you, the client, in achieving your goals. Whether you are looking to work towards achieving big life milestones and goals, or simply overcoming the day-to-day stressors, Nicole’s client-centered approach will meet you where you are at and figure out a way to get you there; a way that truly resonates with you.
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Nicole has been working with clients for 10 years around crisis & trauma management, supporting individuals experiencing anxiety and depression, as well as those looking to strictly address boundaries and general self-care.
Nicole is also skilled in and passionate about infertility, pregnancy/postpartum support along with management of life transitions and work stressors.
She works to explore and discover your authentic self and targets the barriers, lived experience, trauma, anxieties, stressors etc. that may be preventing you from embracing and accepting all parts of who you are.
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Her work with clients uses a variety of therapeutic modalities, including but not limited to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness, Emotional Focus Therapy and Trauma Informed Approaches.
Diana Saverimuthu
Registered Psychotherapist
Diana is a Registered Psychotherapist with over 10 years of experience working in the mental health sector. She specializes in treating adults and youth, with depression, anxiety, self-esteem, identity, trauma, and life transitions. Her experience includes working in Toronto's highest rated mental health clinics, and globally with Doctors Without Borders.
Diana's person-centered and trauma-informed approach, acknowledges the importance of resiliency and self-empowerment. She believes that positive mental health is not merely the absence of symptoms, but the ability to fully engage in life with happiness, creativity, and gratitude.
Diana's approach combines in-depth discussion, skill development, and active application of positive behaviours, while acknowledging the influence of culture and systemic barriers. Her background in Mindfulness-based practices, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy have helped her clients create meaningful and sustainable changes in their lives.
I would value the opportunity to work with you, at your pace, to achieve your goals.
Novlette Alexander
Registered Social Worker
Novlette understands that the decision to seek help can be a difficult one. She provides a warm and gentle approach to help you feel safe and secure during the therapeutic process. She believes that there is strength in knowing when to reach out for support.
Novlette Alexander is a registered social worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers.
Novlette has worked in Social Services for over 25 years and has extensive experience in child welfare, families, adolescents, mental health, crisis intervention, domestic violence, poverty and oppression. Novlette has an anti-oppressive approach and is culturally sensitive.
Novlette practices individual therapy with adolescents and adults. Her areas of focus are:
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Anxiety
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Depression
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Self-Esteem
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Coping Skills
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Emotional Disturbance
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Life Transitions
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Peer Relationships
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Stress
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Public Adoption
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Women’s reproductive mental health
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Cultural issues
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Racial identity
Novlette is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solution Focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She takes an eclectic approach in order to meet the unique need of each client. She takes a client centered and systemic approach. She is trauma informed, strength based and utilizes aspects of narrative therapy and mindfulness practices.
Eunice MB
Registered Psychotherapist
Eunice is a Registered Psychotherapist with many years of experience helping clients deal with trauma, emotional dysregulation, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, maladaptive ways of coping, attachment injuries, existential crises and various other challenges one might face.
Eunice has a way of making sense of and helping a client process their difficulties and challenges by inviting in compassion and curiosity. Eunice believes that by deepening internal awareness through mindfulness, one can start to become more aligned with their true nature. In this way, Eunice guides clients to cultivate their own innate abilities to call on their wise selves and heal using their own inner resource.
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Eunice is a highly attuned and intuitive therapist whose strengths include genuine caring, compassion and unconditional positive regard to her clients which translates into an authentic, safe and healing therapeutic relationship.
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Eunice sees couples, families, youth (ages 14-18) and adults.
Delaney Campbell
Registered Social Worker
Delaney (she/her) works collaboratively with clients to establish a safe therapeutic space for growing and healing. She employs a strengths-based, trauma-informed approach in her work with all individuals and groups. Delaney completed her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the University of Toronto in 2018 and has since worked in remote First Nations communities in Northern Ontario. Her extensive experience in the context of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking has provided the opportunity to develop skills in the following domains:
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Trauma (development, intergenerational, and acute)
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PTSD
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Anxiety
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Low Mood/Depression
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Boundary Setting
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Self Compassion
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Relaxation Techniques/Self-Soothing
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Trauma-Focused CBT (Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy)
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Compassion Focused Therapy
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Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)
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Seeking Safety
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Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
Delaney has a strong respect for the autonomy of her clients, especially in deciding their collaborative approach to therapy. She is a diplomate member of the Academy of Cognitive therapy and skilled in other modalities, including:
SERVICES
Lia Reed
Registered Psychotherapist
As a psychotherapist, Lia places a lot of importance on the therapeutic relationship between a therapist and their client. Therapy can be an overwhelming experience, and she believes that clients need to be able to trust that their therapist will be able to provide them with the empathetic and judgment-free space that they deserve.
Lia believes that psychotherapy needs to be tailored to the specific needs of the client; as such, when working with clients, she may use a number of different therapeutic approaches, including cognitive behaviour therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy.
Her goal is to ensure that each client feels confident that she is listening to what their needs are, and that she is taking those needs into account when putting together a plan for their work together.
*Lia is also seeing clients at a reduced rate
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