Heidi Sasek (she/her), Registered Psychotherapist
I have always been passionate about offering spaces where professionals can find support, learning and growth. I am grateful for the support of my own supervisors and feel that their guidance has been pivotal in becoming the therapist I am today. I know that having supervision that is encouraging, supportive and challenging can truly change our work and how we feel about it. If you are looking for clinical supervision and want to know if this is the right fit, please feel free to reach out or book a free 20 minute consultation online. Below is more information about my background and approach.
Approach to supervision
My approach to supervision centers around helping clinicians form a strong conceptualization of their cases using clinical judgement and client input. I support and help therapists apply tools from their chosen modality to effectively move towards the clients' goals. I am a change-based therapist and will help clinicians move towards meaningful change with their clients. It is normal and common for us to feel stuck or unsure and I support therapists in sitting into these feelings and finding direction. I work to help clinicians establish and grow their own unique way of supporting clients and help them to sit into their own clinical judgement (wisemind) in their sessions. A big component of my supervision also centers around helping folks bring in systems of oppression and wider contexts to help them understand their client and their own bodies in session. In my approach I am always helping folks to think about how our bodies and nervous systems process and make sense of the world to better understand what is happening for us and for our clients.
If you are looking to take your work deeper, have space to process ideas and thoughts around cases, move into trauma work, increase how grounded you feel in your practice and in your own clinical judgment, learn how and when to apply different tools, and/or practice or learn case conceptualizations this might be a good fit for you.
I do provide support around how and when to use different modalities and their skills and while this does not mean we have to align on our modalities it is helpful to know that the therapeutic modalities I primarily use are Narrative Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Other modalities I can support around include:
Solution focused therapy
Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT)
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Somatic focused work
Mindfulness-based intervention
Emotion focused
Clinical areas of focus:
While I support individuals with a wide range of needs, my areas of focus include: individual therapy, relationship/interpersonal, personality disorders, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, stress, identity, self-harm, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, disordered eating, trauma and complex trauma, gender, finding balance, difficult life transitions, emotion regulation, personal development and wellness, LGBTQ+, young adult mental health (16-35 years) and adult mental health.
More on LGBTQ+: Folks identifying as being a part of the LGBTQ+ community experience unique challenges due to social contexts such as stigma, stereotypes, marginalization and oppression. It is important that this is addressed when providing mental health and wellness support, as it leads to unique stressors and challenges. As someone with lived experience and experience working with organizations serving the LGBTQ+ community, I can help folks build competency in this area.
Education
I am a Registered Psychotherapist and hold membership with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. My educational background includes a Masters of Counselling Psychology, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Addictions and Mental Health and a Bachelors of Arts and Science in Psychology and Biology.
Relevant experience:
I have been in the field for over 8 years and providing psychotherapy for 5 years. My initial experience started with Homewood Health in Guelph working in crisis support. I then moved to a community organization in Toronto centered on young adult mental health (16 – 29 years). I provided crisis intervention, drop-in space programming and short-term counselling. I eventually moved into managing a team of professionals including social workers and peer supporters. It was during my time as a program manager that I moved into the support and supervision of professionals in the mental health field. I worked for Eagle/ Friends of Ruby running DBT groups and individual services specializing in LGBTQ+ services. I have taught at Humber college for 2 years in their SSW program and moved into private practice in 2019. I am the Director of KW Mental Health and Wellness and in this role provide clinical support and supervision for staff. I still practice therapy continuously today and maintain a client caseload. I have also engaged in supervision and learning around providing clinical supervision.