My mission is to get you out of the trunk and into the driver’s seat.
WHO DO I HELP?
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I help individuals in high level positions to overcome burnout, set better boundaries to balance life and work, manage stress effectively, redefine work relationships and get to where they want to get in life.
For others who “got there” I help them recognize and regain a sense of meaning, clarify values, and set positive and rewarding goals.
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When HSPs grow up, they rarely get the right manual to live with high sensitivity. When they often do not know how to address their needs and way of being in the world, they feel as if they flounder.
In my practice we work together to get you the right set of instructions, customized to your particular situation, and we help you manage these gifts so they remain a gift and not a liability. This can optimize your personal life, relationships, family, career and general well-being.
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I provide 2SLGBTQIA+ positive, queer-positive, trans-positive, gender affirming, and sex-positive services in a safe and welcoming space.
Society tries to brainwashes you to believe that living outside the Patriarchal and heterosexist box leads to ugly, painful, broken and forlorn lives. For non-square non-straight people the life as a hetero- and cis-normative person is not what we need. It is just plain wrong.
The truth is that living outside of the prescribed roles and stereotypes opens the door to a fully human and joyful life.
Our work will help you transcend the belief system that patriarchy, heteronormativity and cis-normativity are the only key to happiness.
Once you open the door in your mind, you can use your zest for living and collective wisdom of other 2SLGBTQIA++ who have done it before you, to invite the magic of your wholeness in.
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Psychotherapy that is informed about the complexities of immigration can help you feel better and assist you in navigating the transition into Canada with more chances of success.
If you are an immigrant already in Canada, it is likely that you have been facing stressors in a variety of areas: language, legal status, disadvantages in the work place, loss of status, discrimination, financial insecurity, problems of access to resources, lack of a community, yearning for family and home country, cultural dissonance, and possible traumatic experiences before, during, and after migration .
We will help you overcome these conditions so you can free your mind to re-focus on your dreams and achieve the dreams that brought you here.
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Artists, as a group, face more intense moods and have a higher incidence of depression than the rest of the population. It is no surprise since they face careers where the path is not predefined and when living as an artist takes extra effort and navigation.
Having lived as an artist myself, and having taught creativity across disciplines, I have enough shared experience to be able to provide informed services that help you live with less distress and more effectiveness.
My psychotherapy and counselling services offer you the insightful, intuitive and experienced support you need.
WHEN TO SEEK MY HELP
When you need to overcome obstacles to your goals such as feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or stressed, you do not have to do it alone.
I will help you optimize your life and move on.
When you need support to get rid of pesky bad moods, navigate life transitions, fix relationships or feel like yourself again, you do not need to go at it alone.
I will stand by you until you feel better.
Don’t let your career take a dive when your job is a bad fit, your boss is a nightmare, or you are performing poorly. My engaged and dynamic services are here to help you get back on your feet.
I will help you re-start your engines.
When you hope to gain insight into your life, I offer support, guidance and insight specifically and imaginatively targeted to help with your particular situation.
I will help you find your way.
When systems of oppression and privilege get you down, lets figure-out ways to reduce their impact and work around the problems you face.
I will be your ally.
START MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION RIGHT NOW
I invite you to a 30 minute free Meet and Greet session to meet each other, and ask any questions you may have. No obligation.
WHY SEEK HELP
People who use my services are highly functional individuals who usually manage to juggle all of life’s challenges rather well.
Then…life happens and things fall apart…or they need to make more sense of things.
It can happen to anyone.
The reason to seek my help is strategic: I specialize in helping you optimize your mental state, find balance and get you back on track.
I have helped a great number of individuals like you recover your sense of direction, meaning and inner strength.
Let’s get you feeling better, and then prevent it from happening again.
When we aspire to better fitness, we go to a fitness coach.
When we want our physical health to get better, we go to a doctor or naturopath..
When we want things to stop being overwhelming, we can get a psychotherapist to help us.
Take back the power to stop suffering .
WHAT I HELP WITH
BURNOUT
Burnout results from exposure to excessive levels of stress for extended periods of time. It can do a lot of damage to one’s career, and can damage your health. A lot of successful professionals suffer from burn-out, and don’t know it.
Burnout expresses itself in conditions like poor sleep, low levels of energy, depressed mood, some anxiety, indifference, mistakes at work, exhaustion, and existential doubts. Sounds familiar?
We will show you how to manage your stress, then teach you how to minimize it. We will use the strategy that helps you the most.
OVERWHELMEDNESS
It is possible to get overwhelmed when a lot of things are on your mind. Venting with a therapist may be all you need to feel relieved right away. You can also learn to understand and harness the ability to think ahead, instead of suffering for it.
You could quickly learn ways of calming yourself down and turning your fear off. The part of the brain that thinks clearly and strategically can get on board once that happens.
Let me help you find peace and use your gifts.
WORRY vs. ANXIETY
When folks feel overstimulated or overloaded, they think “anxiety”. Worrying about real circumstances is not an anxiety disorder. Its normal “worry”! Anxiety, on the other hand, emerges from building things up in your mind (things that have not yet happened and never may).
Liberate yourself from the burden of constant anxiety. If it is overload, we will help you get a break. If it is anxiety, we will work on de-escalating your emotions and learning to stay calmer. We will then engage in problem-solving to get rid of existing concerns.
Conflict is part of relationships. The issue is whether it works for you or it is getting progressively more frustrating. You want to talk to someone, but it is uncomfortable talking to friends or family. You can talk to me.
Sometimes it is difficult to even start a relationship or any kind, or find new friends. Dating apps only add to the pain. Talking with someone trained to work with relationship concerns can help you move on.
We can help you learn new ways of doing things, to be more assertive without getting worked up, to ask for what you want, and to set effective boundaries, lovingly and ethically.
RELATIONSHIPS
It can get much better… and you know it!
I invite you to a 30 minute free Meet and Greet session to meet each other, and ask any questions you may have. No obligation.
WHAT I CAN HELP WITH +
CAREER+WORK ISSUES
Recover from burnout. (It is much more common than you think, see above)
Manage transitions and career moves.
Balance your work and the rest of your life (or get more out of work).
Learn to be more focused, productive, and less stressed.
Manage positive ADD/ADHD traits for a rewarding and effective career.
RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS
Learn to love yourself and others.
Enjoy rewarding relationships.
Develop boundary-setting skills
Learn strategies for interpersonal effectiveness and assertiveness.
Enjoy more love & intimacy.
Overcome loneliness and get rid of social-life issues.
Stop judging and start loving.
ADULTING
Become a viable adult.
Get help where you didn’t.
Get the instructions you needed.
Enjoy the adventure.
Express your gifts.
Identify where you got stuck.
Learn to let the past be.
Unload the old baggage.
Finish growing-up with better self-regard.
Start enjoying your mastery.
LIVING AS A SENSITIVE PERSON
Maximize the gifts of strategic thinking, creativity and depth of processing
Minimizing overload and burn-out.
Develop strategies for life, love & work that help high sensitivity persons bloom.
Get a balanced understanding of this personality trait.
NAVIGATING TRANSITIONS
Get unstuck from patterns you want to leave behind.
Make the best of transitions and make-overs.
Find your life’s meaning by living the way you are “called” to live.
Figure out the life you want after you transition.
Create conditions for success.
Recover your creativity to stay “in flow.”
IMMIGRATION
Accept that immigration is hellish and that you do not make it so.
Start to make “you” happen, despite obstacles.
Make peace with your choices and keep moving forward.
Maximize opportunities.
Process grief, losses and guilt. Its part of the process, and “normal.”
Understand the effects of bias against immigrants on you.
Learn to overcome cross-cultural road-blocks that you may not see.
EMOTIONS THAT GET IN THE WAY
Emotions can be intense, but you can regulate them. Learn how to!
Free yourself from depression.
Overcome and dismantle anxiety, fear & panic.
Deal effectively with traumatic events & experiences that get in the way.
Live inspired, calm and with joy.
STRUCTURAL “-ISMS”
Overcome the toxic effects of racism, patriarchy and heterosexism in your life.
Prevent the emotional fallout that results from oppression.
Avoid self-hate and internalized negativity from eating you up.
Understand how intersectionality affects your agency.
Advocate for yourself and others.
Learn to work around systems of privilege.
CHRONIC MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS
Get out of the trunk and into the driver’s seat.
Stop letting whatever it is interfere with your goals.
Gain a balanced understanding of the condition. Then get your life in order.
Learn to manage it.
Get and stay well.
Live the life you were meant to live.
YOU CAN GET OUT OF THE TRUNK, AND INTO THE DRIVER’S SEAT.
HOW DO I WORK?
Do you want help to feel more effective, calmer and joyful? Psychotherapy has the potential to help you feel liberated and to unleash your imagination so yo can create the life of freedom and self-fulfillment you always wanted.
Here are some insights into how you can expect it to happen.
THE RELATIONSHIP
You will find me approachable, inquisitive and able to make things move along between us. Research shows that the relationship you have with your therapist is the most powerful element in the process, no matter what modality we choose.
My skills as a facilitator and catalyst can help you stimulate the change you seek and help you remove encumbrances as you go about it. It is not about doing it for you. It is about using my expertise and intuition to support your efforts and help you achieve your goals.
INTERACTIVE
My engaged listening and authentic connection with you is important because it helps you feel heard and validated. This may be my most important skill after being relatable and making you feel safe and welcome.
Offering my ideas and observation is the other side of the coin. I am not silent. I understand that you probably can benefit from my point of view so you can hear others think about what you bring to the sessions and make up your mind about how you want to engage with them.
CLINICAL FLEXIBILITY
Research shows that most therapeutic modalities are only effective for about 65% of the population. That is why I am well-trained in talk therapy modalities like Narrative Therapies, CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, Psychodynamic therapies, as well as somatic and image-based modalities.
Image-based modalities channel your psyche's own ability to heal, when talk is not effective or you have pre-verbal concerns. Somatic modalities use the body’s wisdom therapeutically and tap into the mind-body connection to help you move along.
EFFECTIVENESS
I will use direct and effective interventions to get you moving towards your goals. My gentle interventions are based on my knack for understanding how fellow humans experience their lives and on my lived experience. I pride myself for finding the most expedient way to help you see what you need to improve your life.
My goal is to get you out of the trunk and into the driver’s seat.
INTERSECTIONALITY
Sometimes it can be a wonderful source of relief to understand how systemic issues impact the problems you face. When appropriate, I will share with you my awareness of how your experience of agency and empowerment is affected by your identities, intersectionality and location in relation to privilege.
CULTURAL LITERACY
In the cultural diversity of Toronto, I find it necessary to I use my expertise and analytical skills to point out cultural crossings and biases that affect your concerns. I am very interested in how cultural background affects people’s life experience.
IMAGINATION & HUMOUR
Therapy does not have to be a bummer. I skillfully apply the best techniques I have with humour when it is called for. I am known for my imagination, intuition, warmth, and effectiveness. We will laugh together a lot.
Read more about my way of working in: Philosophy
VIDEO SESSIONS
I offer live-video psychotherapy sessions only. For in-person sessions check back after Spring 2023.
Take the next step & find out more.
THE WALK
I continue my family’s tradition of helping those who have been marginalized, and using my privilege to build equity for those who do not enjoy it yet.
Following the path of at least four generations of activists, I have advocated for peace, for human rights, and for LGBTQ2S+ rights. I have contributed to society with my work as an artist, teacher, and psychotherapist.
Every day, I work to reduce suffering in the world and to make it a better place.
I wake up happy, and I go to sleep in peace.
Would you like to learn how? Let’s talk…I love to share what I know.
To read more about my work with the effects of structural oppression based on racialization, heteronormativity, patriarchy, capitalism and other social constructs…CLICK HERE
Ariel Blau
SHORT BIO
I have a formidable passion for helping my clients energize a joyful, loving and creative life. This is the result of more than 20 years of experience helping people bloom as a psychotherapist, catalyst and teacher.
My formal education includes a Master’s degree in Social Work from New York University, a Master’s in Fine Arts from Brandeis University, and a great number of workshops, certificates and seminars.
My passion for helping others is matched by my enormous drive for continuous learning. I have more than 15 years as a student of mindfulness and loving-kindness, which I use to help others.
I am able to work with a wide range of concerns, and with people from a wide range of backgrounds. I completed my professional clinical training at Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and served as Lead Clinician at the Jewish Family Service of Greater New Haven before going into private practice.
I am practice psychotherapy in Ontario as a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
For a detailed bio one click here.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I respectfully acknowledge the land where we are meeting is the traditional and ancestral land of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. This land continues to be home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
I recognize that the territory where we meet is the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy) and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties.
Toronto is the meeting place and home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.
This beautiful Haudenosaunee Wampum belt is a reminder for me, and many others, of the One Bowl with One Spoon Covenant and the philosophy of co-existence and mutual respect behind it.
Start to get unstuck.
No commitment, pressure, or obligation.