Therapy Services — Merrill Barber, MSW

Therapy Services Offered

Individual Therapy
Couples Therapy
Child and Youth Therapy
Family Therapy / Mediation

I offer in person and/or virtual sessions to individual, couples, children and youth and family therapy services for clients located in Ontario, Canada.

Please contact me for a free 15 minute telephone consultation to discuss any questions about the therapy process.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy is a confidential process between a therapist and an individual. With the therapist's help, the individual is guided to explore issues that impact the emotions concerning them. The goal is to help the individual become more aware of what is causing their concern so they can make healthy changes in behaviour patterns that contribute to their challenges and symptoms.

I am certified in a number of therapeutic approaches to treat symptoms such as anxiety, depression, anger, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), grief and loss, relationship conflict, emotional dysregulation, trauma and attachment.

Therapeutic approaches include: Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Emotion-Centred Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Attachment-Focused Therapy, Talk Therapy, Exposure Therapy, Trauma Therapy and Grief and Bereavement.

Couples Therapy

During couples counselling, the therapist and the couple/family members work together to identify areas where they would like to make positive changes. This is achieved through improving communication skills, developing effective conflict resolution skills, as well as understanding unique family situations combined with life experiences and how they impact each family member.

My approach is to work with you and your partner in a non-judgemental safe environment while exploring triggers and patterns that are impacting your relationship.

Child and Youth Therapy

I have extensive experience working with children and youth at Boomerang Health, The Hospital for SickKids as a social worker in paediatric care and in my private practice.

Positive results can be achieved when working with children and youth who are experiencing issues related to anxiety, depression, anger, bullying, perfectionism, grief and loss, trauma, behaviour management, conflict, relationship challenges, and distress related to separation and divorce.

I am trained to apply therapeutic approaches such and Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), CBT with parents, relationship counselling, behavioural therapy, grief counselling, trauma therapy and talk therapy. I am also experienced at working closely with a child or youth’s school staff as needed with client consent.

Family Therapy / Mediation

When working with family members, the primary focus is to understand and respect each members concern and help work towards improving the situation or relationship. I offer personalized transparent support for your families unique needs.

Family Mediation (sometimes referred to as Divorce Mediation) is a process that assists parents in resolving disputes about family issues such as child-related decision making, shared time with the child(ren), and safety issues.

Using a collaborative, family-centred approach, I specialize in working with families to help create a personalized parenting plan that meets the unique needs of the family.

Please note: Family mediation is not appropriate for everyone, particularly in cases of domestic violence or abuse, or if an imbalance of power resulted in one party feeling fearful or intimidated by the other party.