Spacious Mind Counselling

Call Directions Website

Spacious Mind Counselling Counselling in Guelph and online throughout Ontario. https://spaciousmindcounselling.janeapp.com/ Providing individual, couples and family counseling.

10/08/2026

Welcome to our mini-film!

As Bird portrays in this first episode, OCD is the experience of being pulled—with the strength of a huge magnet—out of our daily lives and into a compulsion to do something repeatedly. It is much more than a preference for things being neat or orderly. It is an overwhelming, all-controlling urge, driven by the terrifying fear that if we do not engage in the compulsion, something catastrophic will happen.

In this animation, we’ve chosen not to portray a stereotypical compulsion like hand washing, checking, or ordering objects. This is because OCD compulsions vary widely. It is a misconception that OCD only involves these common behaviours; in actuality, it can manifest in thousands of different physical or mental actions. The specific content of the compulsion is deeply individual to the person, which is one reason it can so easily be missed by others.

From this episode, we hope to convey how the intensity and frequency of OCD compulsions can be so debilitating. It is not about being “a little bit OCD”—it is a genuinely consuming experience that interrupts and pulls you away from your life.

If you or a loved one is journeying with OCD, we hope you feel seen and understood. If you don't have personal experience, we hope this helps build deeper empathy so you can stand as an ally to those who do.

Of course, if you are looking for support navigating the OCD experience—whether you are living with it yourself or supporting someone you love—please feel free to reach out to our team. Myself, Lauren, or our other team members would be honoured to support you.

Seeing you in the struggle and your resilience,
Lauren (MSW, RSW)

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care. Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

Hi! I’m Lauren, a Registered Social Worker here at Spacious Mind Counselling. I primarily work with adults, offering ind...
09/30/2026

Hi! I’m Lauren, a Registered Social Worker here at Spacious Mind Counselling. I primarily work with adults, offering individual therapy for complex trauma, anger, addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and navigating relationships with people with high-conflict personalities.

While I work with many things, in this series I’m going to focus on navigating OCD. There are several reasons I’ve chosen this topic, one of which is my experience watching loved ones navigate it and seeing how debilitating it can be.

For those who haven’t experienced it, I often explain it like this:
Imagine being told you were going to die in the next 48 hours. Imagine how that thought would consume your entire day—you couldn't stop thinking about it, you’d need to find a way to respond to it, and it would dictate your every move.

For someone living with OCD, intrusive thoughts and compulsions can carry that level of urgency and fear. The cycle of a trigger followed by the hooking urge of a compulsion to act on it can be so consuming that you begin to feel controlled by it. It doesn't just disrupt your day-to-day functioning; it can pull you miles away from the life, relationships, and presence you actually want to have. It can go on all day, and it can be genuinely terrifying.

If this sounds familiar, please know that you don't have to carry the weight of this alone. There is now great research and evidence-based approaches to help you reclaim your life from OCD.

Stay tuned over the next few posts as we explore what the journey with OCD can look like. In the meantime, if you or a loved one are in Ontario and are looking for virtual psychotherapy for OCD, feel free to reach out to our office. Myself, or one of our other therapists, would love to support you in your journey.

Seeing you in the struggle and your resilience,
Lauren (MSW, RSW)

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care. Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

Disorder

09/23/2026

🛑🪵 “Aren’t you over that?” “Nope- and that’s okay.”

When a loss, health issue, or major life transition first happens, support networks often come to our aid. There might be texts, calls, visits, meals dropped off, and offers of logistical support.

But when things continue into chronic health or the grieving journey continues (as it usually does), that support often slows down. That support can start shifting into well-meaning but unhelpful statements like, “Look on the bright side.” It can also become judgement like, “You’re still sad? That was years ago.”

We live in a culture that rushes healing. From the moment we experience a loss, a health crisis, or a major life shift, the agenda is clear: feel it, heal it, and move on. Get back to work. Get back to daily tasks. Get on with it and return to “normal.”
You get to do something radically different. You get to say no to the agenda. You get to be with the process- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Your process is not wrong- the agenda is.

🌿 Grief. Breath. Sit with it.

Sitting in it with you,
Kaylen

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care. Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

09/16/2026

✨📚 Forget the textbook five stages of grief.

Traditionally, therapy has suggested that grief happens in five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But if you’ve ever looked at them and struggled to map that onto your own journey or connect with them at all, please know- you are not alone. 🫂

Grief doesn’t move in an orderly line from denial to acceptance. In reality, it’s messy, fluid, and has oh so many layers. You are not doing grief wrong- the theory doesn’t capture the true nature of grieving.

So, instead of asking you to move through these stages, we get to explore what grief means to you. We get to be with your journey, unpacking it as it comes, being in the messiness together, and discovering what is in it for you. You might even discover a new way of thinking about things.

🌿 So, if you've ever felt wrong because your grief didn't follow the "rules," please remember: your process is valid.

Sitting in it with you,
Kaylen

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care. Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

09/09/2026

🤫📣 Let’s break the silence and openly talk about grief.

Society treats grief, chronic illness, end of life and major life transitions as taboo subjects. Things to only be talked about behind closed doors, with close loved ones, and only for a set period of time.

But grief, loss, illness, death, and change are all natural parts of life. We don’t have to hold them in and carry the weight alone. Let’s give them air, some breathing room, and get settled in next to them. They deserve space, witnessing, and support.

To start, let’s deconstruct the myth that grief is a set process, something that happens in a linear healing path, on a set timeline, with a clear end destination. This is often the message we get out in the world. When we internalize that, we start to wonder, “Why am I not “over it” yet?”

The truth? Grief doesn’t work on society’s schedule. It takes its own, unique, winding path.

The great news? You don’t have to be “over it.” It is completely normal to be in the process with grief. You do not have to rush.

🌿 If you're navigating a loss, a health shift, or a transition that the world has stopped talking about, please know you are not alone.

Sitting in it with you,
Kaylen

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

🤍📸 Meet the heart behind the screen.Hi! I’m Kaylen, a Registered Social Worker who will be talking about grief and loss ...
09/02/2026

🤍📸 Meet the heart behind the screen.

Hi! I’m Kaylen, a Registered Social Worker who will be talking about grief and loss in this series. I’ll be breaking down myths, offering space to be with the process, and speaking openly about topics that are often taboo.

Life is messy, and navigating life’s hardest chapters—whether it’s grief, loss, the end of life, chronic illness, or a major life transition—can feel incredibly overwhelming and isolating.

That is why I love doing this work of walking alongside you.

I approach this work with a trauma-informed, strength-based and deeply collaborative lens. We don’t have to recreate the narratives that are out there about grief, loss, and transitions- like it has to be done quickly, neatly, or through set stages.

✨ This gets to be your process, in your way, in your time.
If this sounds like a good fit for you, feel free to reach out. I am currently accepting clients for virtual appointments in Ontario.

Sitting in it with you,
Kaylen

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

🫶💐 We are coming to a close on our Psychotherapy seriesWe wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone for following along...
08/20/2026

🫶💐 We are coming to a close on our Psychotherapy series

We wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone for following along. We hope that this helped to shed light on the psychotherapy process and answer some of your questions. It has been wonderful having you here, and we so appreciate your presence.

💌 If you are interested in starting psychotherapy, you are welcome to reach out to our team at Spacious Minds Counselling. We would be honoured to support you in your therapy journey.

Wishing you spaciousness today,

The Spacious Mind Team

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care.
Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

08/18/2026

🌊🩵 Therapy is not about changing who you are. It is about coming back to you.

Life sends a lot our way. As we navigate the world, we adapt. We might duck under this tree, dodge that branch, and take an unexpected turn off the path.

It’s natural and part of life to adapt, and at the same time, sometimes, those adaptations leave us feeling disconnected from our authentic selves.

So the journey in therapy is less about becoming someone new and changing yourself, and much more about coming back to who you’ve always been. Because who you naturally are is pretty awesome and there is a lot of strength in that authenticity.

A shoutout to the swimming hole at Belwood Lake Conservation Area. Thank you for your inspiration!

Wishing you spaciousness today,

The Spacious Mind Team

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care.
Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

🤔📋“Is it covered? Do I need a referral? Let’s talk logistics”There are so many logistical questions to answer when consi...
08/13/2026

🤔📋“Is it covered? Do I need a referral? Let’s talk logistics”

There are so many logistical questions to answer when considering psychotherapy. So let’s break it down and answer the most common ones.

1️⃣ What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy, often called therapy or counselling, involves talking to a trained psychotherapist to support you in navigating mental health, stress, life transitions, and more. Anyone can attend, and you do not need to be in crisis or experiencing mental health challenges to benefit. People attend therapy for many different reasons, including coping with stress, grieving a loss, reconnecting to their authentic selves, improving their relationships, and navigating mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, trauma, and more.

2️⃣ Who pays for Psychotherapy? Is it covered?
Psychotherapy through private clinics is not covered by OHIP. A portion or all of the costs may be covered by extended health care benefits, often called benefits, provided through employers. There are also additional funding sources that you may qualify for under certain conditions, such as WSIB, NIHB, or OAP.

3️⃣ Do I need a referral?
You do not need a referral from a doctor to book psychotherapy sessions. You are welcome to reach out to our clinic to book or book directly online.

4️⃣ How long is Psychotherapy?
A typical psychotherapy session is 50 minutes; however, some of our therapists offer alternative lengths. The number of therapy sessions depends on what brings you in, your goals, and the approach to therapy. You can work with your therapist to determine the number of sessions that works best for you.

We hope this has helped to answer some of your burning questions.

Wishing you spaciousness today,

The Spacious Mind Team

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care.
Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

🤯💡 “Where do I even begin!” (A Simple Guide to Starting Therapy)Ahhh!!! How do I even get started with therapy?! If you’...
08/06/2026

🤯💡 “Where do I even begin!” (A Simple Guide to Starting Therapy)

Ahhh!!! How do I even get started with therapy?! If you’ve ever thought this or felt this way, you are not alone.

There are so many different options for therapy now, with so many different therapists, doing so many different things, using so many different approaches, and with so many different steps to go from thinking about therapy to starting your first session. Whew, even writing that sentence, we are overwhelmed!

So, let’s break down the process to make this more manageable.

1️⃣ Fit for your Focus: What are you hoping to talk about in therapy? Knowing this can help you find a therapist understand what you are trying to navigate. For example, on our website you can search for a therapist by selecting topics under the What We Help With section.

2️⃣ Fit for You: We all have different ways of relating and we “click” with some people more than others. The same is true for therapy. So feel free to take some time to read the bios of our therapists, get to know them a little bit, and see if they feel like a good fit for you.

3️⃣ Booking a Consult: All of our therapists offer a free consultation online or by phone. This is an opportunity to get to know them a bit more, talk about what you are looking for, and decide if it feels like a good fit.

4️⃣ Booking a First Session: If it feels like a good fit and you want to book a session with one of our therapists, you can do that in the consultation or call, email, or book online afterwards. In that first session, you can talk about what brings you in, your goals, and how you and your therapist want to work towards them.

We hope that helps to demystify the process of starting psychotherapy. If you ever want support in choosing a therapist from our team, you’re welcome to give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to support you in making your decision.

Wishing you spaciousness today,

The Spacious Mind Team
Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. We are therapists, but we are not your therapist. This content is not a substitute for professional mental health care.
Please remember that DMs, comments, and reactions are not confidential or secure channels for communication. Also, comments are not monitored for clinical care.

Address

214 Speedvale Avenue, West
Guelph, ON
N1H2C4

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 8:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 8:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 8:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 8:30pm
Friday 8am - 8:30pm
Saturday 8:30am - 8:30pm

Telephone

+16478797041

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Spacious Mind Counselling posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category