Crystal Soares (she/her)

My name is Crystal Soares (she/her) and I have been working in Toronto, in the mental health field for over ten years as a registered psychotherapist, in good standing with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. I obtained my Bachelor’s of Arts (Hons) in Sociology from Western University with a research focus on gender-based violence, feminist theory, and trauma. I completed my Masters of Social Work at the University of Windsor with a keen research focus in intimate-partner-violence, narrative therapy, and inter-generational trauma. My career has taken me through many settings, addressing varying issues, with the source origin stemming from trauma. Therefore, my therapy specialty is how we build a narrative around and cope with our past that affects us today.

I am a second generation Canadian, and I am very passionate about the narrative identity children (now adults) of immigrants have formed in the Canadian context. I understand intergenerational trauma, and the effects of it as it pertains to substance use, emotional regulation, power and control, and gender-based violence from a deeply personal as well as professional perspective.

I am also a mother of two and when I am not navigating the joys and challenges of parenthood, I am reading, knitting, or exploring on a bike (…in search of great food).

My Approach

My therapeutic approach revolves around supporting clients in cultivating self-insight, self-compassion and fostering resilience through emotional awareness. I take an integrative approach that prioritizes:

Trauma-informed care: seek to avoid re-traumatization, and work from a person-centred approach to co-create a safe space with my clients.

Sex positivity: Taking a sex positive stance means viewing human sexuality as a normal, healthy part of life, judgment free while supporting well-being, pleasure and consent.

Intersectional feminist: Creating safe spaces involves ensuring all clients, especially those from 2SLGBTQIA, QTBIPOC and other marginalized communities, feel fully respected and able to bring their authentic selves to therapy. My approach considers the whole person within their social and cultural contexts.

Specializations

My practice is focused on serving adult clients who are seeking to break out of patterns that are rooted in trauma and adverse childhood experiences. My specialties include working with:

• Processing trauma: intergenerational, childhood, developmental and complex presentations (C-PTSD)
• Traumatic, complicated and disenfranchised grief support 
• Support with strengthening boundaries
• Unpacking attachment and abandonment in relationships
• Building strong relationships
• Anxiety (intrusive thoughts, perfectionism, compulsive, controlling & obsessive behaviors, panic attacks, people pleasing)
• Managing through strong emotions and dysregulation
• Workplace stress and burnout

Therapeutic Modalities

The modalities I draw from have roots in addressing trauma, emotional overwhelm, relationships, and developing resilience through an affirming lens. I have training and experience in the following:

• Emotion Focused Therapy & Attachment Theory
• Body-mind awareness: mindfulness & somatic practices
• Parts work & Internal Family Systems theory
• Narrative Therapy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Trauma Informed Practice and Complex Trauma

Each modality engages clients as the experts of their own experiences. I integrate cognitive “talk therapy” approaches with experiential “process oriented” approaches.

Services and Fees

Contact Me

If you’re interested in booking a 20-minute consultation, please fill out the fields below to send me an email request. You can also use the below calendar link to book your 50-minute session directly.