Hi, I'm Leah Ross

I Help People Heal Their Relationships

I help couples, families and individuals in distress find a way through to a better way of being. I provide a safe space to explore your inner, and relational, experience. I believe that much of the way we experience relationships involves automatic processes, and that therapy provides a unique opportunity to create the space to reflect upon, and get to know, these automatic processes. Things like patterns of behaving and thinking, beliefs, values, emotional and bodily responses all contribute to, and impact upon, the way we live our lives. In therapy with me, you will develop new perspectives on, and an increased awareness of, these automatic processes. In so doing, what has become automatic comes to the surface. As you become more conscious of your automatic patterns, you create the opportunity to make the changes that you want in your life and your relationship.

Hand in hand with increasing self and relational awareness is the opportunity to have a new experience of yourself, and new experiences within your relationship. I work in creative ways to foster these new experiences. Drawing from a variety of approaches I find ways to help you safely explore and connect with deeper aspects of your self, and your self in relationship. While I value, and utilize, more concrete, direct and cognitive approaches, I am particularly drawn to the deeper, experiential aspects of being and relating. I believe that the integration of these two aspects (cognitive and experiential) provides the most benefit in therapy.

- perspective - awareness - possibility -

I care for the people I work with. I want you to find deep connection and satisfaction in your most intimate relationships. I want you to find peace in your life and the support of enriching relationships. For those who want to get there but don't know how, I can create the opportunity to have that experience. I also believe that we have to work to get there, that change is difficult, and that these tough times can be growth points where you can come out stronger. You will find that I work hard to uncover the blocks and heal the connections, be they within you or between you. As such, I find I work best with similarly motivated individuals and couples. You will draw from your work with me new perspectives regarding, increased awarenesses about, and new possibilities for: your self, your partner and your relationship.

Professional Background

I have a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and I am a Canadian Certified Counsellor with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.

I have trained in the following models of Couples therapy to provide the best possible service for couples in need:

Certified Discernment Counsellor - Discernment Counselling is most helpful for couples on the brink of separation or divorce when there is a need for clarity and confidence in next steps forward.
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy - I have advanced training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. EFCT is a well researched approach to couples therapy based upon the science of adult attachment, which studies how we connect and disconnect in our most intimate adult relationship. It is an effective model for changing automatic relational patterns and deepening connections when couples are motivated to work together on their relationship.
Gottman Method Couples Therapy - I have Level 2 training in this scientifically-based approach to couples therapy. Based on over 40 years of research on couples, Gottman Method Couples Therapy helps couples strengthen their relationship through attention to emotion, skill building for handling conflict, developing new skills for enhancing friendship, and helping the couple create a system of shared meaning together.
Developmental Model of Couples Therapy - The Developmental Model adds the perspective of mutually influential individual and couple stages of development, with a focus on the concept of differentiation, to the work of couples therapy.

Relational Life Therapy - This model expands the lens and interventions I use with couples to include attention to the impacts of power and patriarchy on relationship.
Certified Prepare-Enrich Facilitator - This program offers both Premarital Counselling and Relationship Enrichment Check-ups for couples.

Other training includes:

Certified Circle of Security Parent Facilitator - Caregiver-child relationship focused model facilitating the development of secure attachment which forms a foundation for the effective functioning of the emotion regulation and stress response systems.

Heartmath Certified Practitioner - A biofeedback program that attends to nervous system activation and regulation. Helpful with stress management in personal and relational systems.

I love working relationally, with couples, and with deep level internal processes. While I primarily work with couples I also help individuals and families in need of change. I am an integrative therapist, which means I pull from a variety of therapeutic models and perspectives to help you achieve your goals.

I am committed to helping people live authentically, consciously and with the deep connection to self and other.

For more information on my approach with couples, families, or individuals click the tabs at the top of this page.

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