Introducing Shalyn Isaacs - Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)

Written by: Shalyn Isaacs / Communication Coaching / October 06, 2021 / 10 minutes read

Hello everyone! 

My name is Shalyn Isaacs. I am a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). 

I received my Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Psychology from York University and a Masters of Education in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy from the University of Toronto. 

This blog post is intended to provide you with some introductory information about myself, my background and my approaches to psychotherapy.

My Personal Background:

I am passionate about helping people improve their communication skills because I believe that positive effects unfold whenever people feel confident in communicating their unique viewpoints and experiences with others. 

My desire to pursue a career as a Psychotherapist is intertwined with my lived experiences of being a second-generation settler and South Asian woman with Sinhalese-Sri Lankan ancestry. Just like you – my intersecting social and cultural identities influence my experiences in the world. These lived experiences shape the way I choose to communicate my values, desires, and self-identity.

Being a mental health professional gives me the opportunity to listen to people’s diverse life experiences and support them with communicating their personal truths in empowering ways.

Throughout my life I have often wondered – how can I communicate my own ideas about who I am to the world, rather than passively being the version of myself that others want me to be? How can I support others along their own journeys of self-empowerment?

I set out to pursue studies in Psychology to discover some of the answers to these questions. 

Being a mental health professional gives me the opportunity to listen to people’s diverse life experiences and support them with communicating their personal truths in empowering ways.

Educational and Professional Journey

In 2016, I became the Founder and President of an organization called Women’s Mental Health Talks at York University. For three years, I had the honor of listening to the mental health experiences of hundreds of women from diverse backgrounds. It was through these support groups that I recognized the power of women being self-empowered to communicate their personal truths. 

I discovered my passion for public speaking while working as a Leadership Coach in the Faculty of Health at York University . In this role I provided workshops and trainings on how people could improve their communication strategies and leadership through addressing their mental health. 

From 2018-2020 I became the first student to participate on the Board of Trustees at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s largest mental health hospital. I gained further knowledge and awareness about the things mental health professionals can do to ensure that people from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds receive the supportive care they need. 

I have 3 years of experience working as a Mindfulness Meditation Facilitator and am currently a student of the Himalayan Yoga Tradition. I often draw on mindfulness-based practices from these experiences to support people’s journeys with developing self-awareness, concentration, and inner-peace. I have found that feeling confident in one’s communication is often tied to addressing anxiety and other mental health issues from a body-mind approach. 

My Psychotherapy & Communication Coaching Approach

One of the reasons that I chose to become a Psychotherapist is because I want to help people communicate who they are to the world in ways that feel authentic and self-empowering to them.

My approach to addressing communication concerns is to explore the underlying psychological, emotional, and/or social-cultural issues impacting someone’s communication abilities. 

My psychotherapy and coaching serves are based within a trauma-informed and anti-oppressive framework. This means that I practice in a way that addresses how communication styles are often influenced by social, cultural, and political circumstances that shape people’s self-expression and mental health. 

I listen to each person’s unique experiences and work collaboratively with them to develop individualized treatment plans that suit their goals. 

My psychotherapy approach draws on different modalities based in somatic (body-based) therapy, multicultural feminist therapy, existential therapy, and mindfulness-based therapies. Together, we will co-create a space where you feel empowered to express yourself in ways that are authentic to you!

I am excited to work alongside a multidisciplinary team at WELL SAID to address your communication concerns from an approach that tends to your holistic wellness. 

Thank you for taking the time to get to know me.

If you are interested in working together – please feel free to book an initial consultation for us to connect further! 

To work with Shalyn Isaacs as your psychotherapist (qualifying) at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or by calling (647) 795-5277.