Susan is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She holds an undergraduate degree in Social Development Studies at the University of Waterloo (1992), a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto (1995) and a Postgraduate Fellowship Certificate in Family Systems at C.M. Hincks Institute, currently known as SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health (1996). Susan is a Certified Play Therapist with the Canadian Association for Play Therapy, a Foundational Level I Theraplay Practitioner and an EMDRIA Approved EMDR Trained clinician (EMDR Certification in progress). Susan is also a co-developer of a children’s anxiety program (2005) which incorporates components of yoga, CBT and expressive arts.

Susan has over 25 years’ experience in a hospital outpatient clinic assessing and treating children and adolescents struggling with symptoms of depressed mood, anxiety, emotion dysregulation, suicide ideation, self-harm, trauma, grief and loss, separation and divorce, selective mutism, OCD, ADHD and ODD. She uses an eclectic evidence-based approach to therapy blending CBT, DBT, family, play, sand and attachment-based therapies, expressive arts and mindfulness techniques to help clients achieve their goals.

Susan strongly believes that early intervention in a child’s life is essential to their growth and development. Through the therapeutic relationship, and with parents’ support and involvement, children and adolescents can learn to regulate their emotions, increase their self-esteem and confidence and develop a sense of mastery to navigate life’s many challenges. Susan strives to create a safe and nurturing environment for all her clients by meeting them at their level to understand, validate and support them in an empathetic, non-judgmental and playful way.