About Our Practitioners
Beth Toomey, MSW, RSW She/Her
Offers your choice of virtual or in-person appointments
info@bethtoomey.ca
Beth is a licensed clinical social worker who is dedicated to the understanding and treatment of trauma. With over 15 years of experience in the practice of psychotherapy in the areas of mental health and addiction, Beth works with people to resolve experiences associated with attachment failure, neglect, physical or sexual abuse in childhood, sexual assault, medical trauma, and women's sexual health. Beth also works with a variety of first responders, and has specialized training and experience working with RCMP, active military members and veterans dealing with war exposure and moral injuries.
After working for many years within large systems, Beth chose to exit public healthcare to establish her own private practice. She saw a disconnect in what large system providers thought was helpful and what clients experienced as healing. Beth pursued advanced clinical training in neurophysiological and trauma-informed therapies designed to build resilience and support healing.
Beth separates her clinical practice into two parts, before EMDR and after EMDR. She was trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy in 2014 and since then has immersed herself in continuing professional education in the field of trauma therapy. To learn more about how EMDR Therapy helps people heal from trauma or other distressing life experiences check out: https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy
Beth also uses Somatic Experiencing (SE) which is a body-oriented therapy for healing trauma and other stress disorders.The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma. It offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states. To learn more about SE follow this link: https://traumahealing.org/se-101/
Her current areas of expertise include working with PTSD, C-PTSD, Dissociation, and attachment trauma. Beth also works with people who are experiencing Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) and Functional Neurological Disorder (FNS) as well as with women experiencing sexual health problems. Beth also works with several specialized groups including members of the Canadian Armed Forces / Department of National Defense, Veterans, RCMP, paramedics and other first responders. Beth is passionate about her work in Indigenous communities and is privileged to work with Indian Residential School Survivors and their descendants.
Carrie Evely, MSW, RSW
She/Her
Carrie is a licensed clinical social worker with a broad skillset and over 20 years of clinical experience. She returned home to NS several years ago after a lengthy period of living and working internationally in the United Kingdom. Carrie uses an anti-oppressive approach to clinical practice and is a trained EMDR Therapy practitioner who has enjoyed working with diverse groups throughout her career.
Offers virtual and in-person appointments
carrie@bethtoomey.ca
She is dedicated to working with people who have endured traumatic and distressing events in their lives and specializes in the treatment of trauma and PTSD. Carrie offers a client-centred therapeutic experience that is both positive and effective.
Offers your choice of virtual or in-person appointments
tess@bethtoomey.ca
Tess Carrigan, MSW, RSW
She/Her
Tess is a licensed clinical social worker offering individual therapy for children (ages 7+), adolescents and their families, and individual adults. She uses a gentle, client-centred approach when working with people who are struggling with various mental health and emotional concerns including trauma, grief and loss, anxiety, depression and stress.
Tess is an EMDR trained therapist and is dedicated to helping people resolve issues from their past that hold them back from living life fully in the present. She enjoys working with diverse groups of people including different genders, sexual orientations or identities, and cultural backgrounds.
Tess is also a trained WPATH clinician and is able to complete transgender assessments for hormone and surgical readiness. Tess also has extensive experience working in Indigenous communities and is dedicated to offering culturally safe clinical services.
Jeannine Paul, Client Services Coordinator She/Her
Jeannine brings over a decade of experience working in the fields of community-based Indigenous mental health and the provision of enhanced community-based support services for Indigenous children and youth. She is knowledgeable about local wellness resources and trained in suicide risk prevention, Mental Health First Aid, addiction issues, and basic counselling skills.
Jeannine is compassionate, professional and committed to offering client-centered services to all those she works with.
She is the first point of contact for prospective clients and conducts discovery calls in order to answer questions and gather information. In collaboration with the Practice Lead, a decision is reached to match new clients with a therapist that is the best fit for their unique situation. Jeannine is dedicated in her work to help people obtain relevant and timely access to services.
Offers virtual appointments only
jenny@bethtoomey.ca
Jenny incorporates a variety of evidence-based therapeutic techniques drawn from cognitive, emotion-focused, and psychodynamic therapies. aimed at broadening awareness and decreasing distress.
Jenny Reich, MEd., CCC, RCT-C
She/Her
Jenny is a counselling therapist who works with older adolescents and adults with a diverse range of concerns, to increase their sense of confidence and well-being. Her approach to counselling and psychotherapy is person-centred, strength-based and trauma-informed.
In her career Jenny has had experience working in community-based mental health, university student counselling services, and residential addiction treatment, providing individual and group therapy. It has been her privilege to accompany her clients as they navigate life’s challenges and as they uncover their strengths and innate capacity to heal.
Offers your choice of virtual or in-person
appointments
heather@bethtoomey.ca
Heather Rudderham, PsyD, R. Psych
She/Her
Dr. Heather Rudderham is a registered psychologist who enjoys working with older youth and adults and has experience working with a wide range of clinical issues. Heather is deeply committed to providing a safe therapeutic space to all clients with whom she works.
She is a WPATH trained clinician and specializes in transhealth issues including hormone replacement therapy and surgical readiness assessments in addition to mental health counselling services.
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Offers virtual appointments only
shabnam@bethtoomey.ca
Shabnam Sobhani, MSW, RSW
She/Her
Shabnam is a clinical social worker with over seven years experience in the trauma field. Shabnam’s practice is rooted in feminist, trauma informed, and anti-oppressive social work. She takes a client centred approach and sees her clients as the experts in their own lives. In her career this far, Shabnam has worked with survivors of sexualized violence and domestic violence. In addition to an interest in trauma, Shabnam also enjoys working with second generation immigrants, caregivers of those who are chronically ill, those experiencing grief, individuals who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Shabnam is trained in solution focused brief therapy, feminist narrative therapy, and in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She also draws from mindfulness and self-compassion, trauma specific therapy, and internal family systems (IFS).
The therapeutic relationship is important to Shabnam and she is diligent about ensuring her clients feel safe and comfortable so that healing and growth can occur in a way that feels paced and in the control of her clients.
A warm welcome to
Jennifer MacDonald!
* Starting September 2022
and accepting referrals.
Jennifer MacDonald, BA, BEd, MEd (Counselling)
She/Her
Jen comes to us from almost two decades in the public sector and was first registered as a counselling therapist in 2011. Jen's practice is a client centred, solution focused, family systems approach, informed by her formal education and work experiences at the IWK and in schools across the province. Her clinical work is informed by best practices, and incorporates the Gottman Method and Emotion Focused Therapy as it relates to couples and relationships. Jen has a background in attachment theory and approaches relationships from a "head and heart" perspective, believing we are all worthy of having secure, safe and thriving relationships. She looks forward to working with couples, families and with individual clients 14+, providing a supportive therapeutic space that fosters growth, confidence and stability.