Catherine Sullivan Counselling Services

Catherine Sullivan Counselling Services Trauma and EMDR therapy in West end Ottawa. I'm a therapist who is emphatic, compassionate and uses humour. Let's unpack and process your trauma.

I will validate your experience and make you feel heard. Let me guide you on your healing journey. Accepting new clients! In person appointments on Friday mornings. EMDR can help you re-process traumatic memories so they aren’t disturbing anymore. Talk therapy can help you learn new ways to understand your feelings. I work with those who have experienced trauma to help them heal and gain a better

understanding of how to move forward. I now offer I-CBT to help treat OCD. This is an upstream treatment that targets the obsessional doubt(s) underlying the compulsive behaviour(s). I can help you regain your confidence, re-establish connections with yourself and others, and rebuild your sense of safety. I offer a safe space for you to unpack the relationship patterns that haven’t been working, and explore how trauma may be impacting your life. Together we’ll rebuild the foundation of your relationships with yourself and others. Using an eclectic mix of therapeutic techniques, including EMDR and I-CBT, I can help you begin to feel like yourself again. From this stronger foundation you can move forward and not have your past trauma(s) continue to affect you in the present. You can learn how to re-shape obsessional narratives into reality based ones. By reconnecting with yourself, you can learn to regulate your emotions and set healthy boundaries in your relationships with yourself and others.

05/28/2026

The use of laughter in sessions is meant to be helpful not hurtful.

I’m reflecting on this because I’ve had a few instances recently where I got feedback that people felt laughter was minimizing or diminishing their pain. This is never the intention.

I use laughter as a trauma therapist as a tool to help lighten the mood. I also want the client to be able to realize that not everything in their life is bad, negative or about the trauma. They have happy moments too! It’s important to highlight this and it’s also important not to always be focusing on the negative.

When I’m laughing in a session I’m laughing with my client and most (actually almost all) of them appreciate this. I’m very clear - it’s right in my About Me profile - that I use laughter. If this doesn’t appeal to you that’s okay and I’m not going to be right therapist for you.

05/27/2026

Review of Julie Chan is Dead.
It’s by a female Canadian BIPOC author so we’ll give it some kudos.
This book was about Instagram influencers which is not really my cup of tea. If it’s yours you might like it better than I did.
It also took a strange turn for quite some time in the last third of the book and never quite recovered and then ended abruptly.
Not my favourite and I’d only recommend it for Millennials and younger.

Window of Tolerance Part 2.You know you’re not in your W of T if you’re in either hyper- or hypo-arousal. This post goe...
05/27/2026

Window of Tolerance Part 2.

You know you’re not in your W of T if you’re in either hyper- or hypo-arousal. This post goes over the signs so you know if you’re in one of these states.

Helping to recognize that you’re in a trauma response state and that your behaviour makes sense when you look at it from this perspective can be very helpful.

A lot of people just think that they have a “short fuse” or are always “on edge” when in fact they are in hyperarousal.

Click on the link in my Instagram bio to download my FREE window of tolerance handout!

05/25/2026

I’m going to do a series of stretches for your lower body in honour of summer and people tending to drive and travel more. Sitting for long periods of time causes your lower body to get tight so I’m going to show you a series of stretches to help with this.

The first one is called Head to Knee pose. Trust you don’t have to get your head all the way to your knee - mine certainly doesn’t go there. It’s a good stretch for your hamstrings!

05/20/2026

Therapy is work.
If you want to heal you need to be willing to put in the time and effort.
Most of the work happens out of session because we only see you once a week or less.
Therapy is like the ebb and flow of waves. Sometimes it's working well and you notice the changes and sometimes it's harder but you need to stick with it because another positive wave is just around the corner.

05/19/2026

Review of the Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
The OG book on IPV.
Would have taken courage to write and publish it given the time period

We really need to get this name to be the new one.So much better than Victoria Day.Hope you're enjoying the long weekend...
05/18/2026

We really need to get this name to be the new one.
So much better than Victoria Day.
Hope you're enjoying the long weekend and staying safe.

❤️

May long weekend family outing to Presqu'ile Provincial Park ❤️ ❤️
05/18/2026

May long weekend family outing to Presqu'ile Provincial Park

❤️ ❤️

05/15/2026

This a stretch for your shoulder girdle and across your mid back. This area can get very tight if you’re stressed because you tend to have your shoulders up near your ears instead of rolling them down and back.
The pose is called Eagle Arms. Follow along and enjoy the stretch!

A window of tolerance is something we all have but it shrinks if you’ve been exposed to stress and trauma.If you want to...
05/13/2026

A window of tolerance is something we all have but it shrinks if you’ve been exposed to stress and trauma.

If you want to widen your window of tolerance the best way to do it is through therapy.

I’ve created a FREE handout to help you understand the window of tolerance. Go to my website to download!

05/13/2026

I’m so tired of seeing this same question asked again and again on therapy groups that I’m part of.
If a client doesn’t show up and they don’t contact you, you should charge them whatever your cancellation fee is. It should be in accordance with your cancellation policy that the client agreed to when they booked the appointment. Obviously there are exceptions but not charging your cancellation fee shouldn’t be the rule.
I know that we’re trained to be kind and empathetic. Charging a no show or cancellation fee doesn’t make you a bad therapist, it makes you a good one. You’re showing your clients that if they don’t follow a policy (in other words a boundary) that you will charge them (another boundary).
As a therapist you’re also running a business and sometimes you have to take off your therapy hat and put on your business one and make a decision from that lens. If someone didn’t show up for another service provider they would be charging for it.
If the client doesn’t like it or feels that you’ve somehow ruined the therapeutic rapport then you work on repairing it. If they can’t see past it then they probably aren’t the best fit.

Address

1439 Woodroffe Avenue
Ottawa, ON
K2G1W1

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 11:30am
Friday 8:45am - 12pm

Telephone

+13433405031

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Catherine Sullivan Counselling Services posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category