Laura Gatien & Associates Counselling Services

Laura Gatien & Associates Counselling Services Our mission: improve & enhance lives through mental health care services for all.

Molly shares a small tool she returns to often with clients.When the self-critical voice gets loud, one question tends t...
03/06/2026

Molly shares a small tool she returns to often with clients.

When the self-critical voice gets loud, one question tends to cut through it: Would I say this to someone I love?

Many people hold themselves to a standard of harshness they would consider cruel if directed at someone else. That gap between how we treat others and how we treat ourselves is often where a lot of pain lives.

Swipe through for the full thought. And if this resonated, Molly is accepting new clients — link in bio to book.

Julie and Jess Hickie have officially completed their candidacy period and are now Fully Licensed Clinical Therapists.Th...
03/04/2026

Julie and Jess Hickie have officially completed their candidacy period and are now Fully Licensed Clinical Therapists.

The path to becoming a fully licensed therapist is not a short one. It requires years of training, supervised practice, personal growth, and the kind of commitment to the work that goes well beyond a credential.

Julie and Jess did all of that. And they did it well.

We are so proud to celebrate this milestone with both of them. The clients they work with are in incredibly good hands.

03/04/2026

Whatever you're feeling right now, that's allowed.
You don't need to reframe it, rush through it, or explain it away. Sad, angry, exhausted, numb. All of it counts. All of it is valid. Feeling it fully is not a setback. It's part of being human.

03/02/2026

She is back, and she brought something useful with her.

Elizabeth Mayne has returned from maternity leave, and in true Elizabeth fashion, her first video back is a practical tool you can use today.

Box breathing takes about two minutes and genuinely shifts your nervous system out of the stress response. Elizabeth walks you through it in real time.

Watch it now or save it for when you actually need it, because you will.

Welcome back, Elizabeth. We missed you.

Is it "unhinged" or is it just smart?Traditional therapy is great, but there is something elite about doing the "inner w...
02/27/2026

Is it "unhinged" or is it just smart?
Traditional therapy is great, but there is something elite about doing the "inner work" while your cat is asleep on your legs and you haven't put on real shoes all day.

Virtual therapy at Laura Gatien & Associates is about making support fit into your actual life. Whether that’s in your car during your lunch break, in your kitchen with your favourite tea, or on your couch after the kids finally go to bed, we’re there.

We offer a full range of virtual services—including EMDR—so you can get the support you need without ever leaving your safe space.

02/25/2026

That slide, though... 10/10 for the form, 12/10 for the thumbs-up energy. 👍

Chloe is one of our rare bilingual unicorns, and she’s officially accepting new clients in-person or virtually

Book Now
https://www.lauragatien.com/meet-chloe

This month marks eight years since I opened my one-person therapy practice on Waterloo Street in uptown Saint John, look...
02/24/2026

This month marks eight years since I opened my one-person therapy practice on Waterloo Street in uptown Saint John, looking for a better way to deliver mental health care.

Eight years since I left the predictability of government work because I couldn’t accept that mental health wasn’t treated as health. Eight years since I chose risk over comfort to build a different kind of access for people who needed support before crisis forced their hand.

I thought I was starting a practice. In hindsight, I was starting an education in myself.

Entrepreneurship exposes you. When clients leave, it stirs abandonment. When revenue fluctuates, scarcity gets loud. When a team member resigns unexpectedly, your nervous system lights up. When you struggle to delegate, control shows itself. It has a way of bringing every unresolved edge to the surface.

In March 2020, I read The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. A chapter called “The Struggle” put language to what so many founders quietly carry: the doubt, the isolation, the imposter moments, the nights you wonder if you’re strong enough to keep showing up. One line stayed with me: this is not checkers. It’s chess.

Checkers reacts. Chess thinks ahead. Checkers panics when a piece is taken. Chess recalibrates. Over the last eight years, I’ve learned that building something meaningful requires a chess mindset. You zoom out. You regulate. You make decisions based on the long game, not the loud moment in front of you. You don’t always get it right, so you adjust and keep playing.

We’ve faced a literal fire. Turnover. Growth. Rebuilding. Reinvention. We didn’t survive because it was easy. We survived because we kept going.

And what I am most proud of is the people.

To every therapist who has shown up for clients on their hardest days and stayed committed to this work.

To every employee who trusted this vision and carried the emotional labour behind the scenes.

To every contractor, from marketing to accounting, who stepped up when it would have been easier to step out.

To every client who chose us, shared their most vulnerable stories, and remained connected to this practice over the years.

To every referral partner who believed in our standard of care.

To every coach, mentor, peer, and board member who helped shape our growth, and to every supporter of our charity, Just Us, who helps us remove barriers to accessing mental health care.

To my family, who feel the invisible cost of leadership every day.

You are the reason we exist.

Eight years later, the vision is still the same: mental health care is valued, understood, accepted, and accessible to all people.

But I am not the same. I am steadier. More strategic. More regulated. More willing to bet on the long game.

Because this was never checkers. It was always chess.

Thank you.
– Laura

You're allowed to be a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time.Read that again. 👆 You don’t have to wait unt...
02/23/2026

You're allowed to be a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time.

Read that again. 👆 You don’t have to wait until you’re "healed" or "fixed" to be worthy of a good life. You are allowed to be messy and still be amazing.

Whatever stage of the journey you’re in today—whether you're in the "Shock" or the "Integration"—we’re just happy you’re here.

Tag a friend who is a total masterpiece (even on their messy days).

02/20/2026

Meet the newest face at Laura Gatien & Associates: Justin Robichaud.

Justin lives by a motto that we think every person in therapy needs to hear: "Just Progress."

Too often, we stay stuck because we’re trying to solve the whole puzzle at once. We feel like we’re failing if we aren’t "fixed" immediately. Justin’s approach is about taking that pressure off.

It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about being "healed" by tomorrow. It’s just about moving forward—even if it’s just an inch at a time.

https://www.lauragatien.com/meet-justin

We don't have a "mission statement." We have a promise. At Laura Gatien & Associates, we believe that the best therapy h...
02/18/2026

We don't have a "mission statement." We have a promise.

At Laura Gatien & Associates, we believe that the best therapy happens when you feel like you're talking to a person, not a robot in a suit.

We prioritize being human-first, offering tools that actually work, and making the process as easy as possible (shoutout to our 39+ direct billing partners).

We’re not here to just "see clients." We’re here to help our community heal—one real conversation at a time.

CTA: Swipe to see what we’re about. Link in bio to book your first session.

Therapy is a commitment—but the insurance paperwork shouldn't be.Body: We believe the hardest part of therapy should be ...
02/16/2026

Therapy is a commitment—but the insurance paperwork shouldn't be.

Body: We believe the hardest part of therapy should be the work you do in the room, not the bill you pay outside of it. That’s why we’ve officially added Green Shield to our list of partners.

With 39+ insurance plans now direct-billed, we handle claims and portals so you can just show up and breathe.

The CTA: Not sure if your plan is on our list? We’re happy to check for you. Send us a DM, and our team will get you an answer before your first appointment.

Address

307 Westmorland Road
Saint John, NB
E2J2G2

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 7:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 7:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 7:30pm
Thursday 9am - 7:30pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15066511239

Website

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About Laura & Associates

Laura Gatien is a registered social worker and clinical therapist in private practice in Saint John, New Brunswick. In 2018, Laura took a leap of faith and walked away from the security of a government job to become a solopreneur and she has since grown her mental health practice to a team of 11 clinicians. Laura is also a mom to 3 littles and loves to raise awareness around motherhood and mental health. She and her team are extremely passionate about reducing the stigma that accompanies mental health, through teaching and modelling that mental health affects everyone. It is necessary to seek help for mental health challenges just as you would physical health.

The team at Laura Gatien & Associates practices with a real and genuine approach in their work. They model vulnerability and challenge traditional approaches to mental health therapy to remove barriers to seeking treatment. Laura and her team have been recognized for offering a free drop-in counselling program for the community as well as a low-cost counselling program with the clinic interns and herself. Laura Gatien & Associates is becoming known as a center of excellence for training top talent in the field and providing an exceptional experience to learn and grow as a social worker & therapist.

We are real so you can be too.

Please visit www.lauragatien.com for more information.