Alexandra Canzonieri

I actively seek opportunities to provide psychotherapeutic support to individuals in private
settings as well as with marginalized populations in community settings and have done so
through my internship at Daya Counselling Centre, working as a smoking cessation counsellor with SYKES, as an addiction caseworker at Toronto Harbourlight Ministries, as a family therapist at the George Hull Centre for Children and Families, as a mental health clinician at Medcan and now providing psychotherapy in my own private practice.
My role as a student therapist at Daya Counselling Centre included completing the intake assessment with clients and managing a caseload between 10-15 clients per week, working with individuals between the ages of 17-72 years. I was exposed to a wide
range of issues including childhood sexual abuse, problems with attachment and
relationships, domestic abuse, symptoms of anxiety and depression, complicated grief, selfharm
and daily stressors. Using a trauma-informed approach, I supported each client through
the complexity of issues that impacted different areas of their lives from the moment we
completed an initial intake until the end of the three months of therapy provided. Clients and
I developed goals to work towards within the 12 weeks of counselling that we had together.
This included advocating for my clients by providing supportive letters for their application
to community housing, ODSP and other community services distinct needs.
Similarly, my experience working at Daya Counselling Centre has provided me with
valuable experience that I have transferred to the positions I’ve worked later on, including
providing psychotherapy in private practice and in my position as an outreach caseworker at
Toronto Harbourlight Ministries. My position as a caseworker and counsellor entails
providing crisis management to individuals with suicidal ideation, self-harm and feeling
triggered to use substances (for client’s with a history of addiction). I also provide group
counselling to current residents as well as alumni of the program who are experiencing
homelessness, marginalization, addiction, mental health concerns and newly immigrated to
Canada. In my role, I use a holistic approach to meeting client’s needs. This includes
conducting surveys and gathering information from our current residents to better understand
how we can create group programs to assist clients in building skills to transition to
independent living. Using this information, I have created and facilitated groups such as a
healthy interpersonal connections group, a mindfulness group and women identified drop in
groups.
As a caseworker, I have extensive knowledge in community agencies, providing
clients referrals to different housing organizations, food banks, organizations supporting new
immigrants and refugees, and employment agencies. Meeting regularly with clients for
counselling, we create goals and work towards achieving these goals of maintaining sobriety,
finding housing, meeting necessities and obtaining and maintaining mental well-being.
Additionally, working with clients of different age groups and from various cultures, I often
utilize translation services and adopt new ways of communicating to clients, using visual
media rather than through language.
My role shifted to family therapist when I began working at the George Hull Centre for Children and Families. Using an attachment-focused therapy, I worked with families of different cultural and financial backgrounds. Understanding the complexity of the family dynamic meant utilizing a system's approach, which included exploring family of origin, working together with families, with individual members of the family and connecting families to different resources. I ran different groups for parents as well, including the Positive Parenting group (as a certified triple P facilitator) which provided support, coaching and teaching behavioural strategies to parents of children.
Using techniques from DBT, CBT, Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, Internal Family System's Therapy, Solution-focused therapy and trauma theories (specifically, Judith Herman and Janina
Fischer), as well as my educational background in science, psychology and Buddhism, I take
a well-rounded, strengths-based approach in counselling and try and work with each
individual’s strengths to find solutions to day-to-day struggles. I strongly believe that clients
have the inner resources to work towards and accomplish their goals
I have 8 years of collective experience working directly with clients from various
backgrounds, and am constantly willing to learn the most up-to-date research in the field of
counselling psychology. I am completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology as well as a minor Buddhism, Psychology and Mental Health at the University of Toronto and a Master's of Arts in Counselling Psychology at Western University. I am currently fully registered as a psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario and a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC). I have completed training in ASIST, CPR-C, CBT, DBT, IFS, and Psychological First Aid for Trauma.Additionally, I have a flexible schedule and am available to start upon request.