Therapy for Emotional Abuse Recovery
Rebuild your sense of self after emotional abuse. Therapy in Ottawa, in person and online.
✓ Same-week ✓ Direct billing ✓ Sliding scale ✓ Licensed therapists
Book a free consultationRebuild your sense of self after emotional abuse. Therapy in Ottawa, in person and online.
✓ Same-week ✓ Direct billing ✓ Sliding scale ✓ Licensed therapists
Book a free consultationEvery clinician is registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) or the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW).
We want therapy to be financially accessible for everyone. Reduced rates are available case-by-case based on need and availability.
We submit directly to most major insurers, so you don't pay out of pocket upfront.
Our office is in Ottawa. All client records are stored in Canada and handled under PIPEDA and PHIPA.
Therapy is a space to slow down and look at what's underneath. These are some of the patterns people bring into the room.
FOR WHEN SOMETHING FEELS OFF
One of the most destabilizing effects of emotional abuse — particularly gaslighting — is the erosion of trust in your own mind. You're not sure what really happened. You wonder if you're too sensitive, too reactive, if you imagined it. You've been told so many times that your perception was wrong that you've stopped trusting it.
Your interests, your relationships, your confidence in your own judgment. It happened gradually. You're not sure exactly when you stopped feeling like yourself, but you know you don't feel like yourself now.
Even after leaving, the voice is still there. The criticisms, the put-downs, the patterns. You catch yourself bracing for reactions that belong to someone who isn't in the room anymore. The relationship ended but its effects didn't.
Recovery from emotional abuse is work that goes in two directions: outward (understanding what happened and why) and inward (rebuilding what was damaged — your sense of self, your capacity to trust yourself, your sense of what you deserve).We start by creating a space that is the opposite of an abusive one: honest, boundaried, consistent, and genuinely on your side. Many people recovering from emotional abuse have learned not to trust therapeutic relationships, or close relationships of any kind. We respect that, and we build slowly.Trauma-informed approaches help us work with the nervous system's learned threat responses — the hypervigilance, the flinching at tone of voice, the bracing for criticism. We also draw on cognitive and attachment-based work to address the beliefs about yourself and relationships that abuse installs over time: that you're too much, not enough, responsible for others' emotions, undeserving of care.Rebuilding a self after emotional abuse isn't about returning to who you were before. It's about understanding who you actually are — your values, your preferences, your limits — with more clarity than you may have had even before the relationship.For clients whose emotional abuse occurred within a close intimate relationship and has shaped how they relate to people more broadly, see our page on therapy for relationship trauma.
Email, phone, or fill out our booking form. There's no script and no pressure. You can share as much or as little as you want.
A real person, not a bot, will reply as soon as we can with a few options for a free 15-minute consultation.
We listen. You ask questions. No paperwork, no obligation. If we're not the right match, we'll point you toward someone who might be.
Direct billing where possible. Evening and weekend availability. Virtual or in-person in Ottawa.
Sessions are 50 minutes in length. Rates vary by therapist and are confirmed during your free consultation. We accept e-transfer and credit cards, and direct-bill most insurers.
Sliding-scale spots are available based on need. Ask during your free consultation.
Same 50-minute format, structured for two participants and shared concerns.
Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Social Worker services are covered by most extended health plans in Canada. We recommend confirming your specific coverage before your first paid session. Sun Life, Manulife, Canada Life, Green Shield, and most major insurers include coverage.
We direct-bill where your insurer allows it. Otherwise, you pay at the time of session and submit the receipt for reimbursement.
Every session generates a receipt listing the provider's license number, suitable for insurance reimbursement.
In-person sessions are held at our Ottawa office. Virtual sessions use a secure, PIPEDA-compliant video platform. You can switch between the two.
We ask for 24 hours notice on cancellations. Late cancellations and no-shows are charged the full session fee.
After the free 15-minute consultation, your first paid session is intake-focused. Bring questions, anything you have already tried, and any goals you have in mind.
QUESTIONS
Recovery usually starts with naming what happened, rebuilding trust in your own perceptions, and restoring self-worth in a safe relationship. Therapy offers a space to process the experience and gently undo the messages abuse left behind.
Emotional abuse can include constant criticism, controlling behaviour, manipulation, gaslighting, isolation, and the erosion of your confidence. It often leaves you doubting yourself even without physical harm.
Trauma-informed approaches that rebuild safety and self-trust work well, including somatic, attachment-based, and EMDR work. The focus is on processing the experience and restoring your sense of self at a pace you control.
It varies with how long the abuse lasted and how close the relationship was. Some people feel steadier within months; deeper rebuilding of self-worth can take longer. We'll set realistic expectations together.
Yes. Ongoing emotional abuse can lead to trauma responses and, in some cases, PTSD or complex PTSD, even without physical harm. The impact is real and treatable.
Rebuilding self-esteem involves reconnecting with your own perceptions, needs, and worth, often eroded by the abuse. Therapy supports this through processing the experience and practising self-trust in a safe relationship.
Lasting effects can include anxiety, depression, self-doubt, difficulty trusting, and trouble setting boundaries. These responses make sense given what you experienced, and they can ease with support.
Self-blame is a common and understandable effect of abuse, often something the abuse encouraged. Therapy helps you separate responsibility from the patterns you absorbed and relate to yourself with more compassion.
Sessions are 50 minutes with rates that vary by therapist, confirmed at your free consultation. Sliding-scale spots are available case-by-case. We'll be clear about fees before you book.
OHIP generally doesn't cover psychotherapy with RPs or RSWs, but many extended health plans do. Check your plan for RP or RSW coverage. Auren direct-bills many insurers and provides receipts.
Therapy is a longer-term relationship. If you're in acute distress, please reach the services below first. They are free, confidential, and available right now.
