Shirley Katz

Shirley offers Counselling/Psychotherapy services.

Shirley Katz practices counselling and therapy in Toronto, Ontario.

Shirley is a Canadian Certified Counsellor and Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario with a Ph.D. in Counselling , who provides psychological services under the supervision of a Registered Psychologist. 

Shirley has experience working with many issues that affect people and bring them to counselling, as well as to career counselling.  She specializes in issues related to anxiety, disordered eating and body image, and creative careers/educational paths.  She has provided workshops to professionals in mindfulness and stress management, diversity sensitivity and career transition. 

Shirley works collaboratively to help clients build upon their strengths, to solve issues of concern to them, and to learn new and more effective ways of coping with things that are not so easy to change. 

Working with her in psychotherapy, clients will strengthen their ability to manage stress and to make desired life changes.  She offers a genuinely caring healing space where clients can be heard, understood, supported and directed towards goals.  Therapeutic techniques are personalized to the unique situation, integrating physical, cognitive, emotional, and social needs of each person. 

Work with Shirley is geared towards measurable outcomes. In other words, clients are clear on the goals, the process and the progress of therapy.  They can decide if they are getting the help they came for.  This quality assurance is part of a collaborative therapeutic approach.

Background

Shirley has a Doctoral Degree from the University of British Columbia department of Counselling, a Master’s Degree in Counselling from the University of British Columbia, one year of Clinical Ph.D. level training from the University of Windsor, and a B.A. (Honours) with a double major in Psychology and Creative Writing from York University.  She also completed a year at York University in Fine Arts and has taken many courses and workshops in the use of arts in psychotherapy.  She graduated from York University on the Dean’s Honour Roll.  She speaks Hebrew and Spanish and has lived abroad in Latin America.  Her effective work with people of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles stems in part from a rich and broad life experience.   

Individual Counselling and Psychotherapy:

Shirley offers psychotherapy to individuals, adolescents, couples, and families.  Her areas of interest include but are not limited to disordered eating, creativity, anxiety, career planning, transition and stress, relationships, loss, and depression.

Couples’ Therapy: 

Shirley works with couples to achieve better communication and insight towards more meaningful relationships.  Whether a couple is in conflict, or simply desiring to achieve a deeper connection, couples therapy can improve the way people relate to one another and to other members of the family.  Couples therapy draws from each person’s strengths, and helps develop more collaborative understanding, as well as the ability to accept, appreciate, and live with differences.   Skills that are learned in couples’ therapy are life-lasting.

Family Therapy:

Working with several or all members of a family, Shirley’s skills at therapy allow members to communicate their feelings and concerns in a safe manner.  Sometimes families get stuck in a particular way of functioning and people accept it as the way things “are”.  However, therapeutic perspective can shed light on core issues, or ways of relating that create obstacles for harmony and mutual support.   Family therapy can bring about improvement in family functioning in powerful ways that positively impact all members.

Group Work:  

Therapeutic groups are run from time to time on different topics including disordered eating.  Educational groups on subjects such as stress and wellness in the workplace, communication and conflict resolution, and career transition for example, are also offered.  Workshops/groups can be designed and run on request.  Groups can support individual growth and organizational development by allowing people to understand and support each other, recognizing the strength in collaboration, communication and relationship.  Group work is also more affordable than individual sessions and educational groups can be a type of “preventive medicine”.