Zhivka Stefanova, B.Psyc, MSW, RSW
– Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist
My approach is collaborative and tailored to your individual and family needs and goals.
Hello, I am Zhivka Stefanova
I hold a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Toronto and am a Registered Social Worker in good standing with the OCSWSSW. I have over ten years of experience providing counselling to children, youth, adults, and families. As a parent of three grown-up children, I have experienced the challenges that come with parenting and relationships. It is a privilege to join individuals and families on their healing journey.
Visit my Psychology Today Profile Page:
“no matter what season of growth
you go through,
may you always have the strength
to hang in there,
to trust in the good
that is meant for you”
Dhiman from “You Matter” @poetryofdhiman
Reflections on the Therapeutic Process
I believe in the healing power of the therapeutic relationship, and I think that honesty is integral to growth and healing. Honesty takes bravery and courage. When we want to make changes in our lives, we need to be honest with ourselves. This could be very hard and painful because honesty can bring feelings of shame, inadequacy, and hurt. Yet, it also brings authenticity, it grounds us, and it liberates us, and that is when the healing process truly begins. Honesty can take us there; however, it needs to come with abundant self-compassion. Only when we work through and unweave all the threads with honesty, self-compassion, and self-love, we can let go and rebuild. My hope, compassion, and care will be there for you on your journey even when you may struggle to find hope within yourself.
I work with individuals struggling with stress, anxiety, emotional regulation, depression and those who may have experienced loss, separation, divorce, illness, and/or death. I meet my clients where they are at with empathy, kindness, acceptance, and curiosity. I can offer you a compassionate and non-judgmental space where we can explore stories, find new meaning in them, discover your inner strengths, and tap into your inner wisdom.
My approach is collaborative, and tailored to your individual and your family’s needs and goals. It is trauma-informed, attachment-based, and person-centered. I hold dear and precious the resilience I have found in my clients, seeing them grow confident, hopeful, and trusting of themselves, and experiencing another way of being with themselves and their loved ones.
“I have learned how expectations in a relationship turn very easily into demands made on the relationship…I have found that one of the hardest things for me is to care for a person for whatever he or she is, at that time, in the relationship. It is so much easier to care for others for what I think they are, or wish they would be, or feel they should be. To care for this person for what he or she is, dropping my own expectations of what I want him or her to be for me, dropping my desire to change this person to suit my needs, is a most difficult but enriching way to a satisfying intimate relationship.”
— Carl Rogers from “A Way of Being”
Complimentary consultation
15 min
Description
Please connect with me for a free 15 min consultation.
Phone or Video Counselling
Individual session
1 hr
Description
Please connect with me for a private 1 hr session.
In person, Phone or Video Counselling
Family session
1 hr
Description
Please connect with me for a 1 hr family session.
In person, Phone or Video Counselling
Fees
Counselling sessions fees start at:
- $180 + per 60 min session
The majority of extended benefits cover psychotherapy/counselling by a Registered Social Worker. Please check with your insurance company. Fees can also be claimed as a medical expense on your income tax. Fees are due at the end of the session.
In case you need to cancel, I will need 24-hour notice.
Phone or Video Counselling
Walk and Talk Counselling in High Park
In-person at:
2990 Dundas Street West, Toronto
“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
Carlos Castaneda
Request a Booking:
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Stefanova Counselling 