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Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO) · Virtual & phone session across Ontario · Free 15-min consultation · Direct billing for select insurance providers ·
SOUND FAMILIAR?
When the same story keeps playing out
The people change, but something about the pattern feels familiar. Maybe you hold on tighter the moment someone seems to pull away. Maybe closeness starts to feel suffocating just as things get serious. Maybe you're the one who keeps the peace, says yes when you mean no, and quietly resents it later.
These patterns usually make sense once you see where they come from. Individual therapy gives you space to understand how you connect with others, why certain moments hit so hard, and how you'd like to show up from here.
HOW IT CAN SHOW UP
How relationship patterns can show up
We don’t necessarily fit into just one attachment style. Relationship patterns can vary depending on the person, relationship, and situation, and you may recognize aspects of more than one.
Anxious Attachment
Worrying a partner is losing interest, needing reassurance to feel settled, feeling unsettled until a message comes back.
Avoidant Attachment
Feeling crowded when someone wants more closeness, handling hard feelings alone, losing interest as things get serious..
People-pleasing
Saying yes before checking if you want to, feeling responsible for others' moods, avoiding conflict until resentment builds.
Family Dynamics
Old roles, like the peacekeeper or the easy child, switching back on with partners, friends and at family gatherings.
UNDERSTANDING THE PATTERN
Why we're drawn to what feels familiar
When different ways of responding to closeness and conflict interact, they can sometimes create a push-pull cycle. For example, one person may seek more reassurance or connection when feeling uncertain, while the other may need more space. Each response can unintentionally intensify the other.
Relationship patterns can be shaped by many experiences, including early relationships, past partners, family dynamics, and what we’ve learned about closeness, trust, and conflict over time. Sometimes familiar ways of relating can continue into adulthood—even when they’re no longer working for us.
"Boundaries aren't the opposite of connection. They're what makes sustained connection possible."
FROM OUR BLOG · What Are Emotional Boundaries?
OUR APPROACH
How individual therapy can help
INSIGHT
Understanding your patterns
Recognizing patterns as they happen, not just in hindsight, and the fears and needs underneath your reactions.
BOUNDARIES
Boundaries & communication
Setting healthy, reasonable limits and expressing needs without excessive guilt, using communication skills you can try in real conversations.
SECURITY
Feeling steadier in relationships
Soothing relationship anxiety in ways that don't rely only on reassurance, and choosing who you're drawn to more intentionally.
What the first few sessions involve
1
Your first session
Getting to know you: what's been happening and what you'd like to be different. You share at your own pace.
2
The next few sessions
3
Mapping your patterns together and outlining your goals, usually with one small, practical thing to try each week.
From there
We balance insight and skills, checking in regularly about what's helping and adjusting as we go!
YOUR THERAPIST
Salena Javdan, Registered Psychotherapist
Salena's attachment-informed approach helps you understand the relationship patterns, family dynamics and attachment styles that keep repeating. She combines insight into where these patterns come from with practical tools for boundaries, communication and feeling more secure in yourself and relationships.
CBT · DBT · Attachment-informed · Compassion-focused
PRACTICAL DETAILS
Getting started with Atria
Virtual across Ontario
Sessions take place online through Jane, our secure booking and video platform, from anywhere you have privacy in Ontario. Phone sessions are also available.
Fees
Individual sessions are $150 for a 50-minute session. Many extended health plans cover psychotherapy with a Registered Psychotherapist; check you plans for details.
Free 15-min consults.
A short, no-pressure call to talk about what's bringing you in, ask questions, and see whether working together feels like a fit.
Not a crisis service
If you're in crisis, call or text 9-8-8, call 911, or go to your nearest emergency department. See our crisis resources.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Virtual Therapy Across Ontario
Providing virtual therapy and counselling services to clients across Ontario, including Toronto, Mississauga, Vaughan, Richmondhill, Markham, Hamilton, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and surrounding communities.