Are you struggling with stress, anxiety, overwhelm, or negative thinking and patterns you wish you could change?

Do you feel stuck?

Hi, I'm Natsumi. Together we'll work to help you overcome these challenges, get unstuck, and develop a better relationship with yourself and others so that you can live a more joyful, balanced, and meaningful life as defined by you. 

Whether the issue you're dealing with has been bothering you for a short time or for years, I can help you understand the difficulties you're facing, make changes, and experience relief.

Approach

My approach is grounded in building a relationship where you feel safe, supported, and understood. I integrate empirically supported  mindfulness-based therapies and emotion-focused experiential and cognitive behavioural therapies that access resources of the mind and body. We will work collaboratively to tailor these approaches to help you get what you need out of therapy and make the changes you want. 

Expertise

I have a PhD in Clinical Psychology from McGill and over 12 years of experience providing therapy in private, hospital, and research settings. I currently specialize in working with people experiencing difficulties related to anxiety and stress, mood and motivation, food/eating, and relationships and life transitions. I continually develop my expertise through ongoing training.​

Accessibility

 I offer online therapy to residents of British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. This allows you to attend therapy from the comfort and privacy of your home. Online booking and payment and appointment reminders are available.

Approach

Effective therapy is rooted in a caring relationship where people feel safe and understood. My first priority will always be to nurture and respect our relationship while we work towards your goals. 

Practically speaking you can also expect that we will:
  • Define your goals and what you want from therapy
  • Help you understand the issues you're dealing with and develop a clearer and more compassionate understanding of the situation and your history, patterns, and yourself
  • Develop a plan to help you move towards your goals
  • Execute our plan by:
    • Accessing my expertise in psychology 
    • Helping you tap into your inner wisdom, skills, and resources
    • Ensuring you feel supported as you develop new insights and learn, grow, and make meaningful and transformative change
  • Evaluate our progress and refine our plan as needed​

I integrate empirically-supported mindfulness-based therapies, emotion-focused experiential therapies, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT) that draw on the resources of both the mind and body.

​Expertise

I'm a PhD-level psychologist trained at McGill University. I have post-doctoral training through the DBT Centre and Simon Fraser University. 

I have worked in hospital and private practice settings and on research studies with individuals with a wide range of difficulties for over 12 years. I continually update and develop my expertise through continued education and consultation. 

My expertise is in mindfulness-based therapies, emotion-focused experiential therapies, and CBT. I have training in Mindful Self Compassion, Hakomi, Motivational Interviewing, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and I draw from these therapies in my work. I am a mindfulness meditation and trauma-informed yoga teacher.

I specialize in helping people with:
  • Anxiety, worry, negative thinking
  • Stress management
  • Low mood and motivation
  • Clarifying values, goals, and direction
  • Challenges with life transitions
  • Difficulty managing emotions
  • Family and relationship difficulties 
  • Work related challenges and stress
  • ​​​Low self esteem and self confidence and self criticism
Dr. Natsumi Sawada, Psychologist
​MindBright Psychology
Online therapy and Consulting
British Columbia - Alberta - Ontario