We Are a Network of Queer and Trans-identified Mental Health Professionals Who Serve the 2SLGBTQIA Community
LGBTQ mental health counseling in Clear Creek connects queer, trans, and two-spirit individuals with therapists trained in the specific challenges facing 2SLGBTQIA communities. Umbrella Mental Health Network serves Clear Creek and the Greater Toronto Area with a practice rooted in trauma-informed care, anti-oppressive frameworks, and genuine affirmation of sexual and gender diversity. Not all therapists understand the particular mental health landscape queer and trans people navigate. Umbrella Mental Health Network employs registered psychotherapists and social workers with expertise across the specific issues that bring 2SLGBTQIA clients to therapy: coming out, family rejection, minority stress, gender transition support, and the compounded impact of discrimination on mental health. The clinicians here work from frameworks explicitly grounded in feminism, social justice, and decolonization, meaning they recognize how systemic oppression shapes individual distress. This is not generic talk therapy repackaged for LGBTQ clients. Because Clear Creek residents deserve counselors who understand both queer experience and clinical best practice, Umbrella's team brings depth in both domains. They can work with complex presentations like trauma layered with identity questions, or depression rooted in minority stress rather than neurochemistry alone. Many LGBTQ individuals carry trauma-whether from childhood abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, conversion efforts, or cumulative discrimination. Trauma-informed care means the therapist understands how the nervous system encodes threat, why certain words or situations trigger reactions, and how to build safety before asking someone to process difficult material. Umbrella's approach to trauma and PTSD treatment specifically integrates understanding of how marginalization compounds trauma recovery. In Clear Creek, where LGBTQ individuals may have experienced family conflict, religious trauma, or discrimination in schools or workplaces, this framework matters profoundly. Umbrella's clinicians know that healing requires not just processing the trauma itself, but rebuilding trust in a world that may have hurt you and understanding how systemic forces contributed to your wound. Identity questions do not follow a timeline, and they do not always resolve in a straight line. Whether you are a teenager in Clear Creek beginning to question your gender, a young adult exploring your sexuality, or someone further along who is still making sense of your orientation or presentation, Umbrella Mental Health Network offers space for that exploration without pressure toward any predetermined outcome. The practice specializes in gender identity exploration and supports clients across transition-related questions-social, medical, or both. This work happens with intellectual rigor and genuine care. Rather than pathologizing identity questions, the clinicians here treat exploration as meaningful self-knowledge. For youth and young adults in Clear Creek navigating identity in families or communities that may not affirm their authentic selves, this kind of support can be lifesaving. Umbrella also works with queer couples and those exploring alternative relationship structures, including ethical non-monogamy counseling, so your identity development happens within your full relational context. Sexual health and expression are mental health domains. Many therapists remain uncomfortable discussing sexuality, kink, or non-conventional desires with clients, leaving queer and trans people to compartmentalize or feel shame. Umbrella's practice operates from a framework of sex-positivity and kink-positivity, meaning sexuality and erotic exploration are understood as healthy dimensions of human experience when they involve consent and safety. This opens space to address genuine questions about desire, pleasure, sexual trauma recovery, and how sexuality integrates with identity and relationships. For Clear Creek residents navigating complex sexual identities, exploring BDSM or ethical non-monogamy, or recovering from sexual trauma while reclaiming desire, this orientation in the therapy room changes everything. You do not have to edit yourself or translate your experience into language you think a therapist will accept. The clinicians at Umbrella bring both clinical sophistication and authentic sex positivity to these conversations. If you live in Clear Creek and are seeking mental health support that honors your full identity as a queer, trans, or two-spirit person, Umbrella Mental Health Network is here. Reach out to learn how to begin working with a therapist who gets it. Umbrella serves the full 2SLGBTQIA spectrum: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, two-spirit, queer, and asexual/aromantic individuals and families. We also work with queer couples, those exploring gender and sexual identity, trauma survivors, and people interested in alternative relationship structures. Anyone seeking affirming, culturally competent mental health care rooted in social justice values is welcome. Yes. Umbrella Mental Health Network provides counseling to Clear Creek and the Greater Toronto Area. Our team of registered psychotherapists and social workers offers both in-person and virtual sessions, so you can access care whether you are in Clear Creek itself or elsewhere in the GTA. Trauma-informed care understands how the nervous system encodes threat and builds safety before processing difficult material. For LGBTQ clients, it also recognizes how marginalization and systemic oppression compound individual trauma. The therapist asks what happened to you, not what is wrong with you-a shift that fundamentally changes healing. Yes. Umbrella specializes in gender identity exploration and sexual identity questions. Exploration happens without pressure toward any predetermined outcome. The approach is affirming, intellectually rigorous, and grounded in genuine support for authentic self-knowledge. Yes. Umbrella offers couples therapy and ethical non-monogamy (ENM) counseling. The practice is sex-positive and kink-positive, meaning sexual diversity and alternative relationship structures are understood as healthy when they involve genuine consent and communication. Anti-oppressive therapy recognizes that mental health struggles are not only individual-they are shaped by systemic inequality, discrimination, and structural marginalization. The therapist actively works against replicating those power dynamics in the therapy room itself, centering your agency and connecting your experience to broader social context. Contact Umbrella Mental Health Network to learn about availability and how to book an initial consultation. The team can answer questions about their approach, discuss what you are looking for in therapy, and determine the best fit for your needs.Lgbtq Mental Health Counseling Clear Creek
1. Umbrella Brings Specialized Training to Clear Creek LGBTQ Counseling
2. Trauma-Informed Care Addresses What LGBTQ Clients in Clear Creek Actually Experience
Trauma-informed practice means the therapist asks "What happened to you?" not "What is wrong with you?"-a distinction that fundamentally changes how someone heals.
3. Umbrella Supports Gender and Sexual Identity Exploration at Every Stage
4. Clear Creek LGBTQ Counseling Integrates Sex and Kink Positivity into Mental Health Care
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of clients does Umbrella Mental Health Network serve in Clear Creek?
Is there LGBTQ mental health counseling near Clear Creek?
What makes trauma-informed LGBTQ counseling different from regular therapy?
Can I explore my gender identity or sexuality in therapy at Umbrella?
Does Umbrella Mental Health Network work with couples and non-monogamous relationships?
What is anti-oppressive therapy and why does it matter?
How do I get started with LGBTQ mental health counseling in Clear Creek?

Acknowledgement
Tkaronto and the surrounding areas that we serve are within the Dish With One Spoon Territory. The Dish With One Spoon is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and Peoples, Europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect.
We at Umbrella recognize that the professions of psychology, psychotherapy, and social work have roots in colonial violence. As psychotherapists and social workers, we understand that we have a responsibility to continuously work to decolonize the practice of psychotherapy/social work and acknowledge the origins of the various healing practices we utilize.
Our therapists actively engage in regular training that emphasizes professional development, team support, and sharing the current knowledge in 2SLGBTQIA mental health, to ensure the highest level of care for our clients.
Meet Our Team
Christopher Shillington
MA, CCC, RP
(they/them)
Clinic Director/ Registered Psychotherapist
Areas of focus:
- Healthy Relationships
- Intersectional Identities
- Trauma & PTSD

Andrés Gayoso Descalzi
MSW,RSW
(he/him)
Registered Social Worker
Areas of focus:
- Gender Identity & Embodiment
- Life Changes & Transitions
- 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth & Families

Aysha Natsheh
MSW, RSW
Registered Social Worker
Areas of focus:
- Food, Body, Self-Image
- Trauma
- Gender & Sexual Identity
Bushra Ahmed
MSW, RSW
Registered Social Worker
Areas of focus:
- 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth
- Exploring Neurodivergent Identities
- Impact of Oppression & Trauma on Mental Health

Clara Doucette
MA, RP (Qualifying)
(she/her)
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Areas of focus:
- Relational Styles & Attachment
- Friendships & Kinship
- Stress
Cressida Frey
MSW, RSW (she/her) Registered Social WorkerAreas of focus:
- Children, Adolescents and Adults
- Violence, Trauma and Healing
- Stress and Anxiety
Derek Cassidy
MSW, RSW
(he/him/they/them)
Registered Social Worker
Areas of focus:
- Relationships and Attachment
- Complex, Relational Trauma
- Sexuality and Sexual Health

Jesmen Mendoza
C.Psych. (he/him) Adjunct PsychologistAreas of focus:
- Complex Mental Health
- Consultation

Jett Peters
MSW Candidate
(they/them)
Student Therapist
Areas of focus:
- Gender Identity
- Relationship(s) with Food & Body
- Trauma
Kathryn Bargis
MSc, RP (she/her) Registered PsychotherapistAreas of focus:
- Relationships
- Trauma
- Gender and Sexual Identity
Maxine Bower
MSW, RSW (she/her) Registered Social WorkerAreas of focus:
- Attachment in Individuals and in Relationships
- Complex Trauma
- Deepening Connections
Nicholas Sorg
MSc, RP
(he/him)
Registered Psychotherapist
Areas of focus:
- Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
- Sexual Identity Development
- Alternative Relationships, Relationship and Family Stress
Rae Griffin-Carlson
MSW, RSW
(she/her)
Registered Social Worker
Areas of focus:
- 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth & Adults
- Stress, Anxiety & Depression
- Sexual & Gender-based Violence

Rahim Thawer
MSW, RSW
(he/him)
External Clinical Supervisor
Areas of focus:
- Identity Conflict & Shame
- Dating, Relationships, Single by Chance/Choice
- Sexualized Substance Use

Saadia Khan
BA (they/them) Administrative and Social Media Assistant
Stephanie Wu
RP, Professional Art Therapist
(they/them)
Registered Psychotherapist
Areas of focus:
- Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Assault & Childhood Abuse
- Impacts of Oppression
- 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth & Adults







