We Are a Network of Queer and Trans-identified Mental Health Professionals Who Serve the 2SLGBTQIA Community
Finding LGBTQ mental health counseling in Grassie that actually meets you where you are is harder than it should be. You sit across from a well-meaning therapist and spend the first session explaining what it means to be queer, or trans, or in a non-traditional relationship. You're not there to educate. You're there because you need help. Umbrella Mental Health Network brings together registered psychotherapists and social workers in Toronto and across the Greater Toronto Area who specialize in exactly this kind of culturally grounded care for the 2SLGBTQIA community. Grassie is a small, tight-knit community where many people know each other. That closeness has real value, but it can also mean limited access to affirming mental health care that doesn't carry the weight of local visibility or misunderstanding. Someone exploring their gender identity, processing trauma, or navigating a queer relationship deserves a therapist who doesn't require an orientation session and who understands the specific pressures of living authentically in a smaller town. Umbrella's approach to LGBTQ mental health counseling in Grassie centers trauma-informed practice grounded in feminism, social justice, and decolonization. This isn't therapy that pathologizes queerness or asks you to make yourself smaller. Instead, the work happens within a framework that recognizes how systemic oppression, family dynamics, and internalized messages shape your experience. The therapists understand gender identity exploration not as a problem to solve but as a legitimate and often necessary part of becoming whole. They work with individuals around anxiety and depression in contexts that honor the real stressors of queer life, not just chemical imbalance narratives. Individual psychotherapy with Umbrella means working one-on-one with a clinician who has deep expertise in queer and trans experience. Sessions focus on what brought you in: whether that's processing past trauma, understanding your sexuality or gender, managing mental health symptoms, or working through relationships. Because Umbrella serves the wider GTA-including Grassie, Toronto, and surrounding communities-sessions can happen in-person or online, making consistent care accessible even if you're not in a major urban center. For couples and people exploring ethical non-monogamy, Umbrella offers relationship counseling that doesn't default to heteronormative models. Two partners working through intimacy issues, a triad navigating communication, someone in an ethically non-monogamous relationship wanting support-all of this is met with expertise, not judgment. The therapists understand sex-positive frameworks and alternative relationship structures as legitimate expressions of human connection. Trauma recovery is central to Umbrella's work. Many LGBTQ+ people arrive in therapy carrying experiences of rejection, discrimination, conversion pressure, or sexual harm. The clinical team uses evidence-based trauma treatment approaches within a lens that recognizes how identity-based trauma operates differently than other forms of hurt. This specificity matters. Youth and young adults in Grassie benefit from counselors who understand adolescent development alongside queer identity formation. Coming out, navigating school and family, managing dysphoria, exploring sexuality-all of this unfolds differently than it does for straight, cisgender peers, and therapy with Umbrella accounts for that reality. Choosing a therapist is personal. You might be asking whether to work with someone online or in-person, whether you want to focus on a specific issue like trauma or take a broader exploratory approach, or whether you're looking for individual therapy, couples work, or family counseling. Umbrella offers all of these, and because the practice is rooted in anti-oppressive values, you're not starting from a place where you have to prove your identity or your right to healing is legitimate. The clinical staff at Umbrella includes registered psychotherapists and social workers trained in trauma-informed care. This means they understand how past hurt shows up in your nervous system, your relationships, and your daily life-and how to work with that gently and effectively. Many clients in Grassie and across the GTA choose Umbrella because they can arrive exactly as they are and be met with competence and warmth. If you're in Grassie and searching for LGBTQ mental health support that feels both professionally rigorous and genuinely affirming, Umbrella Mental Health Network is ready to talk. You can reach out through their website to learn more about therapists, services, and how to begin. There's no pressure, no questionnaire designed to test whether your experience is "real" enough. Just a team of clinicians committed to supporting your healing and growth. Yes. Umbrella Mental Health Network serves Grassie and the Greater Toronto Area with specialized LGBTQ counseling and psychotherapy. Sessions can happen in-person or online, making care accessible whether you're in Grassie, Toronto, or another community in the region. The therapists specialize in trauma recovery, gender identity exploration, couples therapy, and mental health support grounded in queer-affirming practice. Therapists specializing in LGBTQ mental health understand the specific context of queer and trans life-family rejection, discrimination, identity exploration, and the stress of living authentically in a sometimes hostile world. They don't pathologize your sexuality or gender and approach mental health symptoms within that reality. Umbrella's practice also centers trauma-informed care, social justice values, and sex-positivity, meaning you won't be asked to shrink yourself to fit a therapist's worldview. Yes. Umbrella provides couples therapy and ethical non-monogamy counseling for LGBTQ+ partners and relationships. The therapists understand diverse relationship structures and work with couples around communication, intimacy, and conflict using frameworks that don't impose heteronormative assumptions. This includes support for two-person couples, triads, and people navigating ethical non-monogamy.Lgbtq Mental Health Counseling Grassie
Why Grassie residents need specialized LGBTQ mental health support
What LGBTQ Mental Health Counseling in Grassie actually looks like at Umbrella
Finding the right fit for your mental health needs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there LGBTQ mental health counseling available in Grassie?
What makes LGBTQ mental health counseling different from regular therapy?
Does Umbrella offer counseling for couples and alternative relationships?

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







