We Are a Network of Queer and Trans-identified Mental Health Professionals Who Serve the 2SLGBTQIA Community
You're sitting in your kitchen in Rockwood on a weeknight, and your chest feels tight. Maybe you've been avoiding a conversation with your partner about what you both actually need. Maybe you're questioning something about yourself and don't know who to talk to. Maybe something happened years ago that still finds you at 2 a.m. You know you need support, but the thought of explaining your full identity and context to yet another therapist exhausts you before you even dial. LGBTQ mental health counseling in Rockwood from Umbrella Mental Health Network begins where you are-with therapists who understand the specific weight of living authentically in a world not always built for you. Rockwood is a community where people are building real lives: raising families, working, loving, healing. The folks here deserve mental health care that doesn't require you to translate your existence or defend your choices. Umbrella Mental Health Network serves Rockwood and the Greater Toronto Area with registered psychotherapists and social workers trained in trauma-informed, anti-oppressive practice. This means the conversation starts from a foundation of belief in your agency and respect for your lived experience. Culturally competent mental health support recognizes that your identity-your gender, sexuality, relationship structure, trauma history, and the specific ways you move through the world-shapes everything about your mental health and what healing looks like for you. Because Umbrella Mental Health Network specializes in 2SLGBTQIA communities, the therapists you work with don't need to be educated on the basics of your identity. They can meet you at the depth and complexity of your actual experience. This matters concretely. When you're exploring your gender identity, a therapist grounded in gender-affirming care isn't asking whether you should transition-they're working with you to understand what authenticity means for you, whatever form that takes. When you're in a polyamorous or open relationship and seeking couples support, your therapist isn't working from a default assumption of monogamy. When you're a trauma survivor from a marginalized community, your therapist understands how oppression and violence are intertwined, and how healing requires naming that reality. The therapeutic approach at Umbrella Mental Health Network draws on: Umbrella Mental Health Network offers several pathways to support, each tailored to where you are in your journey. Individual psychotherapy addresses the full range of mental health concerns-anxiety, depression, identity questions, grief, and recovery from trauma-but always grounded in understanding how these experiences show up specifically for LGBTQ individuals. A therapist working with you in Rockwood isn't treating depression as though it's the same for everyone; they're attuned to how marginalization, disclosure decisions, and systemic stress shape your mental health. For couples and those in non-traditional relationship structures, couples therapy and ethical non-monogamy counseling at Umbrella Mental Health Network creates space to address conflict, communication, and desire without judgment. Whether you're navigating polyamory, open relationships, or a queer partnership with its own particular dynamics, this service starts from the premise that your relationship structure is valid and deserves skilled support. Trauma recovery and PTSD treatment addresses how past experiences-whether from violence, discrimination, medical trauma, or other sources-live in your body and mind. Because trauma often intersects with identity and systemic harm, this work is grounded in understanding how oppression and violence connect. Gender and sexual identity exploration offers dedicated space to think through questions about who you are, what feels true, and how to honor your authentic self. Young people in Rockwood benefit from youth and young adult counseling that meets the particular pressures of developing your identity during adolescence and early adulthood. This includes support for gender and sexual questions, family relationships, peer dynamics, and the specific mental health challenges facing young LGBTQ people. Living in Rockwood as an LGBTQ person means you're part of a real community with real needs. You might be someone who spent years in conversion therapy or religious settings and is now grieving and rebuilding. You might be a parent figuring out how to raise queer or trans children with integrity. You might be trans and navigating medical care, legal systems, and daily safety with exhaustion. You might be someone whose sexuality or gender doesn't fit neat categories and you're tired of having to explain. What draws people to Umbrella Mental Health Network is the certainty that you won't have to do that explaining work in therapy. You won't hear assumptions that your relationships should look a certain way or that your gender is something to overcome. You won't encounter surprise or disapproval. The therapist you work with in Rockwood has chosen this specialization because they understand that affirming mental health care for LGBTQ communities isn't an add-on-it's a fundamental commitment. The practice combines deep professional skill with genuine investment in social justice. These aren't generic therapists with a rainbow sticker; they're clinicians trained specifically in the intersections of identity, trauma, systemic oppression, and healing. They understand that mental health for LGBTQ people isn't just about symptom reduction. It's about recovery, authenticity, and the possibility of building lives where you're not constantly managing other people's discomfort. If you're in Rockwood or the Greater Toronto Area and you're searching for mental health support that actually sees you, reach out to Umbrella Mental Health Network. Visit their website to learn more about their therapists, their approach, and how to begin a conversation about what you need. There's no pressure to have everything figured out before you call-that's what therapy is for. Yes. Umbrella Mental Health Network provides trauma-informed, culturally competent counseling and psychotherapy for 2SLGBTQIA individuals and couples throughout Rockwood and the Greater Toronto Area. Their therapists specialize in gender identity exploration, couples therapy, trauma recovery, and the full spectrum of mental health support grounded in anti-oppressive practice. Umbrella Mental Health Network's therapists are trained specifically in working with LGBTQ communities and understand how identity, systemic oppression, and trauma intersect. You won't need to educate your therapist about your identity or defend your choices. The work is grounded in feminist values, social justice, anti-oppressive practice, and affirmation of your lived experience. In addition to individual psychotherapy, Umbrella offers couples therapy and ethical non-monogamy counseling, specialized trauma and PTSD treatment, gender and sexual identity exploration, and youth and young adult counseling. Each service is designed with LGBTQ-specific expertise and cultural competence.Lgbtq Mental Health Counseling Rockwood
What Makes Culturally Competent Care Different
Services Designed for Rockwood's LGBTQ Community
Why Rockwood Residents Choose This Approach
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Umbrella Mental Health Network offer LGBTQ mental health counseling in Rockwood?
What makes this different from regular therapy?
What services does Umbrella Mental Health Network offer beyond individual therapy?

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







