Leslie Kirsh
MEd, RP
(she/her)
Registered Psychotherapist
AREAS OF FOCUS
- Family Therapy
- Trans and Queer Youth
- Impact of Oppression on Mental Health
I am a queer, white, cisgender psychotherapist who works with individuals, parents, and families and am a registered psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. I completed my MEd in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto.
“Your family is your first teacher of the world and yourself. We must start here.”
I am trained as a family therapist in Attachment Based Family Therapy, which is foundational to my practice; I am a mother to two children. I work with young people and their parents, adults and their parents, siblings (both youth and adults), as well as complex relationships between friends. In individual therapy, I am curious about the client’s relationship to their family of origin, as well as chosen family, and how those formative relationships have shaped their understanding of themselves and of their world. I use complementary modalities including: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Therapy.
I approach my practice from an anti-racist/anti-oppressive and trauma-informed lens, helping clients understand the connections between structural oppressions (e.g. transphobia and racism) and mental well-being. I have extensive experience facilitating support groups for parents who have just learned of their child’s gender identity or sexuality and specialize in working with queer and trans youth.