About Me

Thank you for taking the time to visit my website. I am an empathetic, caring and non-judgmental person who has dedicated himself to improving the lives of others through the vocation of counselling. I have been providing psychotherapy, personal counselling, career orientation and psychometric career testing in private practice for nearly 15 years. Before this, I practiced for years as a counsellor and psychotherapist within high school, CEGEP and University settings. During my career within the educational system I engaged in psychotherapy with clients from all walks of life: adolescent to adult clients, elite athletes, clients in professional programs (nurses, early childhood educators, respiratory technology students etc.), new immigrants, mandated clients, clients on academic probation, clients with special needs, etc. Helping and empathetically supporting clients through such a wide array of difficult presenting issues has given me a great deal of experience in personal, career, academic, mental health and crisis counselling with adolescents and adults.

Some of the main presenting issues I help clients with in my practice are: anxiety (generalized anxiety, work and school-related anxiety, worry, rumination etc.), stress-management (e.g. increasing life balance and self-care), career-related mental health (burnout, dissatisfaction, anxiety, workplace stress etc.), depression (depressed mood, low motivation, self-esteem etc.), addiction (helping clients to reduce and/or stop substance use: e.g. alcohol use, marijuana use and other substances), providing support and helping clients in coping with grief and loss, relationship issues (family, friendships, peer, and romantic relationships), and career orientation, reorientation, development and psychometric career testing. Furthermore, I have a great deal of experience in counselling Autistic clients and other Neurodivergent clients. Another point of great importance to me is that my office has always been, and always will be, a safe space for LGBTQ+ clients where they can receive affirmative care.

Every person who walks into my office is a unique individual, with different needs, strengths, beliefs, life situation and ways of perceiving the world around them. Due to this diversity, I tailor my counselling methods and interventions to each individual client while always maintaining a consistent underlying psychotherapeutic framework with all the clients I counsel. I work by using an evidence-based integrative counselling approach involving Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Person-Centered Psychotherapy, Motivational Interviewing and Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (treatment of substance use). These theoretical orientations guide me in all my work and provide me with the overarching goals, structure, techniques and objectives I follow with each client.

My Main Goals In Counselling Are:

A) To create a safe space where a strong, trusting, therapeutic relationship can be built

B) To provide the opportunity for new cognitive, emotional and behavioural learning experiences

C) Focusing on your strengths and competencies to increase your sense of agency and self-efficacy

D) To encourage real-life practice of the skills and ideas learned in counselling and psychotherapy

E) To guide you in finding your own solutions to the issues you are facing

My overall aim in counselling is to help you to live a happier and more fulfilling life, and to help you to discover and actualize the amazing potential that you have within you. Through psychotherapy, you can learn healthier ways of thinking, increase your self-acceptance and develop more flexible, encouraging views of yourself and your life. Furthermore, I am a very caring, kind and compassionate person who clients feel safe opening up to. I am here to listen to you and to be there for you.

I look forward to meeting you. Please read on for more information about myself and how I work.

Sincerely,

Richard Adler, M.A., c.o., Psychotherapist

Member of the l’Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation du Québec

https://www.orientation.qc.ca/

Holder of a Psychotherapy Permit from the Order of Psychologists of Quebec

https://www.ordrepsy.qc.ca/voir/RichardAdler