Adults
Navigating adulthood can be both challenging and confusing. You want to succeed and do well, but the harsh realities of accumulating stress, relationship problems, and your own insecurities might be holding you back. You value your emotional health, but you may not know how to truly take care of yourself.
Working with a therapist can help you feel supported and understood. At Boreal Therapy Collective, we support adults with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, work stress, relationship problems, boundaries, and more.
For adult therapy, book with:
Amy Parsons
D’Arcy Arseneau
Dayirai Kapfunde (virtual only)
Kenneth Guye (virtual only)
Kim Cardinal
Lyndsy Stevenson
Samantha LeBlanc
Sarah Callin
Common Challenges Adults Face
Adult issues range in complexity, and they can include everything from identity concerns to depression to social anxiety to work-related stress. Sometimes these issues are new to adulthood, but other times, they speak to core struggles you may have started experiencing as a child or teenager. In many cases, the stress compounds gradually.
Making big decisions: From choosing a career to relationship commitments to deciding where your child will attend school, adults are constantly faced with significant choices about their present and future. These decisions can feel daunting, especially if you don't know the best option for your needs, or if you need to make a decision quickly.
Family stress: You may have unresolved issues from your family of origin, including past trauma or relationship difficulties. Likewise, you encounter stress in your current family, whether that includes managing dynamics with extended family members or with your own children. Family stress can be challenging to navigate, and it can pull some of the most vulnerable heartstrings.
Substance use or compulsive habits: Do you escape to cope with stress or feel better about yourself? Adults struggling with compulsive behaviour (substance use, self-harm, disordered eating, shopping) may believe that these issues will resolve over time. However, the opposite tends to be true. Unresolved compulsive habits tend to worsen progressively.
Dating and stress within intimate relationships: Relationship issues can feel complicated at all stages of life. Whether you’re deciding to get married, divorced, or simply having problems with your partner, it can take a toll to navigate these challenges.
Serious mental health concerns: The onset of many serious mental health issues first emerge in young adulthood. However, they can occur at any time, and they can range from being mildly uncomfortable to downright debilitating. In more serious cases, these issues can escalate into suicidal ideation.
Grief and Loss: Adulthood is full of grief, from losing loved ones to watching the kids grow up to leaving a meaningful job. Grief is not bad or wrong, but it can be painful, and feeling alone in your complex feelings can hinder the grief process.
How Therapy Can Help Improve Your Emotional Well-Being
Many adults struggle with feeling insecure, ashamed, or not enough. It can seem like all the other people have something you don't. In reality, most people struggle, even if they seem outwardly successful or confident. Here are some ways therapy can help if you're experiencing difficulties.
Clarify your main values: Who are you, really? What priorities matter most to you? What goals are you working toward? If you don’t know the answers to these more existential questions, therapy offers a safe space for deeper introspection and reflection. Knowing your values can help you with your self-esteem and your decision-making process.
Set healthy boundaries in your relationships: From setting new limits with your aging parents to coping with dating challenges to reevaluating unhealthy friendships, adulthood comes with many relationship challenges. Therapy can help you define boundaries in ways that honour your integrity and convey a sense of respect to others.
Practice more self-care: Many adults are busy and completely strapped for time. But if you consistently neglect your needs, you will feel even more exhausted and resentful. Therapy can help you ground yourself with better coping skills, healthier routines, and more mindfulness practices.
Improve your self-esteem: Low self-esteem can erode your relationship with yourself and with others. It can also coincide with other issues, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse, self-harm, and poor emotional regulation. The therapeutic process can help you address negative thought patterns and develop more realistic, balanced thoughts about yourself.
Decrease/eliminate problematic mental health symptoms: Mental health symptoms can worsen progressively without treatment. Things may feel frightening or even hopeless, and you might naturally feel frustrated about your ability to manage your well-being. Therapy can help you improve how you cope with stress and regulate your emotions.
Therapy for Adults in Fort McMurray
How to Start Therapy
Beginning therapy with Boreal Therapy Collective is easy and requires no referral. You can book your initial assessment here.
Understanding Length of Therapy and Treatment
Your first appointment will be 90-minutes long. For all future appointments, you can choose to book for 1 hour or 90-minutes. During your first appointment, your therapist will ask you questions to better understand you and your struggles. This is known as an assessment. Depending on how much you share, the assessment phase can last anywhere from one to three appointments. The assessment is critical. It helps you and your therapist understand your goals, and it helps your therapist develop a treatment plan to support you in achieving these goals.
After the assessment is complete, treatment begins! In the treatment phase, you will be introduced to a variety of skills to practice and implement to better manage your symptoms. Most people will have a therapy session every two weeks, and we recommend this for optimal treatment. Effective therapy typically takes somewhere between six to twelve appointments (for some more, others less). Many choose to continue therapy once formal treatment is complete. This is referred to as maintenance. People who do this typically have an appointment once every six to eight weeks. This is not a requirement and is a matter of personal choice.
Therapy for Adults at Boreal Therapy Collective
Where We Are Located
We’re located at 8530 Manning Avenue, Unit 104. You’ll find us in the Service Canada building (on the side of the building that faces the Clearwater River). To check out our space, click here.
Parking is located at the front and back of the building. The front parking lot is closer to us but tends to fill up quickly. There is also an empty dirt lot adjacent to our office that many use for parking. If you park at the back (where Service Canada is located), you can walk around the building to reach our office. To learn more about parking, click here.
Importantly, you do not need to be in town for treatment. We offer in-person and virtual therapy and our therapists are happy to provide whatever option works best for you!
Rates & Benefit Coverage
Initial assessments are billed at a rate of $330.00 for a 90-minute appointment. Follow-up sessions are billed at a rate of $220.00/hour or $330.00/90-minutes (you can choose your preferred appointment length when booking).
Our social workers offer direct billing to 25+ benefit providers. Many benefit providers will cover a portion or the whole amount of your therapy session. With your consent, we will always direct bill your benefit provider first. Please note that our Registered Psychiatric Nurses are typically ineligible for direct billing.
If we are unable to direct bill, you can pay via email money transfer or credit card. You will be given a receipt once payment has been collected. For more information on benefit coverage, click here.
