Shift Cognitive Therapy – Our 20th Anniversary!

This year marks an important, twenty-year anniversary for myself and the team here at Shift Cognitive Therapy. Realizing that doing private practice work felt more satisfying than working in hospital or university settings, I left my last job in 2004 and rented the space I could afford at the time. To call it a small ‘office’ would have been generous because it was actually a large, storage closet in the back of a doctor’s office. Filled with bankers’ boxes and a chest freezer that hummed loudly as it cycled on and off through the day, I would clear a space for the folding chairs I was using at the time, stacking as much as I could against the walls. The setting never failed to provide an amusing start to appointments with first-time clients, but we quickly got down to the business of helping them deal with their anxiety, depression and life issues, and the appearance of my ‘office’ faded into the background.

Spending my off-hours networking with referral sources in the Oakville community, I built my caseload to the point where, in 2005, I could afford a proper office and took a single room here at 466 Speers Road. Making use of the administrative support available helped me to multiply my efforts and gradually rent a second office and hire another clinician. Over the following years, that turned into a third clinician, and then a fourth and, eventually the beautiful offices of our current space. At this time, the Shift Cognitive Therapy team includes six psychologists, two registered psychotherapists and a practicum student!

I am grateful for the fantastic group of clinicians I have had the privilege of working alongside over this past 20 years. They are wonderful people and excellent at their jobs. All of us are also indebted to the thousands of clients who have entrusted us with their lives and their care over the years. Therapy is very different than, say, getting a massage of having your teeth cleaned. When good therapy is happening there’s no such thing as one person sitting back while the other does the work. Rather, therapy is always a joint effort built on the foundation of a strong relationship between people. Over these 20 years, my team of clinicians and I have had incredible opportunities to build such relationships with our clients and, as a team, we are proud to be able to continue providing psychological and therapy services to you.

Happy anniversary to us!