Kumasi Jay Gwynne

(he/him)

Registered Psychotherapist (RP)

Licensed with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO)

Why Starting Therapy Can Be Hard

Opening yourself up to anyone, including a therapist, can be hard. There are many valid reasons why people may be hesitant to start therapy.

Some people may have had poor experiences with therapists in the past.

Others may worry simply because the process of therapy is foreign to them.

Some people fear opening themselves up to a stranger may cause them more anxiety, shame and judgment.

I can tell you that the safety and growth of my clients is of upmost importance to me, but I know that I can’t just tell you to trust me…I need to prove myself to you over time.

How I Can Help

I want to help you navigate your emotional world with empathy, sensitivity, and patience.

I want you to be able to talk about hard things like identity, family and community.

I want you to be able to talk about relationships, your mood, substance use, and trauma (including racial trauma).

It matters to me what you are fighting up against.

Our emotional distress is often linked to our relational contexts (meaning our interpersonal patterns and interactions).

Everyone has their own unique self-experience grounded in their experience with others.

I want to know who you are and how others have affected you.

I want to provide a space where you can articulate hard things, without worrying about my reaction.

How I Work

I am a trauma-informed therapist that works collaboratively with my clients so that we can navigate things like complex trauma.

I work with people wanting to heal their relational trauma, whether that trauma comes from things like neglect, betrayal or oppression. I also challenge systems of oppression and focus on context instead of focusing on personal pathology.

I believe that harmful systemic systems oppress us and can impact us and show up in a multitude of ways.

I believe that intersectional identities should be treated with the complexity that they deserve. You should be able to feel like you can bring your full self into a therapy session. You should also have the expectation that I (or any therapist) will examine our own biases and privileges, so we ourselves do not get in the way of your therapy.

I work well with people who have been missed or harmed by traditional mental health services. The psychotherapy profession has historically pathologized and cast aside many individuals. I hope to acknowledge poor experiences, and work towards providing better care.

My goal is to provide a space where connected healing can take root.

Areas of Focus

(including, but not limited to)

Relationships (not just purely romantic ones)
Depression/Mania
Anxiety
Addiction/Substance Use
Trauma
Shame
Polyamory
Queer/Non-binary/Transgender Issues
Adoption/Transracial adoption
Neurodiversity
Intergenerational Trauma
Emotional Abuse
BIPOC Issues
Cultural Disconnection
Disability
Boundaries
Identity
Internalized Oppression

A Little About Me

I have been a huge music fan since I was a child. I can usually be found on public transportation or wandering about on foot in Toronto with big headphones on. I have a very wide range of music that I listen to, and it is always getting wider.

I grew up on the west side of Toronto and currently reside in Scarborough. I have lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, and Chicago.

I’m a plant person who likes growing vegetables on balconies.

I sometimes like cooking and sometimes find it frustrating.

I frequently cycle through different hobbies and go down numerous YouTube rabbit holes a week.

I also like looking at art and finding nature within the city.

I used to have an introverted shih-tzu, but now I have an extroverted shih-poo.

Contact Me

Offering secure, confidential virtual individual psychotherapy sessions across Ontario; 50-minute sessions

$150/hour
(limited sliding scale spots)