Like undoubtedly many of their patients, Peaks and Valleys Therapy recently found itself at a crossroads – both in the literal and figurative sense.
Owner and lifelong Georgetown resident Allie Farrell made the decision to move her business from Acton to Georgetown late last year. She and her team are now located at 232A Guelph St., firmly situating their diverse skill set where Hwy. 7 and Mountainview Road meet.
They bring expertise in dealing with things like trauma, grief, addiction and various neurodivergent disorders.
As seeking help can be intimidating for prospective patients – the mere act of asking being itself an obstacle – Farrell says she and her team are sure to welcome new patients with open arms.
“It's scary to approach, right? I think sometimes as therapists it's so normalized for us and we forget that. So, I always applaud people for booking a free consultation,” Farrell said. “It's important to meet with a few people because that therapeutic relationship is key. You really want to have that vibe check.”
Farrell works alongside therapists Sean Ajilore, Martha Williams, Rae Foghi and Melissa Lerner at the clinic. Between them, their clients have access to therapeutic tools like cognitive and dialectical behavioural therapies, emotional freedom techniques and somatic approaches, among many others.
They can help couples revive their marriages, find the healer inside traumatized people and build consistency in the lives of people with ADHD, to name a few.
Aside from English, Alijore speaks the West African language of Yoruba, Foghi can speak Farsi and Williams speaks Slovenian.
Farrell works with a wide range of ages, including some as young as teenagers, which probably shouldn’t be surprising.
The former teacher told HaltonHillsToday that being the “safe adult” for vulnerable middle schoolers is one of the major reasons why she got into psychotherapy.
“The biggest thing I learned [as a teacher] is that everybody has something that they are dealing with, regardless of how they present themselves. So it's so important to keep that in mind in all of our dealings,” Farrell explained.
One of the more common complaints patients come to psychotherapists like her is feeling burnt out. Her profession is not the only one noticing the trend, as noted in a June 2024 study by international Human Resources consulting firm Robert Half.
In the report, 36 per cent of the 1,132 Canadian professionals questioned said that they reported feeling more burnt out than the year before. Millennial and Gen Z workers reported the highest levels of mental fatigue.
In addressing issues like burnout, seasonal depressive disorder and being a people-pleaser to one’s own detriment, Peaks and Valleys also maintains a blog to help educate local residents.