Robin Roger MA, Dip ATPPP, Member CAPT

Every human being is a complex, fascinating creature  with a unique history.  Although there are certain broad strokes in the stories that people tell me  in therapy, each person comes with a very personal, individual challenge.  My goal is to help you understand your own unique self so  well that you  can pursue a life that suits you best. 

 This process involves simple components:  a quiet room, complete confidentiality, undivided attention, regular appointments  and a shared desire to understand.  From that starting point you  and I  explore your inner life together.  Our ongoing conversation can be about anything and everything:  your   concerns, pressures, quandaries, aspirations, pleasures, pains, rewards, frustrations, dreams and realities .  Themes and insights emerge from that dialogue  that shed light on who you are,  how you came to  be that person and ways that change can occur. 

Putting your feelings into words and expressing them to a person who wants to hear them and understand you brings surprising self knowledge,  intense relief and  genuine change.    When confusion and thwarted feelings and fantasies are brought into the open, you become free to put your understanding and energy to new and more productive ways of living. 

My part  first and foremost, is  to listen  attentively, reflectively, impartially, and receptively. Your part  is to simply tell me what is on your mind. I offer thoughts  about what I hear being revealed and concealed, point out emotional patterns that might have remained hidden,   consider how the relationship we are developing might bear a resemblance to other relationships you’ve had in the past, and  bit by bit  we arrive together at a new understanding of who you are and how you can move into a different future.    

 Mental anguish is far more debilitating and far more common than  is ever fully acknowledged.   You don’t necessarily see it in others when you look around and this can make it seem as if psychotherapy is a desperate measure suitable only  for people in crisis.  But serious emotional challenges  arise in every life.   Everyone should feel free to seek help with those challenges. 

About Myself

I received my Master’s Degree from University of Toronto and am a graduate of  the Advanced Training Program in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society.    I’m also a writer,editor and passionate reader.  I frequently review books on mental health   for such publications as The Globe and Mail,The National Post, and  The Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis. 

My formal training is only part of my psychotherapeutic education.  It’s often said that psychotherapists are born, not made.  In my case that means that the formal credentials, significant as they are, are only the final professional step at the end of a lifetime of studying human beings with burning curiosity, deep concern and ongoing passion.  I began training as soon as I was old enough to know that there were creatures in the world who needed to be figured out and I’ll go on trying to understand myself and others as long as I live.

Because psychotherapy is a partnership, it’s important to see how you feel with a potential therapist before you make a decision.  I’d be pleased to meet with you for a 45 minute free consultation to chat about psychotherapy, answer questions you might have,  and give you a chance to get to know me a little bit.  Here’s where my office is located.