Our Team
Annya Cajal
Psychotherapist
*NOT TAKING NEW CLIENTS
Hi! My name is Annya Cajal, and I am a licensed Psychotherapist. I specialize in helping adults struggling with a wide variety of issues such as depression, anxiety, difficulty with life transitions, depleted self-esteem, body image struggles, as well as vocational, academic, relationship, sexual and burnout difficulties. My primary goal is to provide a safe environment for my clients experiencing life difficulties. I aim to help you develop effective and ongoing coping skills.
I believe that by helping you reach greater self-awareness, you will be able to get a clearer understanding of the root causes of your day-to-day struggles, and therefore reach a sense of inner peace. It is particularly important to me that you feel comfortable, heard, and understood in our sessions. I am here to listen to any of your thoughts or feelings, no matter how scary you feel those thoughts are.
I believe that every individual deserves to feel confident, valuable, and worthy of respect. Whether low self-esteem is caused by unsupportive environments, bullying, stressful life events, poor academic or professional performance, I know first-hand how much it can negatively impact day-to-day life. I am confident that we can work together to help you step away from that dark cloud over your head.
I have experience working in an employee assistance program, offering support to individuals in crisis. Before I began studying psychology, I spent a lot of my time volunteering in senior living facilities, offering emotional support to the patients. Each patient had so much wisdom to offer, and they were each deserving of empathy and human connection. Empathic listening, unconditional acceptance and non-judgment are skills that have stayed with me throughout all my years of volunteering, and now in my career as a therapist. I have always been fascinated by languages, and have recently learned Italian, in addition to speaking English, French and Romanian.
I have a master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville university. I received my bachelor’s degree in Psychology from McGill University, and my certificate in sexology from Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. I am a licensed psychotherapist with the Quebec order of psychologists. Ever since I can remember, I have always had, and continue to have, a genuine love for helping people who are struggling. I enjoy learning how a person’s characteristics interact with environmental factors, and how it can impact development throughout the lifespan. More than ever, it’s essential to understand, prevent, and alleviate psychologically-caused distress and continue to promote every individual’s well-being from early on.
My clinical approach consists of collaborative approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic and humanistic therapy. My job is to listen very carefully to what you say, as well as what you don’t say. By reflecting those thoughts to you, we get to uncover your emotional reactions to situations, thoughts, behaviors, or your interpersonal interactions. I use techniques that allow you to gain greater appreciation of the important role that emotions play in your overall state. I also assist you in identifying your triggers, immediate and deeper emotions, to better understand your needs.
As a dedicated therapist in training, I work to continuously increase my own knowledge. I am accepting and supportive of diversity in my clients, and respect each individual’s identification with their religion, gender, or sexual orientation, among others. I believe my clients have a lot to teach me as well. I strive to develop a strong therapeutic alliance with all my clients.
I genuinely look forward to working with you, and offering you the support and guidance you need to heal.