"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
― Anaïs Nin
Welcome! I’m Joanna Sulzycki (she/her).
I am a psychotherapy student, serving clients online in the greater Toronto area as of September, 2026. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to be notified when I open up bookings ($85/h) or if you have any questions!
If you are seeking to connect with a psychotherapist at a similar rate prior to September, 2026, Danny Gallagher is another student psychotherapist currently accepting clients at my supervising clinic, Acutoronto.
My Approach
My approach is humanistic and existential, which means I see therapy as a space to better understand yourself, explore what matters most to you, and make choices that feel more authentic and meaningful. I do not see people as problems to be fixed, but as human beings shaped by relationships, life experiences, inner conflicts, and larger systems.
In practice, my style is warm, reflective, and collaborative, and I draw from a range of approaches depending on the person and what they need. I use many cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based interventions to help make sense of patterns in thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, though I am not a strict CBT purist. I tend to approach these tools fairly flexibly and collaboratively — and with some recognition that many people (myself included) do not always thrive with heavy homework-based approaches. I especially value acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for its focus on psychological flexibility, examining relationships with our thoughts and emotions, and living in closer alignment with one’s values. I bring in dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) elements when helpful for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, grounding, and relationships. I also integrate psychodynamic, IFS-informed, and systems-based ways of working, which means I pay attention to deeper patterns, free association, different parts of the self, family and relational dynamics, and the broader contexts that shape a person’s inner world. Overall, I aim for therapy to feel both thoughtful and practical: a space for insight, emotional depth, and meaningful change.
Supervision
As a student therapist and soon-to-be Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), I work under the guidance of a clinical supervisor, which means I regularly consult with her about my client work. She also has access to my charts as part of that process, helping to ensure continuity, accountability, and thoughtful care. To learn more about the person behind the scenes who helps me help you:
Talia Singer
Talia Singer is a registered psychotherapist, mental health nurse and art therapist, located in Toronto near Yonge & Eglinton or online anywhere in Ontario.
FAQ
-
A free 15-minute virtual consultation gives us a chance to briefly connect before booking a first session. You can share a little about what is bringing you to therapy, ask any questions you may have, and get a feel for whether my approach seems like a good fit.
The first session (i.e., intake) usually involves getting to know you, talking about what has prompted you to seek out psychotherapy, exploring your goals and health history. In cases with more complex histories, intake can take two sessions.
-
$85/h (no HST). Detailed pricing to be listed on the booking site once I start seeing clients in September 2026.
-
Some folks connect for just a few sessions to get quick solutions to manage an issue for the time being, like navigating difficult work situations or setting up boundaries to buy some time through a hard point in life. For that I use a more cognitive and solution-focused approach, still rooted in mindfulness.
Others are coming for deeper work, to gain insight on themselves and their lives. This work can take longer, a year or more, because we have our unconscious ways of being that can take some time and some (uncomfortable, at times) work to identify and process.
The ultimate hope and goal for many folks is that I support you in rediscovering parts of yourself and elements of life so that you don’t need me anymore for the same issue you came in with. :)
-
Direct billing occurs when I submit direct to your insurer and you pay only the outstanding amounts that your insurer did not cover.
As a student, I cannot bill insurers directly. This means clients pay my supervising clinic directly, and they use the invoice they receive with my and my supervisor’s details to get reimbursed.
Best practice is to check directly with your insurer if a supervised Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) is covered, what your cap is per session as well as for the year, and if there are any other requirements you need to know about (i.e., do they need you to have a doctor referral, does it need to be submitted to them, etc.).
