Juliana Riffat (She/Her)

Who I Work With

I support individuals who feel emotionally overstretched, who carry subtle or persistent tension in their bodies, and who sense that something inside them is ready for change. The people I work with are often thoughtful, intuitive, and self-aware — yet still find themselves caught in patterns they can’t shift alone.

I offer therapy for folks 18 years and older navigating a wide range of emotional and life challenges. Many have lived through trauma, loss, early adversity, or the impacts of war and displacement. Others are exploring identity, belonging, culture, or the tension between who they’ve had to be and who they’re becoming. You may be experiencing anxiety, depression, anger, grief, or difficulty feeling connected, steady, or confident. You may be hoping to feel safer in your body, more grounded in your emotions, or more at ease in your relationships. You might simply sense that something within is asking to be understood, integrated, or cared for — and you don’t have to do that alone.

People I work with often find themselves thinking:
• “I feel like I can’t connect to myself.”
• “I’m holding everything together but feel hollow or exhausted.”
• “I’m self-aware, but nothing actually changes.”
• “I can’t tell what’s intuition and what’s anxiety.”

My Approach

My approach to therapy is grounded in a deep respect for the body, the nervous system, and the relational patterns that shape how we move through the world. My foundational training is in psychodynamic psychotherapy, which explores how early relationships and past experiences live on in the present. Over time, I’ve woven this together with attachment-based, somatic, trauma-informed, emotion-focused, and mindfulness approaches — creating a way of working that is both deeply attuned and practical.

In our sessions, we’ll pay attention not only to your thoughts and emotions, but also to your felt sense — the subtler signals of your body: tension and softening, activation and settling, the moments when something inside wants to pull back or lean in. These cues are often the most genuine expressions of your history, your needs, and your longing for safety or connection.

I see therapy as a collaborative space where all parts of you are welcomed — the parts that carry pain, the parts that protect you, and the parts that quietly hope for something different. By slowing down and listening closely, we create the conditions for these parts to feel understood and to begin relating to one another with more balance, clarity, and compassion.

My approach is holistic and inclusive, honouring the ways the body, mind, spirit, and cultural context are intertwined. I take care to understand your lived experience, your identities, and the environments you move through, because healing does not happen in isolation. When we work together, we’re not only addressing symptoms — we’re supporting your capacity to feel grounded, connected, and confident in your life.

My intention is to help you cultivate an inner sense of steadiness and safety, so that new patterns of calm, curiosity, and self-trust can take root. Over time, therapy becomes a place where you can feel more at home in yourself, more capable of navigating relationships, and more aligned with the life you are trying to create.

Training and Experience

I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy from the Ontario Psychotherapy and Counselling College, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University. My clinical training includes Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) for Adolescents and Families, Dyadic Developmental Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Expressive Arts Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing (SE), Emotion Focused Family Therapy and a range of trauma-focused approaches for children, youth, and families, including the Embrave Enhanced Gender-Based Violence Protocol.

As a Registered Psychotherapist, I’ve supported children, adolescents, adults, and families in private practice and in community-based roles, including my work as a Child and Family Therapist at the SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health. My work in both settings has deepened my understanding of how stress, trauma, identity, culture, and relationships shape emotional and somatic wellbeing across the lifespan.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent many years working with children, youth, and families in community programs — helping them navigate complex systems, access resources, and reconnect with resilience, joy, and a sense of possibility. These early experiences continue to inform my practice today, grounding my work in compassion, cultural humility, and a belief in each person’s capacity for healing and growth.