How much does therapy cost at Heart & Mind Therapy in Waterloo?

At Heart & Mind Therapy, session fees vary depending on the clinician and service type. Most sessions are covered in full or in part by extended health benefits — many extended health plans in Ontario cover services from Registered Psychotherapists (RP/RPQ) and Registered Social Workers (RSW). University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, University of Guelph, and Conestoga students may access up to 80% coverage through their student health plans. We recommend contacting your insurance provider to confirm your specific coverage. To discuss fees directly, please reach out at info@heartnmind.ca or call (226) 918-9077.

Do I need a referral to see a therapist in Waterloo?

No referral is required to book a session at Heart & Mind Therapy. You can contact us directly to schedule a free 20-minute consultation call. Some extended health insurance plans may require a physician's referral for reimbursement purposes, so we recommend checking your plan details before your first appointment. Our team is happy to help you navigate the process.

Does Heart & Mind Therapy offer online therapy in Ontario?

Yes. Heart & Mind Therapy offers secure virtual therapy sessions to clients anywhere in Ontario. Our registered clinicians are licensed to provide telehealth services across the province, which means you can access care from Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener, or anywhere else in Ontario without needing to travel to our Waterloo office. In-person sessions are also available at our location at 16 John Street W., Unit F, Waterloo.

What types of therapy does Heart & Mind Therapy offer?

Heart & Mind Therapy offers a broad range of evidence-based therapeutic modalities delivered by our team of Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Social Workers. These include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Therapy, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), Motivational Interviewing, and Compassionate Inquiry. We provide individual counselling, couples therapy, student counselling, teen and youth therapy, faith-based Christian counselling, multicultural and multilingual therapy, addiction counselling, grief and loss therapy, and executive and high-performer therapy.

How do I get started with a therapist at Heart & Mind Therapy?

Getting started at Heart & Mind Therapy is straightforward. First, book a free 20-minute consultation call through our website or Jane App booking system. This conversation helps us understand your goals and match you with the right clinician. Alternatively, you can use our 60-second Therapist Match Quiz to be paired with a specialist. Once matched, you schedule your first full session either in person at our Waterloo office or virtually via secure video. There is no pressure to commit beyond the initial call.

Is therapy at Heart & Mind Therapy covered by student health insurance?

Yes. Students at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Guelph, and Conestoga College can typically access up to 80% coverage for psychotherapy services through their student health benefit plans. Coverage applies to sessions with our Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Social Workers. We recommend confirming your annual benefit maximum and any per-session limits directly with your student plan provider before booking. Our team can help answer questions about the claims process.

Gestalt Therapy in Waterloo

Gestalt Therapy in Waterloo for Patterns That Keep Repeating

Maybe you already know why you react the way you do. You can name the pattern, understand where it started, and still find yourself shutting down, overthinking, people-pleasing, avoiding conflict or losing touch with what you actually need.

Gestalt therapy gives you a chance to slow those moments down. Together, you can notice what happens in your thoughts, emotions, body and relationships, and begin finding different ways to respond when the same pattern shows up again.

Individual psychotherapy for ages 16+ In-person in Waterloo Virtual across Ontario

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Gestalt therapy may be worth exploring if

You understand yourself, but insight has not been enough to change what happens in the moment.

You may know that you need stronger boundaries, want to communicate differently or wish you could stop overthinking. The difficult part is doing something different when the situation is actually happening.

You keep falling into familiar relationship patterns.

You spend a lot of time thinking but feel disconnected from what you feel.

You want therapy that goes beyond simply talking about the problem.

You want to respond with more choice instead of reacting automatically.

Understanding Gestalt Therapy

What is Gestalt therapy?

Gestalt therapy pays attention to what is happening for you in the present, not only to the story of what happened before. That can include your thoughts, emotions, physical reactions and the way you relate to other people.

Your past still matters. The difference is that therapy does not stop at understanding what happened back then. You also look at the ways those experiences may still be influencing how you respond today.

For example, you might notice that your chest tightens when you are about to disagree with someone. You might laugh while describing something that actually hurt. You might become very focused on explaining another person's behaviour and lose track of your own reaction.

In therapy, we may slow down moments like these and get curious about what is happening. What are you feeling? What are you wanting? What are you holding back? What happens when you notice the experience instead of moving past it?

Over time, recognizing these patterns while they are happening can make it easier to respond with more awareness, rather than automatically returning to the response you have used for years.

Does This Feel Familiar?

You may know the pattern and still get pulled back into it.

Many people come to therapy with more insight than they give themselves credit for. What feels frustrating is knowing something logically and still finding it difficult to respond differently when emotions, relationships or stress are involved.

You struggle to say what you actually need.

You may rehearse the conversation, know that a boundary is reasonable and still say yes, stay quiet or worry that being honest will upset someone.

The same relationship dynamics keep showing up.

You might withdraw, chase reassurance, overexplain, become defensive or take responsibility for everyone else's feelings even when you want to relate differently.

You can explain everything, but you are not sure what you feel.

You may be excellent at understanding situations intellectually while feeling less certain about your emotions, needs or physical reactions.

You talk yourself out of your own reactions.

Hurt quickly becomes "it's fine." Anger gets replaced by an explanation. Your attention moves toward understanding everyone else before you have had time to understand yourself.

Your body seems to know before you do.

You may notice tension, shallow breathing, restlessness, heaviness or the urge to leave a situation before you can clearly identify what you are feeling.

You have done a lot of reflecting and still feel stuck.

You may have already connected the dots about your past. Now you want help noticing what happens in real time and practicing a different way of responding.

How Gestalt Therapy Works

Notice what is happening. Understand it. Try something different.

Gestalt therapy does not follow one fixed script. Your therapist pays attention to what is happening in the conversation and helps you explore the parts of your experience that may usually happen too quickly to notice.

Notice the Pattern

Pay attention to what you are thinking, feeling, doing and experiencing physically when something important comes up.

Slow It Down

Instead of quickly explaining, fixing or dismissing the reaction, you make space to understand what is happening.

Explore It Differently

You may stay with an emotion, notice a body response, say something you usually hold back or experiment with another way of responding.

Build More Choice

The goal is not to react perfectly. It is to recognize your response sooner so you have more options for what happens next.

Inside a Gestalt Therapy Session

What might we actually do in therapy?

Gestalt therapy is experiential, but that does not mean you will constantly be doing exercises or being pushed into intense emotional experiences.

Much of therapy may still look like a conversation. The difference is that your therapist may pay closer attention to what happens while you are having that conversation.

Slowing Down a Moment

Your therapist may pause when something shifts and ask what you are noticing right now rather than immediately moving to the next part of the story.

Noticing Your Body

You may become curious about breathing, tension, posture, movement or other physical signals that appear when you talk about something meaningful.

Looking at What Happens Between People

If a familiar relationship pattern appears in therapy, you and your therapist may notice it together and explore what the moment can teach you about your relationships outside the room.

Chair or Dialogue Exercises

When it feels useful, you may speak to an imagined person or another part of yourself to explore feelings or conversations that have been difficult to express directly.

Practicing a New Response

Therapy can give you room to try something unfamiliar, such as saying what you need more directly, staying present during discomfort or allowing yourself not to explain everything.

You do not need to get therapy "right." If an exercise does not feel useful or you are not comfortable with it, tell your therapist. You can ask why they are suggesting it, decide not to try it, or find another way to explore the same concern. Therapy should leave room for your questions, feedback and pace.

Reasons People Come to Therapy

What can you explore through Gestalt therapy?

People come to Gestalt therapy for different reasons. You may be dealing with anxiety, having trouble setting boundaries, noticing the same relationship pattern again, or feeling disconnected from yourself. What you focus on will depend on what has been difficult for you and what you want to change.

Anxiety, Stress & Overthinking

Notice what happens when anxiety takes over, including the thoughts, body sensations, avoidance and attempts to gain certainty that can keep the cycle going. Learn more about anxiety therapy in Waterloo.

Relationships & Communication

Explore your own patterns around closeness, conflict, reassurance, withdrawal, communication and emotional safety within individual therapy.

Boundaries & People-Pleasing

Become more aware of what happens inside you just before you ignore your needs, avoid saying no or take responsibility for another person's reaction.

Difficult Emotions

Develop a clearer relationship with emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, shame or vulnerability rather than immediately suppressing, analyzing or escaping them.

Grief, Loss & Unresolved Experiences

Make room for feelings, needs and conversations that may still carry emotional weight, without forcing yourself to process them faster than feels manageable. Learn more about grief and loss therapy.

Identity & Life Changes

Explore what feels true for you when your relationships, responsibilities, identity or direction in life are changing.

Meet Your Therapists

Therapists who can incorporate Gestalt therapy into your care.

Gestalt therapy does not have to look exactly the same with every therapist. Lydia and Rachel can draw from Gestalt therapy alongside other approaches based on what you are working through, what feels useful to you and the goals you bring to therapy.

Lydia Forge, Registered Social Worker at Heart & Mind Therapy in Waterloo

Lydia Forge, MSW, RSW

Clinic Director & Registered Social Worker

Lydia takes an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy and can incorporate Gestalt therapy when it fits what you are working on. Her work often explores the patterns underneath emotional reactions, relationships, boundaries and the ways earlier experiences continue to shape the present.

She may be a helpful fit if you want therapy that gives you room for deeper reflection while also helping you notice what happens emotionally and relationally in real time.

Individual therapy 16+ Gestalt-informed In-person & virtual

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Rachel Oussoren, Registered Social Worker and MSW intern at Heart & Mind Therapy

Rachel Oussoren, RSW

Registered Social Worker & MSW Intern

Rachel brings a warm, person-centred style to therapy and can incorporate Gestalt-informed work as part of her supervised MSW internship. Sessions may include slowing down familiar reactions, noticing what is happening in the moment and exploring thoughts, emotions, needs and relationship patterns with curiosity.

Rachel may be a helpful fit if you are looking for a lower-cost option and want support with anxiety, stress, grief, life changes, Christian counselling or spiritual exploration , or individual relationship concerns.

Individual therapy 16+ Supervised practice $90 per session

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Starting Therapy

You do not need to know how to "do" Gestalt therapy.

You can come to therapy exactly as you are. You do not need the right terminology, a diagnosis or a polished explanation of what is wrong. You can simply start by telling us what has been difficult and what you would like to be different.

Start With a Free 20-Minute Consultation Tell us briefly what you are looking for, ask about the therapist's style and decide whether you would like to schedule a full session.

Your First Therapy Session You can talk about what has been happening, what feels most urgent and what you would like help changing. There is no expectation that you tell your entire story in one appointment.

As Therapy Continues Your therapist may help you connect what you are talking about with what you notice emotionally, physically and relationally while you are talking about it.

You Can Give Feedback Therapy is collaborative. You can say when something feels useful, when it does not, when you want to slow down or when your goals have changed.

Research & Clinical Context

What does the research say about Gestalt therapy?

Gestalt therapy has been used clinically for decades and has a developing research base. It has been studied less extensively than approaches such as CBT, which is important context when considering the evidence.

The therapy approach is only one part of the decision.

Your goals, the therapist's training, your relationship with the therapist and how you respond to the work all matter.

At Heart & Mind Therapy, Gestalt-informed work may be integrated with other therapeutic approaches when it fits your needs and the therapist's training.

Frequently Asked Questions

Gestalt therapy questions before you book

What is Gestalt therapy in simple terms?

Gestalt therapy helps you pay closer attention to what is happening in the present while you talk about your concerns. That may include your thoughts, emotions, body sensations, urges and relationship patterns. The aim is to notice familiar responses more clearly so you have more choice in how you respond.

Is Gestalt therapy just the empty-chair exercise?

No. Empty-chair work is one technique associated with Gestalt therapy, but it is not the therapy itself. Gestalt therapy also involves present-moment awareness, emotional exploration, body awareness, the therapeutic relationship and other experiential exercises. You may never use an empty chair if it is not useful for your goals.

Does Gestalt therapy only focus on the present?

Your history can still be important. Gestalt therapy often looks at the past through the impact it is having now. For example, an earlier experience may still influence the way you handle conflict, closeness, criticism, boundaries or difficult emotions today.

Can Gestalt therapy help if I overthink everything?

It may be useful when overthinking is part of a larger pattern in which you spend a great deal of time analyzing situations but have difficulty noticing emotions, body responses or what you need in the moment. If anxiety is your main concern, you can also learn more about our anxiety therapy in Waterloo. Learn about anxiety therapy.

Can I work on relationship problems without couples therapy?

Yes. Heart & Mind Therapy offers individual psychotherapy for ages 16+. In individual therapy, you can work on your own communication, boundaries, emotional reactions, family patterns and the ways you relate to other people.

What if I do not want to do experiential exercises?

Tell your therapist. Exercises should be collaborative rather than something you are pressured to perform. You can ask what an exercise is intended to explore, decide not to do it or talk through another way of approaching the same concern.

Is Gestalt therapy available in Waterloo?

Heart & Mind Therapy is located in Waterloo and provides individual psychotherapy in person as well as virtual therapy across Ontario. Gestalt-informed therapy is offered when it falls within the therapist's training and is appropriate for what you want to work on.

How do I know if Gestalt therapy is the right fit for me?

You do not need to decide before booking. A free 20-minute consultation gives you a chance to explain what you are looking for, ask about the therapist's approach and decide whether you would like to continue with a full session.