Meet The Therapist
Alicia Tough
Registered Psychotherapist, MScOT, OT, Reg, (Ont)
My Approach —
I value respect, openness to difference, creativity and flexibility.
I can provide more than “talk” therapy. Talking does help and we start there. I like to get deeper into the “here and now” to experience how we think, feel, behave, respond, by exploring this in the present moment with a compassionate and supportive witness. This present-moment inquiry into response processes and intention leads to new ways of relating with yourself and others.
We are wired for connection and bonding as necessary for survival. We are born feeling that abandonment and shame are life threatening, since as children, being abandoned can mean death, and being shamed can lead to rejection. No wonder, for so many humans, the threat of abandonment or shame as an adult still engages our “fight, flight or freeze” response system, which interferes with our ability to enjoy life. The good news is that experiences of safety, security and belonging can provide new associations that add to our relational knowledge, balancing and regulating the survival response. With practice, we can gain awareness of when we are in our survival response, and what to do to support ourselves to tolerate sensations as uncomfortable, but survivable, and bring us into a more regulated and flexible state of connection.
My aim in providing psychotherapy is to provide experiences of safety, security, validation, belonging and meaning that build resilience to abandonment and shame survival responses in adults.
I view “trauma”, no matter how “big” and how “small”, as experiences of violation to safety, security and belonging, where there was not enough support to allow the whole person to process the experience to move on. I believe that unsupported traumas can stay “stuck” within us, to help protect the person from ongoing threat.
I do not believe we need to revisit traumatic events to heal trauma. I am not opposed to processing traumatic events from the past to help you, in body and mind, find support in the here and now. Avoidance leads to more fear, because avoidance reinforces that the threat is something we need to escape; yet we need to feel ready and supported before re-approaching trauma with confidence in our own ability to find safety and security.
In addition to my psychotherapy credentials, I am a graduate of Improv for Actors from the Second City Toronto, and find humour to be a wonderful therapeutic tool, when appropriate.
My Story —
I did not know I wanted to be a psychotherapist until I learned it was an option to be one.
During the first years of my undergraduate degree, I struggled like so many in a large university. I was saved by my aptitude for psychology, and worked as a research assistant on studies of attachment and the continuity theory of mental health and social cognition. I eventually chose to specialise in Human Behavioural Biology, with a major in Psychology and a minor English, within Trinity College at the University of Toronto. One of my professors, Dr. Gillian Einstein, encouraged me to follow my interest in psychotherapy. I found out that Occupational Therapists (OT) often did psychotherapy, and so I enrolled in a Master’s Degree in OT, not entirely sure what that was. I learned that OT is a humanistic and holistic clinical approach to supporting people with meaningful engagement in life; wherever they need the support. My first clients were people who were off work receiving disability insurance and living with complex chronic pain and mental health conditions. As a new OT, I was tasked with supporting these people living with disabilities with regaining meaningful occupation. I wanted more training to connect with and support my clients who were obviously suffering. I found new ways of working with these complex clients through training with the Gestalt Institute of Toronto (GIT).
The five year training program at the GIT began with doing my own psychotherapy work, where I learned what I need from a therapist, and what I hope to provide my clients. At the GIT, I experienced the human tendency to enact traumatic patterns as a way to avoid pain and disconnection, and how that played out in my own life. I have learned that my mental and physical health are interconnected, and the less alone and ashamed I feel, the more support I have to find my own agency, creativity and ability to live a responsible and satisfying life.
Because I had such complex clients, I took whatever training I could find to learn what might help, and I developed a large “tool kit” of interventions, but in all my training, the most important thing I’ve learned is that, no matter the psychotherapy modality, the therapeutic relationship determines how effective the therapy will be.
Qualifications and Credentials —
Gestalt for Professionals (2011), 5-Year Psychotherapist Training Program (2015), Working with Couples (2015), Process Group Facilitation (2017), The Supervisory Relationship (2018) from the Gestalt Institute of Toronto
This training program is recognized by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario and prepared me to perform the regulated act of psychotherapy, lead or facilitate a process group, perform psychotherapy with couples, and finally, provide psychotherapy supervision to other RPs.
Sessions Live 2019: In Search of Eros (2019)
This workshop provided a toolkit focused on difficult issues that arise when dealing with eroticism and therapeutic choice points, taking on relational challenges around love and desire with curiosity, renewed energy and confidence.Emotion Focused Therapy for Individuals, Levels I, II, III with Supervision (2014-2018), Dr. Leslie Greenberg
EFT is an evidence-based, process-oriented, humanistic and experiential psychotherapy, focusing on how primary emotional responses can point us to our underlying needs. The therapist assists the client to understand their emotional processes, explore and express emotions to find core adaptive and maladaptive emotional patterns.Structured Psychotherapy Supervision Training Course, OSOT, Dr. Michael Cord, (2016-2017)
This was a trans-theoretical training course in providing supervision in psychotherapy to Occupational Therapists.Motivational Interviewing, (2017), Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, Dr. Jennifer Irwin
Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples Institute, EFT-C, (2013), York University, Dr. Leslie Greenberg
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy Externship, (2014) Factor-Inwentash, Faculty of Social Work University of Toronto, Dr. Sue Johnson
Certificate in Advanced CBT Skills and Speciality Settings, (depression, anxiety, social phobia, trauma, OCD, psychosis, addictions, diverse population, and children), Adler Professional School of Psychology, (2013-2015)
Applied Mindfulness, Factor-Inwentash, Faculty of Social Work, U of T, (2012)
Dissolving Resistance and Creating Therapeutic Change, Bill O’Hanlon, Leading Edge, (2011)
Child-Parent Somatic Psychotherapy, (2019-2020), Center for Somatic Studies/Gestalt Institute of Toronto, Dr. Ruella Frank
Human qualities of respect, empathy and commitment to another are forged during childhood, and “mis-attunements” between child and primary caregiver can lead to interruptions in movement patterns and dissatisfaction in relating to others. Nonverbal patterns of human movement, developed in the relationship with significant others, become the implicit core of adult functioning. This course taught me how to attend to my client’s movements to work at a primary and fundamental level that precedes and underlies later developing language and sophisticated cognitive capacities.Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy, (2017-2019), Center for Somatic Studies, New York City, Dr. Ruella Frank.
This was a four week training course completed in four modules. Inspired by the work of developmental psychologists, motor theorists, and somatic educators, Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy is a template for understanding and working with early psycho-physical blocks as they emerge in present moments of the adult therapy session.Somatic Experiencing, (Beginner III, 2018), Linda Stelte, MEd, SEP.
Culture of Radical Engagement Train the Trainer, Mark Fairfield, Gestalt Inst. Cleveland, (October 23-25, 2016)
This 2-day training was based on an integration of social capital research, social neuroscience, phenomenology, relational theory, and community organizing. It focused on increasing the quality of bonding among people who are most likely to share values. Modules in this training included: Stories of Connection, Radical Inclusion, Conflict Resolution, and Addressing Trauma in Communities.Brief and Narrative Therapy for Individuals, Couples and Families, (2014-2015), 1-Year Externship, Factor-Inwentash/Hincks-Dellcrest Centre
Applied Mindfulness Meditation, (2012), Factor-Inwentash's Faculty of Social Work
Progressive Goal Attainment Program, (2010), University Centre for Research in Pain and Disability, completed supervision with Tamra Ellis, OT Reg. (Ont.)
MicroPoint Stimulation (MPS) (2010) this is a physical therapy using direct current micro-stimulation of acupressure points, scar tissue, cranial sutures, paraspinal muscles and trigger points. Using the small pen-like device, we can stimulate the parasympathetic (rest and relax) system, release scar tissue, relax tight muscles, and achieve nerve desensitization, to promote healing of trauma, pain management, and balance energy and emotions.
Master of Science - Occupational Therapy & Occupational Sciences – University of Toronto
2006 Honours Bachelor of Science - Human Behavioural Biology & Psychology - University of Toronto
Professional Affiliations -
College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario (COTO)
College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO)
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy (CAOT)
Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists (OSOT) Psychotherapy Sub-Committee
License and Province -
006616 Ontario