Rachel Alkayid

Our lives are shaped by the stories we tell about ourselves. Stories of who we are, what we’ve experienced, and the messages we’ve received from others. We use these stories to make sense of ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. Sometimes anxiety, depression, trauma, or difficult life experiences begin to dominate those stories, leaving us feeling stuck or disconnected from ourselves and what matters most. But those experiences are never the whole story. 

I see therapy as a space to explore these stories with curiosity and compassion. Together we will build an understanding of the events that have shaped you, identify the patterns that are keeping you stuck, and build the skills that will help move towards the life you want to live. All along the way, we will work on increasing your capacity for self-reflection and understanding of yourself. Therapy does not rewrite the past; rather, it helps us develop new ways of understanding ourselves so our lives are guided less by fear and more by what is most important to us.

I am a Registered Social Worker with a Master’s degree in Social Work (2018) and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (2016). I bring 10 years of clinical social work experience, complemented by earlier experience in community-based settings working in youth mentorship and with adults with developmental disabilities. Since 2016, I have provided psychotherapy and clinical social work services to individuals across the lifespan experiencing a wide range of mental health concerns in the non-profit sector. 

My prior experience involves working as a Child and Family Therapist with Front Door in Waterloo Region, where I provided assessment, referral, case coordination, and individual and family therapy to children and youth presenting with mental health concerns. I’ve also provided parent coaching and behavioural consultation. I am a trained facilitator of the attachment- based Circles of Security Parenting Program. 

In one of my roles with Camino Wellbeing & Mental Health, I’ve worked as a Therapist in a specialized intensive program for families with children who faced significant mental health challenges, complex developmental trauma, and high needs. My role within the program included assessment, treatment planning, family stabilization & skill building, parent coaching, child therapy and adult therapy. 

I am trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, and have used these skills to provide trauma treatment to children, youth and adults presenting with PTSD. 

I’ve also worked in perinatal mental health, providing therapy and parent coaching to new and expectant mothers. I’ve provided group therapy to families who have experienced domestic violence, and individual therapy and parent coaching to survivors of intimate partner violence. 

I see my role as a clinical social worker as a vocation, a call to a type of work that I have seen bring fulfillment and meaning to the lives of my clients. Some of the most profound and worthwhile parts of my life have occurred on the other side of fear and maladaptive stories. I’d love for you to experience that too. 

When I’m not at work, I can often be found lost in a forest with my three small children, climbing trees or knees deep in a muddy creek.