About Sue Top
Individual Therapy
Self Compassion Group
Contact Me
Book an Appointment with Sue Top, Registered Psychotherapist
Plan Your Visit
About Me
Who I Am
Hi, my name is Sue Top. I am a psychotherapist, wife, and mother of two teens. I think people are awesome, and I love the fact that my job lets me have deep, meaningful conversations all day. I love board games, travel, being outdoors, and laughing. Mostly laughing.
What I Do
My education and experience enables me to offer individualized care. We will meet and I will cater to your unique needs at your pace.
In my work, I meet with people from all walks of life, and every person's issues are slightly different. This can also be said of every person's strengths. This is one of the things that I find so interesting about my job, finding out how you see the world, and how I can help you navigate it more easily, using your own strengths.
My heart is a judgement free zone. I provide a safe space for you to explore your struggles, heal from your pain, and move forward. I see it as a privilege to join you on your mental health journey.
How I Do It
Therapy with me has been described as an informal, interactive conversation. I ask lots of questions to help me understand, and I use examples to see if I have the right idea.
I use a combination of techniques, gathered over many years of practice and training. Which techniques I use with you will depend on which ones you will benefit from the most, and that will become evident to me as we get to know each other over the first few sessions.
Helping you learn to identify and express feelings with someone who is compassionate and non-judgmental is a big part of my work. Often, just the act of doing that can be healing.
Individual Therapy
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotion Focused Therapy, or EFT, brings our attention to what emotion is being felt at the moment. My role in this approach is to create a safe space in which to explore feelings, to help you identify feelings, and to teach you ways to tolerate feelings so that you do not feel overwhelmed.
Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal Therapy focuses on both the present relationships that we have with other people in our life as well as the past relationships that have shaped us. My role as a therapist in this approach is to provide a safe space within which to dig into the pain of past and present relationships, with the goal of processing the thoughts and feelings and putting the pain to rest. It is also to be authentic and honest about how I experience you, and how it affects me. This gives you the opportunity to reflect on how you effect other people. It is also important that you feel comfortable doing the same with me, to be able to clearly state your needs and concerns.
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy focuses on seeing each person as a whole being, rather than a bunch of different parts that do not interconnect. My role in this approach is to bring your attention to things you may not be noticing about yourself that may give us information. For instance, that your foot is tapping the entire time that you are telling me that you are very relaxed today.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Self Compassion
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is focused on looking at thoughts and how we can help ourselves by changing how we think. My role as a therapist in this approach is to gently point out thinking errors or self-critical thoughts, and to help you embrace thoughts that are more encouraging and compassionate.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness refers to the act of bringing our attention to what we are experiencing at that moment. Being mindful throughout the day can significantly decrease anxiety. My role in this approach is to teach you methods of becoming more mindful, and to direct you to resources that you can explore on your own at home.
Self Compassion Group
Week 1
Introduction: Compassion and Self Compassion
Explore your own understanding of compassion and self-compassion by looking at your own experiences of compassion, and how you might begin to turn this compassion inwards. We will review the factors involved in self-compassion, and explore how you may foster it in your own life. Learn about the numerous benefits to living a more self-compassionate lifestyle.
Week 2
Mindfulness and Self Regulation
Learn about mindfulness and why it is so instrumental in self-compassion. We will practice mindfulness, meditation, grounding, and self-soothing techniques. Each person will develop a repertoire of associated techniques and explore how these may be integrated into their unique daily life.
Week 3
Inner Critic to Compassionate Voice
Explore the origins of critical self-talk and why we experience it. Learn about the benefits of changing this internal dialogue, as well as develop tools for challenging these thoughts. We will work on changing self-talk into a voice of kindness, appreciation, acceptance, and love.
Week 4
Identifying Emotions and Learning to Sit with Feelings.
Explore your unique ways of experiencing and coping with emotions. Learn about the importance of acknowledging and accepting the rich range of human emotions, and learn tools to develop healthier, more productive relationships towards your feelings.
Week 5
Personal Integrity, Motivation, and Self Compassion.
Look at your core values and explore the relationships between these values and the way you engage with and perceive yourself. Discover how self-compassion can help you grow and make life changes when your actions are out of alignment with your core values.
Week 6
Building a Self Care Toolbox
Develop an understanding of what self-care looks like for you, while learning about the ways in which self-care positively impacts a person’s life and well-being. Each person will develop a set of ideas to take home, so that you feel better equipped to integrate self-care into your life.
Week 7
Wrap Up: Planning for Success
Each person will leave with their own unique plan for the future, in order to plan for success, as you continue to grow your developing practice of self-compassion.
Self Compassion Group Co-Facilitator
Satara Subedar, MA, CCC
I am a Canadian Certified Counsellor, a yoga and meditation instructor, and a creative arts therapist. I have a master’s degree in creative arts therapy as well as training in the areas of trauma counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodrama, and play therapy.
Working from a humanistic framework, I draw on my diverse experience to provide a therapy that is unique to who you are, with the belief that all individuals possess an innate desire and ability to learn and grow.
I believe that we all have many strengths but that at times we may lose sight of them. I believe that reconnecting to these strengths is an important part of successful therapy — I provide honest feedback to help mirror these strengths back to you.
I understand how difficult it can be to explore certain thoughts and feelings — I honour these acts of courage, bringing confidentiality, non-judgement, and unconditional care and warmth to session.
I provide support, tools, and gentle challenges to help you process your experiences and develop insight into your life, so that you may heal, grow, work towards your goals, and ultimately be free to live your life in a way that is fulfilling and true to who you are.
Pay for Self Compassion Group
7 week Self Compassion Group
Plan Your Visit
Getting to my office
- Accessibility: My office is in a house on the second floor, there are two sets of stairs. If you can not access my office, contact me and I will try to make arrangements.
- Parking: There is usually plenty of paid parking spots available on Gilmour Street.
- Bus: The office is close to Bank Street, and therefore easy to access from the #6 or #7 bus.
Fees
- My fee is $140, the sessions are 50 minutes in length.
- Forms of Payment: I accept cash, credit, debit, cheque, and etransfer.
- Insurance: Many major insurance companies will reimburse clients for my receipts if you have a physician's referral for therapy.