About Me
Hello! My name is Melissa Payne (she/her) and I am the founder of Grounded Psychotherapy. As your therapist I offer a warm, compassionate and open presence. I seek to provide a safe space for you to look at your life with more curiosity and less fear, while empowering you to listen for your deepest needs and desires.
I am passionate about accompanying people through life's joys and challenges, and am especially interested in helping people live more embodied, and integrated lives. By helping my clients to connect to the parts of themselves that need attention, our work together will allow space for you to befriend and own your story.
We all encounter both unique and universal suffering in our lives, along with barriers and wounds that keep us from living into the most whole versions of ourselves. My hope is that therapy may be an inclusive and supportive space for my clients to discover what those wounds and barriers are, and to experience a greater sense of peace and vitality in their lives.
When I am not working you can find me cooking, reading, writing, running, researching, laughing, enjoying nature or taking care of my many plants!
"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open."
-Martha Graham
My Approach
As a therapist, I work from an Integrative and Trauma Informed Approach, meaning that I pull on different approaches, when needed, to best serve my clients' specific needs. I also work from a Social-Justice and Intersectional perspective in my work as well, honouring the various contexts and identities that clients live from and embody.
The therapeutic approaches I typically work from include:
Psychodynamic
Somatic and Experiential therapy
IFS Informed
Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
Existential Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Qualifications
I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology
And a Master's degree in Psychotherapy, Counselling and Spirituality specializing in Individual Therapy
Memberships
Member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario: License #10106
Member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA)