About me

Natalie Amber Boustead

I am a Mental Health Counsellor, in the process of being registered as a CCC (Canadian Certified Counsellor). Expected registration date is March 2025. I hold a Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology (Yorkville University) and dual Undergrad in Education and English (York University).

Other Trainings I’ve done:

  • Level 1 Gottman Couples Therapist

  • Raine Crowe’s Trauma Aware Conflict Transformation Training (TACT)

  • Various Trainings through IFS Institute

  • IPS Indigenous Training

  • Various Trainings with Trauma Wisdom Circle, led by Janina Fisher (one of the founders of IFS)

I am a big (huge!) believer in the power of communication to support people’s ability to foster healthy relationships. Prior to my work as a counsellor, I ran community-led workshops in Toronto on conflict de-escalation and relational repair work, men’s healthy communication groups, and how to create and sustain healthy polyamorous relationships.

I’m also passionate about the practice of slowing down, (one of my own biggest life lessons/struggles!). What does that mean? Well, it’s my opinion that our current modern life has made us (and our nervous systems) have to move wayyyy faster than we were ever meant to. This pace has caused chronic dysregulation, lack of deep self-awareness, and a false sense of urgency in how we make decisions and relate to one another. To quote writer Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, “we need to slow down to grow up”.

When I’m not a therapist…

Before transitioning to becoming a mental health practitioner, I combined my undergraduate degree in teaching with my passion for nature and environmental protection, and was a garden educator for nearly 15 years. For many years, I even got the chance to have my passion for gardening and for mental health overlap, as I served as the therapy garden coordinator for the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health in Toronto.

While no longer a professional gardener, when not in my therapy sessions you’ll find me in my own backyard garden, communing with my plants and all the creatures that call my garden ‘home’. I know the deep ache of those bearing witness to the devastation of our natural world due to climate change, and have the capacity to hold space for climate grief in sessions with my clients.

I also spend a lot of my time doing community and political organizing. I believe in and strive towards the liberation of all oppressed peoples, and know that none of us are free until we’re all free. Systemic oppression in all its various forms is something I am highly aware of and will not shy away from addressing with my clients.