You may understand your story and still feel caught inside it.
Maybe you’ve been in therapy before. You understand your patterns. You know where some of them came from. You’ve talked about what happened.
And still, very little has changed.
Sometimes the story is complicated. There are layers – trauma, relationships, shame, grief, identity, the body, or things you have never quite known how to put into words.
You don’t have to simplify your story here.
I offer depth-oriented trauma therapy for people who want to understand themselves, but also want something to change.
EMDR • Internal Family Systems (IFS)/Parts Work • Clinical Hypnosis
In person in Toronto and virtually in Ontario.
I offer trauma-focused psychotherapy for adults navigating childhood trauma, complex trauma, C-PTSD, anxiety, grief, and neurodivergence. My work integrates EMDR, IFS/Parts Work, and Clinical Hypnosis, alongside contemplative practice, feminist perspectives, and the ancestral wisdom of my Peruvian roots. Together, these approaches support a compassionate, deeply personal path toward meaningful change.
When Understanding Isn’t Enough
Insight matters. But sometimes understanding why you feel the way you do doesn’t change the way you feel.
Some experiences remain stuck. You may know they belong to the past and still feel their effects in your body, your relationships, or the way you see yourself.
This is where trauma reprocessing can help.
I respect the ways you have learned to protect yourself. I don’t want to tear those protections down. But when you are ready, I will help you gently move toward what is underneath them. Not to stay in the pain. To help something change.
How I Work
I draw on EMDR, IFS/Parts Work, and Clinical Hypnosis, often weaving them together according to what you need and want to achieve. These approaches are tools, not separate treatments or formulas I impose on you. What matters most is the relationship we build, the trust between us, and finding a way of working that feels right for you.
EMDR
EMDR helps us work with painful or overwhelming experiences from the past that continue to affect how you feel in the present. It can help those experiences become much less emotionally charged, so the past no longer has the same hold on you.
IFS/Parts Work
IFS/Parts Work helps us understand the different parts of ourselves, including those that protect, criticize, fear or carry old wounds. Rather than fighting these parts, we approach them with curiosity and compassion, helping you develop a more peaceful relationship with yourself.
Clinical Hypnosis
Clinical Hypnosis uses focused attention, imagination, and your own inner resources to support healing and change. It can help us explore feelings, memories and patterns that may be difficult to reach through conversation alone, always at a pace that feels right for you.
Complexity Is Welcome Here
Some people come to me carrying a lot.
A complicated history. Contradictory feelings. Things they have never told anyone. Shame. Trauma. Loss. Difficult relationships. Questions about identity or meaning. A mind that experiences the world differently.
Many of my clients are neurodivergent or neurocomplex. Many have lived with complex trauma or C-PTSD. Some have already spent years in therapy.
You don’t have to arrive with the right diagnosis or even know exactly what is wrong.
And you don’t have to make your experience easier for me to understand.
I’m not afraid of complexity.
About Ana
I’m Ana Montero, BSW, MSW, RSW, a registered social worker, psychotherapist and trauma specialist in Toronto.
For more than 20 years, my work has brought me into contact with people from many walks of life, each carrying their own stories, struggles and strengths.
My approach brings together trauma psychotherapy, contemplative practice, feminist perspectives and the ancestral wisdom of my Peruvian roots. There is room in my work for psychology and the body, but also for meaning, intuition and spirit.
Most importantly, I try to meet people simply: as one human being meeting another, with compassion, curiosity and without judgment.
Depth, With a Sense of Direction
I don’t believe therapy needs to go on forever simply because your story is complicated.
At the same time, deep change often takes time. There is no need to rush, and healing rarely follows a straight line.
My work is for people who want to understand themselves more deeply, but also want to experience meaningful change. Together, we explore what matters to you, what you hope will be different, and how we can move toward that.
You know something about the life you want to live, even if it feels far away right now.
My job is to help you get closer to it.
Working Together
Therapy begins with a relationship. I want you to feel that you can bring your whole self into our work, without having to explain everything perfectly or know exactly where to begin.
We will take the time to understand what matters to you and find a way of working together that feels both supportive and purposeful.
50-minute psychotherapy — $250
90-minute psychotherapy — $450
I offer psychotherapy sessions in person in Toronto and virtually throughout Ontario. I have extensive experience working with trauma and trauma reprocessing online, and virtual therapy is an important part of my practice.
You don’t need to know exactly where to begin, or have everything figured out before we meet.
We can figure that out together.