THERAPY FOR IMMIGRATION, IDENTITY & BELONGING · In-person and Online
What does it mean to belong when your life exists between worlds?
Immigration can bring possibility, safety, and new beginnings. It can also involve profound change and loss. Therapy can offer a place to explore the emotional impact of immigration, displacement, cultural identity, discrimination, family expectations, and the experience of building a life somewhere new.
Immigration changes more than where we live.
Moving to another country can affect our relationships, identity, work, language, community, family roles, and sense of belonging. For some people, leaving home was a choice. For others, migration followed war, violence, persecution, political instability, poverty, or circumstances that made staying impossible. As an immigrant, you may experience:
- homesickness and longing for people and places you left behind
- loneliness or difficulty finding a sense of belonging
- feeling caught between cultures
- grief for a former life, community, language, career, or identity
- guilt about leaving family members or having opportunities they do not have
You can be grateful for the life you are building and still grieve what you had to leave behind..
HOW THERAPY CAN HELP
What We Can Work on Together
- immigration-related stress and adjustment
- experiences of war, violence, persecution, or forced displacement
- discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and exclusion
- guilt about leaving or being safe when others are not
- navigating life in another language
- rebuilding community and connection
- loss of professional identity, social status, or financial stability
You Can Be at Home Anywhere.
- feeling more grounded and safe in your present life
- understanding trauma responses without feeling defined by them
- less overwhelm when memories or events from home activate the past
- a stronger sense of belonging
- finding ways to stay connected to family and culture while developing your own values
- feeling more able to identify and communicate your needs
- feeling more at home in your identity across different cultures
- recognizing your resilience without minimizing what you have lived through
WHO THIS MAY BE A GOOD FIT FOR
WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THERAPY IF:
- you are an immigrant, refugee, newcomer, or child of immigrants
- you have experienced war, political instability, violence, persecution, or displacement
- you are struggling to feel at home after immigration
- you feel misunderstood by approaches to therapy that focus only on the individual
- you want therapy that understands family, culture, history, community, and place as meaningful parts of who you are
Starting therapy
Choose a therapist and appointment time that works for you. You can meet in person in Toronto or virtually across Ontario.
Your first session is a chance to talk about what brings you to therapy, what you hope will feel different, and what support might be most helpful.
Begin at your own pace
Together, we’ll build a therapy process that feels collaborative, thoughtful, and responsive to your needs..
Therapy for Immigration, Identity & Belonging at Ivana Psychotherapy
Our therapists work with immigrants, refugees, newcomers, and people navigating multiple cultural identities. We support clients experiencing immigration-related stress, trauma and displacement, grief, discrimination, family and intergenerational conflict, relationship difficulties, and questions of identity and belonging. Our approach is relational, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive. We understand that mental health does not exist separately from family, culture, community, history, and the social conditions in which people live.
“No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.”
— Warsan Shire
Trauma therapy in Toronto and online across Ontario
You are beautiful
Individual trauma therapy for adults Immigration, Identity and Belonging In-Person and Online