A Brighter Path Forward Starts Here
Culturally responsive therapy for anxiety, relationship and family patterns, self-worth, and the lasting impact of difficult experiences.
We look beyond symptoms to understand how past experiences, relationships, family, culture, and identity may be shaping what you're going through today.
Online therapy in English & Mandarin
Maybe You've Been Wondering Why You Feel This Way
You may find yourself overthinking conversations, questioning your decisions, or worrying about disappointing others.Maybe saying no brings guilt. Conflict makes you anxious. Criticism stays with you much longer than you think it should.You may work hard to meet expectations, take care of others, or keep relationships peaceful, while quietly wondering whether your own needs matter too.Or perhaps you've noticed patterns that are harder to explain: shutting down when someone is upset with you, feeling responsible for other people's emotions, struggling to trust, or reacting strongly in situations that logically don't seem dangerous.Sometimes these patterns make more sense when we understand what you've experienced and the environment in which you learned to survive, connect, belong, and feel safe.For many people, that story also includes family, culture, immigration, identity, gender roles, or expectations about who they were supposed to become.Therapy gives us a place to understand that story without judgment—and begin changing the parts of it that no longer serve you.You are not alone, and meaningful change is possible.
A Different Therapy Experience
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A Different Therapy Experience *
We Look Beyond the Symptoms
Anxiety, perfectionism, self-doubt, people-pleasing, and relationship difficulties often have a story behind them. Together, we'll explore the experiences, relationships, beliefs, and protective patterns underneath—not to stay stuck in the past, but to understand what may be keeping you stuck today.
We Work With Both Past and Present
Sometimes you need practical strategies for what's happening right now. Other times, insight and coping aren't enough. Our work can include both—developing new ways of responding today and, when appropriate, working through past experiences that continue to affect you.
Safety Comes Before Processing
Trauma therapy doesn't mean revisiting painful experiences before you're ready. We'll build safety, trust, and resources first, and move at a pace that feels manageable. You have a voice in what we explore, how deeply we go, and when we pause. You remain in control throughout the process.
Your Culture Is Part of Your Story
Culture can shape how we understand emotions, family, relationships, success, responsibility, and boundaries. Your cultural context is part of your story, not a side issue. Understanding its influence isn't about blaming your family or culture—it's about understanding your experiences more fully.
What May Be Bringing You to Therapy
You don't need to identify with the word trauma to benefit from understanding how past experiences may be affecting you today.
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No matter how hard you try to stop thinking about it, your mind keeps going. You replay conversations, second-guess yourself, worry about what might happen, and feel responsible for keeping everything under control. Even when things seem fine on the outside, it's difficult to truly relax.
Together, we'll explore what's beneath the anxiety, reduce the cycle of overthinking, and help you respond with greater calm, confidence, and self-trust.
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You may avoid conflict, struggle to express what you need, become highly anxious when someone pulls away, or feel responsible for keeping relationships together.
The ways we learned to connect with people often begin long before our adult relationships—and family and cultural expectations can play an important role in those patterns.
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Perhaps you learned that being good meant being helpful, successful, agreeable, strong, or putting other people's needs first.
Those messages can become deeply rooted. Even when you intellectually know that you're allowed to say no or make your own choices, guilt can make doing so surprisingly difficult.
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You may know the difficult experience is over, yet your body still reacts as though it's happening today. Certain memories, people, or situations can leave you feeling anxious, overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck in patterns that are hard to change.
Using trauma-informed therapy and, when appropriate, EMDR, we'll work toward helping those experiences feel less overwhelming so you can move forward with greater freedom and peace.
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From the outside, it may look like you're managing everything well. Inside, you feel constantly overwhelmed, emotionally drained, or like you're simply surviving each day. No matter how much you rest, it never seems to be enough.
Therapy can help you understand what's keeping you stuck, reconnect with what matters most, and build healthier ways to care for yourself without carrying everything alone.
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Building a life across cultures can be both rewarding and challenging. You may feel caught between different expectations, values, and ways of seeing the world—trying to honour your family while also building a life that feels true to yourself. Navigating relationships, parenting, career decisions, or life in a second language can sometimes leave you feeling misunderstood, isolated, or like you don't fully belong in either place.
Therapy offers a space where every part of your story is welcomed. Together, we'll explore the unique challenges of living between cultures with curiosity and compassion, without you having to explain or justify your cultural experiences. Our goal is to help you feel more grounded, connected, and confident in the life you're creating.
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Life can begin to feel heavy, even when everything appears "fine" from the outside. You may find yourself simply getting through the day, feeling disconnected from the things you once enjoyed, struggling to find motivation, or wondering why even small tasks seem to take so much energy. It can feel as though you're stuck in the same place, unsure how to move forward or reconnect with the person you used to be.
Therapy provides a supportive space to better understand what's contributing to these feelings, rebuild hope, reconnect with what matters most, and take meaningful steps toward a life that feels more fulfilling and aligned with who you are.
Culturally Responsive Trauma Therapy
Healing Happens in Context
Trauma doesn't happen in a vacuum, and neither does healing.
Our experiences are shaped by family, relationships, culture, identity, and the communities we live in. Culture can influence how we understand emotions, success, family responsibility, relationships, boundaries, and what it means to be a “good” daughter, son, partner, or parent.
For immigrants and people living between cultures, migration, language, belonging, and changing family expectations may add another layer.
Culturally responsive trauma therapy makes room for this whole context. It's not about blaming your family or culture, but understanding what shaped you, what you learned to do to stay connected or safe, and what you're ready to carry forward—or change.
When Insight Isn't Enough, Deeper Healing May Be Needed
You may understand why you're anxious, where the self-doubt comes from, or why certain relationships affect you so strongly.
But sometimes, knowing why doesn't change how you feel or how your body responds.
This is where trauma-focused therapy may help you move beyond understanding toward deeper healing.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) helps people process distressing experiences and memories that continue to feel emotionally present or influence how they respond today.
Rather than only talking about what happened, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to support the brain’s natural processing system. Over time, difficult memories may feel less emotionally overwhelming, allowing you to remember what happened without feeling as though you are still caught in it.
EMDR Therapy
Cognitive Processing Therapy
Difficult experiences can also leave behind powerful beliefs:
“It was my fault.”
“I can't trust anyone.”
“I'm not safe.”
“There's something wrong with me.”
CPT is an evidence-based trauma therapy that helps identify and work with beliefs that may have developed following traumatic experiences.
Meet Tong
Every Story Deserves to Be Understood
Tong Tong
MACP, CCC, RP (Qualifying)
Hi, I'm Tong.
I'm a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) and Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), providing online therapy in English and Mandarin.
My work has increasingly focused on understanding how difficult experiences, relationships, and cultural contexts can continue to influence anxiety, self-worth, emotional responses, and the ways we connect with others.
Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than 15 years working in marketing in China before beginning a new chapter in Canada. Having built a life across cultures, changed careers, balanced work and family, and navigated life in a second language, I know that our experiences can't always be understood separately from culture, family, identity, and the different roles we carry.
My approach is warm, collaborative, practical, and trauma-informed. Sometimes our work may focus on understanding patterns and developing practical tools. At other times, we may work more directly with difficult experiences that continue to feel emotionally present.
I integrate approaches including CBT, ACT, DBT-informed therapy, EMDR, and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) based on your needs, goals, and readiness. You won't be reduced to a diagnosis, a culture, or something that happened to you.
We'll work to understand the whole person behind the struggle.
An Integrative Approach to Therapy
Therapy is not one-size-fits-all. I integrate evidence-based approaches with culturally responsive, trauma-informed care to support both what you're facing today and the deeper experiences that may be shaping it.
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CBT can help you recognize how thoughts, emotions, and behaviours influence one another. We may use it to challenge unhelpful beliefs, reduce avoidance, and develop more balanced ways of responding.
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ACT supports you in making room for difficult thoughts and emotions without allowing them to control every decision. It can help you reconnect with your values and take meaningful action, even when discomfort is present.
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DBT-informed strategies can help when emotions feel intense or difficult to manage. You may learn practical skills for regulating emotions, tolerating distress, communicating effectively, and responding less impulsively.
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EMDR may be helpful when painful experiences continue to affect your emotions, body, relationships, or sense of safety. It supports the brain in processing distressing memories so they feel less overwhelming in the present.
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CPT is an evidence-based trauma therapy that helps you identify and work through beliefs that may develop after difficult experiences—such as self-blame, feeling unsafe, difficulty trusting, or believing something is wrong with you.
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Your experiences are understood within the context of your relationships, family, culture, identity, and life experiences. We work at a pace that respects safety, choice, and readiness without asking you to separate important parts of yourself from therapy.
How We Work Together
Individual Session
Culturally responsive, trauma-informed individual therapy for anxiety, self-worth, boundaries, relationships, difficult experiences, family concerns, and patterns that may be keeping you stuck.
Trauma & EMDR Therapy
For experiences from the past that continue to affect your emotions, beliefs, relationships, or body responses, we can explore trauma-focused approaches including EMDR and CPT when appropriate.
Couples Therapy
Relationships are shaped by our experiences, families, and cultures. Couples therapy can help you understand recurring patterns, communicate differently, and build a safer, more connected relationship.
What Therapy Can Help You Work Toward
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"I finally understand why I react this way."
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"I have something practical to work on this week."
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"I feel less alone with what I'm carrying."
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"I'm starting to respond differently instead of automatically."
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"For the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful."
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"I don't feel like I have to carry everything on my own anymore."
Ready when you are.
You don't have to have everything figured out before reaching out.
Whatever you're carrying, you don't have to carry it alone.
A free 20-minute consultation gives us an opportunity to meet, talk about what brings you here, answer any questions you may have, and explore whether working together feels like the right fit..