Family Therapy
Meet Our Family Counsellors
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Derek Wilson, MC, RCC, CCC
Derek is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Canadian Certified Counsellor.
Accepting new clients.
Meet Derek.
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Tory Vitaly, MSW, RSW
What is Family Therapy and How Can It Help?
Family Therapy is based on the belief in the healing power of families.
It gives caregivers the tools to help understand emotion basics so that emotions are no longer feared by loved ones, or caregivers.
Family members learn that emotions are simply the body's alarm bell.
Loved ones learn to cope with their emotions in a more manageable way and maladaptive coping behaviours are reduced.
It offers caregivers ways to process their own blocks or fears that get in the way of doing something different.
Additionally, family therapy provides caregivers ways to heal emotional ruptures within their relationship with loved ones.
Family Therapy: Effective, Evidence-Based Support
Family therapy has proven to be exceptionally effective—studies show that 70–80% of families report significant improvement in communication, conflict resolution, and emotional functioning after engaging in therapy.
According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), over 98% of clients rated their therapy experience as “good” or “excellent,” while around 93% shared that they gained more effective tools to manage family issues, and 90% reported better overall emotional well‑being.
These improvements underscore the impact of family therapy on strengthening relational bonds across diverse situations—from adolescent behavioural challenges to coping with grief or divorce and more.
You do not have to do this alone.
Meet Tory Vitaly, EFFT Therapist
(Emotion-Focused Family Therapy)
Written by Tory Vitaly, MSW, RSW:
“One theme has been common in almost every family I have worked with: Parents/ caregivers desperately want to help their loved one to heal. To feel better. To live.”
I am an Advanced Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer in Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT).
I have been a social worker for 21 years and a counsellor for the past 12 years.
In that time, I have been fortunate to gain experience in various different therapy and treatment modalities in mental health.
I am also a mother of two adult children, and I have personally experienced the benefits of EFFT.
As a mother, I have felt more confident in my ability to support my daughters.
You'd think that as a counsellor, with all the tools in my toolkit, I would be able to implement those easily.
Well, it is very different when it is your own child.
When feeling at my wit’s end, and frustration was at an all time high, and I could not understand why my daughter wouldn't just do this or that to make her life easier or suffering less.
I was stuck.
Flooded with my own emotions because of X, Y, and Z. I couldn't think.
But then I would take a few deep breaths and remember to use the emotion coaching script I learned
I have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of families in various settings from community-based organizations to inpatient hospital settings to private practice.
I have worked with families with loved ones of all ages struggling with:
depression
anxiety
emotion dysregulation
self-harm
suicidal ideation
substance use and
eating disorders.