Cliann Dsouza, BA, MA, RP (Qualifying)
When anxiety, burnout, or a major life change has left you feeling unlike yourself, you deserve support that feels both safe and practical
You may know that something needs to change while still feeling unsure about where to begin. Your thoughts may be racing, your energy may be depleted, or a relationship, transition, or past experience may be affecting more of your life than you expected. Cliann Dsouza, BA, MA, RP (Qualifying), offers a warm, steady place where you can slow down, feel heard, and begin understanding what is happening beneath the surface. She combines a person-centred relationship with CBT structure and trauma-informed pacing, so support can feel both emotionally safe and practically useful.When you choose counselling in Kitchener with Cliann, you are not expected to arrive with the right words or a perfectly defined goal. You can begin exactly where you are. She supports adults and young adults experiencing anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, low self-esteem, emotional regulation difficulties, relationship concerns, trauma-related distress, and significant life transitions. Her approach is compassionate without being vague and structured without feeling rigid, helping you develop insight, practical coping skills, and a clearer sense of direction at a pace that respects your readiness.
Cliann combines clinical psychology training with a deeply person-centred way of helping you move from overwhelm toward clarity
As a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), Cliann Dsouza, BA, MA, RP (Qualifying), provides comprehensive psychotherapy for a wide range of emotional, behavioural, and relational concerns. Her distinctive strength is the way she combines a Person-Centred Approach, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Trauma-Informed Therapy rather than forcing your experience into a single method.That integration matters because insight alone may not change a pattern, while strategies alone may feel disconnected from the reasons the pattern developed. Cliann helps you understand your experience, identify what is keeping you stuck, and practise realistic ways of responding differently. Her background also includes behavioural support, autism services, and work with older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. This breadth helps her recognize how mental health is shaped by your relationships, environment, stage of life, communication needs, strengths, and daily routines—not only by a diagnosis or symptom list.
From the first conversation, your care is shaped around what matters to you—not around a preset protocol
Your first sessions focus on building enough safety and trust for honest conversation. Cliann listens for the concerns bringing you to counselling, as well as the strengths, values, cultural context, and life experiences that can support your progress. Together, you clarify what you want to feel, understand, or do differently and develop a plan that is specific enough to guide the work while remaining flexible as your needs evolve.You can expect thoughtful questions, clear explanations, collaborative goal setting, and regular check-ins about what is or is not helping. Depending on your goals, sessions may include identifying thought and behaviour patterns, practising emotional regulation skills, developing coping strategies, strengthening communication, or approaching difficult experiences with greater steadiness and choice. At CARESPACE Westmount East, Cliann can also coordinate with other members of your healthcare team when broader support would benefit you. That interdisciplinary model keeps your care connected while ensuring that your voice remains central to every decision.
Her education and frontline experience give you both emotional understanding and practical strategies you can use beyond the therapy room
Cliann holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from St. Xavier’s College and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from L. S. Raheja College of Arts and Commerce. She has also completed a certificate course in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, strengthening her ability to translate psychological concepts into practical tools you can apply between sessions.Her professional experience spans psychotherapy, behavioural assessment, individualized support planning, autism and Applied Behaviour Analysis services, crisis support, caregiver collaboration, and older-adult mental health. Through roles with Community Living North Perth, Kerry’s Place Autism Services, A Balanced Approach, and Echoing Healthy Ageing, she has supported communication, adaptive living, social functioning, emotional regulation, and positive behaviour change across different ages and support needs. Earlier clinical psychology internships at S. L. Raheja Hospital and Drishti further developed her assessment and therapeutic foundations. This combination of formal education and direct care experience helps Cliann balance careful listening with purposeful intervention, so your sessions can feel emotionally validating while still moving toward meaningful, observable change.
Her Person-Centred, CBT, and Trauma-Informed specialties work together so you can feel understood, recognize patterns, and build change safely
While Cliann works with a broad range of mental health concerns, you will find particular depth in the way she integrates three complementary specialties. Your experience is treated as something to understand, not something to correct from a distance. Cliann brings empathy, authenticity, cultural sensitivity, and respect for your autonomy into the therapeutic relationship. You remain an active partner in deciding what matters, what feels manageable, and what progress should look like. This approach can be especially valuable when you have felt dismissed, misunderstood, judged, or pressured in other settings, because trust becomes part of the therapeutic work rather than a prerequisite you are expected to provide.When anxiety, depression, stress, low self-esteem, or relationship difficulties are reinforced by recurring thoughts and behaviours, CBT can help you make those cycles more visible. Cliann may help you examine automatic thoughts, test unhelpful assumptions, identify avoidance patterns, and develop more balanced responses. Sessions can also include practical problem-solving, coping routines, and small behavioural steps that make change feel achievable. The goal is not forced positive thinking; it is greater flexibility, so one thought, fear, or setback has less power to determine what you do next.
Difficult experiences can affect your nervous system, sense of safety, relationships, and ability to trust yourself long after the immediate event has passed. Cliann works with awareness of these effects by emphasizing choice, consent, predictability, pacing, and emotional safety. You are not required to disclose more than you are ready to share. Instead, the work may begin with grounding, stabilization, emotional regulation, and strengthening your capacity to remain present. By combining trauma-informed principles with person-centred care and CBT tools, Cliann helps you build understanding and practical change without losing sight of dignity, context, or your right to set the pace.
