When your thoughts feel too fast, your energy feels too low, or everyday demands keep piling up, Shantel Kim helps you find a more manageable way forward

You may understand what you believe you “should” do and still find it difficult to begin, follow through, or make meaningful changes on your own. You may find yourself overthinking, masking how overwhelmed you feel, or wondering why routines and simple everyday tasks require more effort than expected. When depression enters the picture, even reaching out can feel like another task that you do not have the energy to complete. As you consider reaching out, you may be looking for a skilled therapist who understands your perspective and offers thoughtful, practical support that goes beyond generic advice or approaches you have already tried.

If you are looking for counselling in Waterloo, Shantel Kim, MSW, BSW (Hons), CYC, RSW, is a psychotherapist and Registered Social Worker who offers this kind of support by drawing on her education and more than six years of professional experience across university, elementary school, community, housing, and hospital settings. Her compassionate, non-judgemental style is grounded in evidence-informed therapy and a real-world understanding of how mental health is shaped not only by thoughts and emotions, but also by relationships, identity, culture, disability, education, employment, living circumstances, access to resources, and experiences within systems that do not always respond equitably to people’s needs.

Shantel supports a wide range of concerns, with focused expertise in ADHD, anxiety, and depression

Shantel supports people with concerns around anxiety or stress, depression or low mood, ADHD or neurodivergence, trauma, substance use, poor self-esteem, difficulties with communication or boundaries, as well as those navigating difficult relationships, complex family dynamics, and life transitions.

Shantel understands that ADHD may show up as task paralysis, time blindness, emotional intensity, inconsistent motivation, forgetfulness, or a cycle of working under pressure and then crashing. Anxiety may add perfectionism, rumination, avoidance, physical tension, or the fear that one mistake will confirm your worst beliefs about yourself. Depression can make the same cycle heavier by reducing energy, hope, concentration, and interest in the things that once helped you feel like yourself.

What distinguishes Shantel’s approach is her commitment to understanding you as a whole person and shaping sessions around what is actually happening in your life

Through her work with children, adolescents, adults, and older adults across a wide range of therapeutic settings, Shantel has seen that mental health concerns rarely exist in isolation. Rather than relying on a single explanation or method, Shantel begins by listening carefully and taking the time to understand how the different aspects of your life are connected and how they may be affecting you. She works collaboratively with you to explore your concerns, identify relevant patterns, consider what has helped you cope and what may no longer be working, and identify changes that feel realistic, useful, and manageable within the context of your life.

Her approach to counselling and psychotherapy may draw from cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy-informed strategies, acceptance and commitment therapy, narrative therapy, motivational interviewing, mindfulness-based therapies, and solution-focused therapy. You can expect clear explanations, guided conversations, thoughtful questions, practical strategies, and a collaborative plan that evolves as you learn more about yourself. Rather than relying on one fixed approach for everyone, Shantel adapts the methods used in session to reflect who you are, what matters most to you, and what is most relevant to your circumstances.

Shantel is comfortable supporting both focused, short-term goals and concerns that need more time and depth. At CARESPACE Weber North, she can also coordinate with other members of your care team when physical health, sleep, nutrition, medication questions, pain, or daily functioning are affecting your mental well-being. That coordinated approach helps keep your care connected rather than fragmented.

Shantel’s education and years of frontline experience in hospital, school, and housing settings have strengthened her clinical judgment and prepared her to respond calmly and thoughtfully in complex situations

Shantel holds a Master of Social Work and an Honours Bachelor of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University. She received the Alumni Gold Medal upon completing her Bachelor of Social Work. She also holds an Advanced Diploma in Child and Youth Care from Fanshawe College, where she earned President’s Honour Roll recognition. Shantel is registered and in good standing with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. Her education and clinical training in both social work and child and youth care allow her to consider individual development and emotional needs alongside the broader social, cultural, relational, and environmental factors that shape well-being.

Her professional experience includes brief and single-session counselling at the University of Waterloo, trauma-focused work with more than 80 adults living with co-occurring mental health concerns, substance use, and housing instability, and collaborative mental health care in a schizophrenia outpatient clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. She has also supported children, youth, and adults in school, residential, shelter, and transitional housing environments. Her experience also includes assessment, treatment planning, crisis response, case management, and connecting people with appropriate services.

Training in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills, crisis intervention and prevention, overdose response, safer spaces for 2SLGBTQ+ communities, and First Aid/CPR strengthens her ability to assess risk, support safety, and respond calmly when distress is high. For you, that means warmth is backed by sound clinical judgment.

Shantel brings focused expertise to ADHD, anxiety, and depression, helping you move forward with greater clarity and self-compassion

As a neurodivergent counsellor, Shantel understands that challenges related to ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence are shaped not only by how your mind works, but also by experiences of being misunderstood, criticized, excluded, or expected to meet demands that do not align with your needs. She helps you separate symptoms from character, so that procrastination is not treated as laziness and emotional sensitivity is not viewed as weakness. Together, you can explore how your nervous system, environment, habits, expectations, and past experiences affect your emotions, relationships, daily functioning, and ability to manage everyday demands. Therapy focuses on building on your strengths and finding practical approaches that fit your life. This may include identifying triggers and patterns, breaking tasks into manageable steps, developing supports for planning and memory, practising emotional regulation, challenging negative self-talk, reducing avoidance, and creating flexible routines.

For anxiety, the goal is not to eliminate every uncomfortable thought. It is to help you respond more intentionally, move through uncertainty with greater resilience, and make choices that are not driven by fear. For depression, Shantel may help you rebuild momentum through small, meaningful actions while making space for grief, exhaustion, disconnection, or the circumstances that contributed to feeling stuck.

Progress can look like beginning tasks with less dread, recovering from setbacks without spiralling, recognizing your needs sooner, setting clearer boundaries, reconnecting with relationships or activities, and developing a more accurate, compassionate understanding of yourself. Shantel’s approach is practical but never simplistic: sustainable change has to fit your needs, circumstances, and everyday life.

Her warmth, bicultural perspective, and lived understanding of neurodivergence make difficult conversations feel more human

Shantel brings curiosity, humility, and gentle humour into the therapy room. Her bicultural background and lived experience as a neurodivergent, racialized therapist inform her respect for the many ways people learn, adapt, mask, cope, and survive within systems that may not respond equitably to their needs. You can expect language that is clear and relatable, without unnecessary distance or judgment.

Shantel provides an affirming and respectful space for people seeking culturally responsive and 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive therapy. She recognizes that your identity, culture, and lived experiences can shape your mental health, needs, and what healing means to you. You do not need to hide parts of yourself or pretend to be someone you are not, as your identity and experiences will always be respected.

You do not need a diagnosis, a clear sense of where to begin, or all the answers before reaching out

Shantel believes that therapy can begin with uncertainty, discomfort, curiosity, or simply the sense that something in your life needs attention. Shantel can support you in moving from confusion to greater understanding, from overwhelm to manageable next steps, and from feeling stuck to meaningful change.

Book your free first online appointment with Shantel today and begin with one focused conversation about what feels hardest, what you want to change, and what a realistic next step could be.