EMDR Basic Training Membership
Striving for Synergy Psychotherapy and Counselling Clinic
Melissa Donohue is an internationally trained psychotherapist whose passion is helping people heal from trauma, make sense of longstanding patterns, and feel more connected to themselves and the people around them. As the owner and Clinical Director of Striving for Synergy Psychotherapy and Counselling Clinic, Melissa has spent more than a decade providing holistic, evidence-based psychotherapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups.Melissa is a Registered Social Worker (RSW) with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in multiple U.S. jurisdictions. Her education, clinical training, and experience across Canada and the United States have shaped an integrative approach to psychotherapy that recognizes there is rarely a one-size-fits-all way to heal.Melissa works extensively with individuals experiencing trauma, complex and developmental trauma, PTSD, attachment and relationship difficulties, anxiety, OCD, depression, and challenges related to emotional regulation and self-worth. Many of the people who find their way to Melissa are insightful, capable, and highly functioning in many areas of their lives, yet continue to notice patterns they cannot simply “think” their way out of. They may understand intellectually why they feel or respond a certain way while finding that their body, nervous system, emotions, or relationships continue to respond differently.Melissa entered private practice after working in agency and community-based settings, where she recognized significant gaps in access to specialized trauma treatment. In response, she pursued extensive postgraduate and advanced clinical training in trauma, attachment, and evidence-based psychotherapy. Her clinical work draws from approaches including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT/EFIT), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, mindfulness-based approaches, and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).A significant focus of Melissa’s work is helping clients move beyond simply understanding what has happened to them toward processing and integrating their experiences. This can include exploring how earlier experiences continue to show up through anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, hypervigilance, avoidance, shame, difficulties trusting others, relationship patterns, disconnection from the body, or a persistent need to remain in control.Melissa’s clinical experience led to her serving as the team lead of a specialized trauma program within a major Toronto hospital, where she worked collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team to provide comprehensive care to individuals impacted by developmental and complex trauma. Throughout her career, Melissa has also contributed to clinical research and service provision within leading Canadian healthcare and academic institutions, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, McMaster University, St. Michael’s Hospital, and Scarborough Health Network.Melissa’s interest in the brain and human behaviour began during her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, where she studied Neuroscience and Psychology and earned an Honours Bachelor of Science. She continued her education at the University of Toronto, completing a Master of Social Work with a specialization in Mental Health.Melissa’s commitment to lifelong learning extends beyond her own clinical training and into teaching, mentorship, and supervision. She has held an Adjunct Faculty appointment with the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, where she has had the opportunity to supervise and support emerging clinicians. During her time as a professor in Centennial College’s Social Service Worker Program, Melissa developed foundational curriculum and taught future helping professionals, many of whom she has had the pleasure of later connecting with as colleagues. She continues to provide individual and group clinical supervision to students and practicing clinicians and views supervision as a collaborative process in which learning continues throughout one’s career.Melissa’s belief in the relationship between physical and mental well-being also extends beyond the therapy room. Growing up as a competitive dancer and later working as a fitness instructor, she developed an early appreciation for the role of movement, embodiment, and social connection in overall well-being. For several years, Melissa connected with the community through her work at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, promoting physical and mental well-being through movement and group fitness.Across her roles as a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, educator, and leader, the common thread in Melissa’s work is connection. While she is deeply grateful for her education and clinical training, she believes that meaningful human connection is one of the most important vehicles for change.Melissa brings together clinical experience, evidence-based practice, curiosity, warmth, and a genuine appreciation for the complexity of being human. Whether working with an individual client, supervising a clinician, teaching a student, or leading a team, her goal remains the same: to help people develop a deeper connection with themselves and others and move toward lives that feel more authentic, meaningful, and aligned with who they are.
1849 Yonge Street Suite 615, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4S1Y2
Phone: 289 2004133
Email: hello@strivingforsynergy.com
Population Served:
Adult
Languages:
English
How EMDR is Offered:
Both online and in-person
Areas of Expertise:
Anxiety
Attachment Focussed
Birth Trauma
C-PTSD
Depression
Dissociation
EMDR Intensives
Grief & Bereavement
Medical Trauma
Military
OCD
PTSD
Panic Attacks
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Social Anxiety