Jae Steele, MACP, BHSc, RP(Q), RHN

I am Jae (they/her), a firstborn Canadian of uninvited settler parents from middle-class New York/New Jersey and working-class small towns outside Glasgow, Scotland.

I am also a compassionate and curious psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience working with people across various healthcare settings.

I am particularly suited to welcoming clients looking for support related to:

  • ADHD/AuDHD/neurodivergence: identity, management, masking, and burnout

  • addiction: alcohol, substances, relationships, spending, etc.

  • anxiety

  • borderline personality disorder (BPD)*

  • family stressors: adult children of emotionally immature parents, intergenerational trauma, estrangement, etc.

  • grief and loss

  • high sensitivity (HSP) and rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD)

  • LGBTQ+ identity: sexuality, gender, relationships, creative expression and more!

  • life transitions: school, work, moving, illness, you name it

  • parenting: from pregnancy, to sole or co-parenting, to relationships with adult children, and everything in between

  • premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) or premenstrual exacerbation (PME)

  • relationships: dating, partnership, ethical nonmonogamy (ENM)/polyamory, separation

  • supporting a loved one through their mental health struggles

I delight in working collaboratively with clients in holistic and trauma-informed ways, incorporating humour and mindfulness. I endeavour to be humble, with a decolonized, intersectional and otherwise anti-oppressive stance. I appreciate individual identity and collectivism. I celebrate diverse gender expression and ways of building families. I value harm reduction and various recovery pathways. I want to help improve how we give and receive care in communities, rather than in isolation.

*The label “BPD” is problematic for many, and I believe it is more aptly described as an interpersonal disorder. I like this article on the topic.

What did you do before you were a therapist?

Like many people with ADHD, my path has been far from linear. I worked and studied in the perinatal field for a decade before pursuing my Master’s degree, studying infant and early childhood mental health while working as a postpartum doula and an early parenting conference organizer. Before that, I was a midwifery student, which afforded me the privilege of working intimately with hundreds of families and attending almost 200 births. Before all that, I wrote cookbooks and worked as a holistic nutritionist.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I love cooking with and for people. I deeply appreciate walking through natural areas with my kid and my two dogs, and getting a change of air and scenery from our busy west-end Toronto neighbourhood. I enjoy a good TV series binge, but I also love reading - mostly memoirs and fiction. I’m also a maker: I do ceramics, quilting and knitting. I have a habit of collecting and propagating far too many houseplants, so I occasionally sell them at my local farmers’ market to raise money for various Indigenous-led organizations.

My Formal Education

Additional Relevant Training

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