Monique Ryan is a social worker and licensed psychotherapist. After completing graduate studies in philosophy, Ms. Ryan obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Montréal.  Several years later, in 2015, she earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto. In 2022, she completed the academic component of the 4-year psychoanalysis program at the Toronto Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. Ms. Ryan has taken a number of complementary training courses, including legal and ethical aspects of social work practice, the application of mindfulness in psychotherapy and accelerated experiential psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Ms. Ryan began her career as a lawyer in private practice, first with Woods and Associates, then with Davies, Phillips and Vineberg. She then joined Astral Media as Vice-President, Legal Affairs. Ms. Ryan took advantage of her move to Toronto to return to school and reorient her career towards the practice of psychotherapy.   After completing her studies in social work, she worked in private practice in downtown Toronto.  In this context, she practiced psychotherapy with a clientele made up mainly of adults, who presented a variety of problems such as anxiety, depression, life transitions and difficulties with interpersonal relationships.  On her return to Montreal, Ms. Ryan completed the training required to obtain a psychotherapist’s license.

Ms. Ryan’s approach is flexible and depends on the objectives discussed with clients.  Ms. Ryan has completed extensive training in psychoanalysis, but is also familiar with other schools of psychotherapy, such as the humanistic and cognitive-behavioural approaches.  Ms. Ryan sees psychotherapy as a collaborative process between psychotherapist and client.  In the context of a secure relationship, the psychotherapist and client work together to articulate and understand the client’s reality, paying particular attention to the expectations and beliefs that organize the client’s experience.  In this way, psychotherapy enables important insights to be gained, enriching experience and facilitating change.