Tessa Natale

I am a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) and a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA). I moved to Vancouver, BC, from Ottawa, ON, and provide virtual psychotherapy to individuals across Canada, with many clients currently located in both British Columbia and Ontario.

My clinical work is trauma-informed and centred on supporting women+ (ages 20-40) through emotional, relational, and identity-related challenges. This often includes concerns such as self-esteem, perfectionism, relationship difficulties, life transitions, and feeling overwhelmed or disconnected from oneself.

I take a collaborative and thoughtful approach to therapy. Research consistently shows that a strong therapeutic relationship, often called the therapeutic alliance, is one of the most important predictors of positive treatment outcomes in psychotherapy (Opland & Torrico, 2024), and I place this connection at the centre of our work together.

My approach is integrative, trauma-informed, evidence-based, and deeply relational. My goal is to support greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and lasting, meaningful change.

I am part of the Shine Mental Health Collective, a group of mental health practitioners based in Ottawa, Ontario. My clinical work is supervised by Tesia Bryski, RP, founder of Shine.

I hold a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from the University of Ottawa, where I completed coursework, a 400-hour clinical placement, and a research thesis funded by SSHRC and OGS grants. My thesis explored experiences of self-doubt among therapists-in-training and has been approved for publication.

Over the years, I’ve worked across a range of mental health settings, including private psychotherapy practices, university counselling centres, and crisis response services (over 1,300 calls). During my master’s degree, I also served as a guest lecturer, teaching and research assistant, and I continue to present my work at national and international conferences.

I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, after years of internalizing my symptoms. I’m also a recovering people-pleaser and perfectionist, experiences that continue to shape how I understand nervous systems, self-doubt, and the ways we learn to adapt in order to feel safe and loved.

I believe in the golden rule; meeting others with the same care and curiosity we hope to receive, and I feel most fulfilled when I’m connecting with others.

When I’m not practicing psychotherapy, you’ll likely find me listening to a podcast, practicing yoga, catching up with a friend, or spending time outdoors.

I look forward to learning about you. 🤍

Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) – Credential ID #15123

Certified Clinical Counsellor (C.C.C) Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association – Credential ID #11251037

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) LivingWorks – Issued Jan 2023. Credential ID available upon request

I am the grateful recipient of the following awards:

2025 Four Year Doctoral Fellowship (4YF) - University of British Columbia

2025 President's Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award -University of British Columbia

2025 Lester Luborsky Student Poster Award – Society for Psychotherapy Research

2023 – 2024 Ontario Graduate Scholarship – University of Ottawa

2022 – 2023 Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master’s, SSHRC, University of Ottawa

2022 – 2023 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) (Offered) – Saint Paul University

2022 – 2023Excellence Scholarship Awarded by the University of Ottawa

2019 – 2023 Merit Scholarships Awarded by the University of Ottawa

2018 – 2022 Consecutive Dean’s Honour List Student at the University of Ottawa

Upcoming:

Button, S., Gazzola, N., Hobson, S., Karasz, S., Natale, T., & Khanna Roy, A. (2026, June). Graduate Student Peer-Vision: Strengthening Professional Identity through Collaborative Reflection [Paper]. Canadian Psychological Association 2026 Conference, Montréal, Canada.

Completed:

Gazzola, N., Thériault, A., & Natale, T. (2025). A thematic analysis of psychotherapy supervisor confidence. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2025.2544197

Natale, T., & Gazzola, N. (in press). “Should I even be a therapist?” Exploring the Sources of Self-Doubt for Therapists-in-Training. A Thematic Analysis.

Natale, T., & Mayled, M. (2024, June). How do Therapists-in-Training Experience and Manage their Therapy-Related Self-Doubts? A Thematic Analysis [Poster Presentation]. Society for Psychotherapy Research Conference, Ottawa, Canada.

 Natale, T. (2023, March). A Critical Synthesis of Therapist Self-Doubt and Proposed Study [Ignite Presentation]. Jean-Paul Dionne Symposium, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.

Natale, T., Gazzola, N., & Thériault, A. (2022, March). What Deflates the Clinical Supervisor’s Self-Confidence? A Qualitative Examination [Poster Presentation]. Jean-Paul Dionne Symposium, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.

Gazzola, N., Thériault, A., & Natale, T. (2021, June). A Qualitative Investigation of Clinical Supervisors' Self- Confidence: What Enhances it and What Deflates it? [Poster Presentation]. Canadian Psychological Association 2021 Virtual Series Conference, Ottawa, Canada.