About Tiina
Tiina Kivinen, Registered Psychotherapist, BA, MACP
I’m a Registered Psychotherapist based in Ottawa. I work with adults experiencing stress, anxiety, emotional pain, and periods of change, as well as people who want to understand recurring patterns or themselves more deeply.
When we meet, I want to understand what life has been like for you. That includes what is difficult, what has helped you get this far, and the parts of your experience that may be harder to explain.
My path into psychotherapy
I started my first yoga teacher training when I was 18 and began teaching a few years later. I didn’t know then where that path would lead, but I was already drawn to practices that helped people slow down, become more aware of themselves, and find a little more steadiness when life felt difficult.
Over the next two decades, I taught yoga and meditation, led retreats and teacher trainings, and worked with people in workplaces, educational settings, community programs, and one-to-one. What drew me in most was not simply teaching a practice. I loved seeing what could happen when someone slowed down enough to notice what they were feeling, settle their nervous system, understand a reaction differently, or find a way of responding that they could carry into their own life.
Over time, I realized that I wanted to work more directly with that part of the process. I wanted to help people understand what was happening inside them, work with stress and difficult emotions, and develop ways of supporting themselves that actually fit who they were. That led me to counselling hypnotherapy, and I began working with clients in 2018.
I found that I loved the depth of one-to-one counselling: being able to listen more closely, understand what someone was struggling with, and stay with the parts of the conversation that needed more time.
Psychotherapy felt like a natural next step. I completed my Master’s in Counselling Psychology at Yorkville University, including a supervised psychotherapy internship, and moved into clinical practice. It gave me a broader foundation for working with mental health, relationships, behaviour, emotions, and recurring patterns, while building on the work I had already been doing for years.
I still carry that earlier experience into the way I practice now. I’m interested in helping people understand themselves more clearly, recognize the patterns they get caught in, and find ways of responding that genuinely fit their lives. Sometimes that means learning a practical skill or changing a behaviour. Sometimes it means slowing down and staying with something long enough to understand it. Often it is some combination of both.
What I value in the relationship
I value understanding someone before moving into problem-solving. A concern can look straightforward from the outside and feel very different to the person living with it.
I’m comfortable giving difficult emotions time and attention. There are also times when it helps to focus on what you can do next. We can move between those kinds of work depending on what you need.
I want our conversations to leave room for your perspective, including when it differs from mine. You can tell me when something does not fit, when a question feels premature, or when you would like us to approach something differently. If something is not helping, I want us to be able to talk about that too.
I don’t see therapy as me telling you who you are or what your life should look like. Part of the work is helping you understand your own experience more clearly, so the choices you make feel like your own.
What hurts most can often give us deep insights about what really matters to us.
Education and professional practice
I am registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), registration number 14873, and hold a Master’s in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University.
My background also includes studies in Cultural Studies and Women’s Studies at Trent University, an Expressive Arts Practitioner diploma from Fleming College, and a Counselling Hypnotherapy certificate from the Orca Institute.
I continue to develop my clinical practice through further training and regular supervision. Recent training includes CBT, DBT- and ACT-informed work, guided imagery, and trauma-sensitive mind-body approaches.
From my background to our work together
All of that experience informs how I practice, but our sessions begin with you: what you are facing, what you hope to change, and what feels worth exploring together.
On the Therapy & Approach page, you can read more about the concerns I work with, the methods I draw on, and what beginning therapy involves.
To speak with me directly, get in touch or arrange a free consultation.