Kathryn Wagner
Social Worker, MSW, RSW
In the past 25 years I have enjoyed working as a social worker in the areas of trauma recovery, eating disorders, and sexual assault and domestic violence. Drawing on my education and experience in these areas, my practice is now focused on supporting women in the areas of reproductive health concerns which include:
- infertility
- high risk (and/or high anxiety) pregnancy
- complicated or traumatic birthing experiences
- anxiety and/or adjustment challenges with a newborn
- birth of baby with special needs
- pregnancy and infant loss (abortion, miscarriage, and stillborn)
- post partum depression
These challenges happen to so many women, yet they are rarely given the attention they deserve by the medical system, or mental health care services. Women report trying to reach out for support, only to find that partners, friends, family members, and/or health care practitioners don’t really know what to say or do that would be helpful. Women sometimes internalize this message as “I should get over it”, and subsequently they often suffer alone, and for much longer than they would, if they had received the appropriate support. Women often do not recognize or acknowledge the severity of the symptoms they are experiencing when talking with others in their support system. These symptoms can include general anxiety, insomnia, weepiness, low energy, irritability, loss of interest in sex, preoccupation with a traumatic experience (medical procedures, complex birth, miscarriage, surgery, death) and flashbacks (intrusive memories).
Counselling sessions can help to work through feelings and beliefs about past events, address fears of what might happen in the future, and provide skills to cope effectively with these symptoms and challenges.
I have a Master of Social Work degree, with over 25 years of experience in individual, marital and group therapy. My specialty training includes EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and CISD (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing). I am a member of both the College of Social Workers, and the Ontario Association of Social Workers.
To schedule an appointment, please call 519-242-4672 or email kathrynwagner@thewellnesscollaborative.com. The counselling session fee is $140 which is payable by cash, cheque or e-Transfer. Many benefit plans reimburse employees for counselling services in whole or in part. It is recommended that you contact your provider to confirm the amount of coverage available to you prior to beginning counselling. In office and virtual appointments are now available.
