How We Overcome

We sit down with Debbie Opoku-Mulder, an award-winning psychotherapist, workshop facilitator, corporate consultant and international speaker who has been helping people access tools to change their lives for over 14 years.

Debbie works to erase the stigma associated with mental health. Her work is guided from an anti-oppressive, healing focused and trauma informed lens.

We sat down with Debbie to unpack her journey with:

• coming to terms with feeling unhappy and confused after having a baby, becoming mom for the first time
• confusing and dark moments that lead to getting help
• reconciling being a helper of others and having a mental health issue
• the path to getting help, and feeling better after post partum depression
• acknowledging that sometimes helpers need helpers too.

Laura Gongora is a registered psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). Laura holds a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy from the University of Toronto and an Honours Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Calgary. She currently works at the Toronto Counselling Centre for Teens providing psychotherapy to teens, adults, and families experiencing a broad range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, life transitions, relationship difficulties, trauma, grief, and loss.

Laura’s hope is to help clients make sense of their experiences, utilize their strengths to cope with challenges, build healthy relationships, and be their authentic selves. Laura was born in Bogota, Colombia and immigrated to Calgary, AB at the age of six with her parents and twin sister. Growing up within these two cultures encouraged her to become curious about the ways people’s diverse beliefs, values, and experiences intersect to shape our identities, relationships, and worldviews. Today, Laura will be talking about another big change in her life- her move from Calgary to Toronto as a 25-year-old. Laura will be talking about the
many challenges that came with this move such as the grief and loss associated with the sense of not having a “home, adjusting to a new city, and being away from her friends and family. She will also be talking about how this experience led her to go to therapy for the first time and
how therapy has been an important part in her journey towards healing, acceptance, and creating a new “home” for herself.

Kate McLoed shares her story of losing her father, tragically and suddenly, at a young age. She tells her story of how she and her family came together and decided to live a positive life despite their loss. We touch on topics of resilience, the non-linear path to creating our best life, sobriety, and the way that we can shape one another’s lives through kindness.  Kate McLoed is one of three daughters of John and Louise McLoed. She is the Clinical Director and an Individual and Child Counsellor at C.A.R.E Counselling & Coaching, based in Waterloo, Ontario. She holds a Master’s of Arts in Counseling Psychology and is a registered social worker. She has an impressive history of providing support to people of all ages. First starting as a social services volunteer, she worked her way as a worker at a teen residential shelter, as well as other positions with children and youth.