Secure Base Psychotherapy | Jen McDonnell | Toronto & Ontario
Psychotherapy · Virtual Across Ontario

You've built
a life.
Now find yourself
in it.

You're capable, driven, and very good at keeping it together. But somewhere between building your career, crossing an ocean, or grappling with who you actually are — you lost the thread back to yourself. This is where you find it again.

"
Jen McDonnell, Registered Psychotherapist
Now accepting
New clients across Ontario
Virtual · In-person Liberty Village
Registered Psychotherapist · CRPO
Virtual Therapy · Ontario-Wide
In-Person · Liberty Village, Toronto
Clinical Supervision Available
LGBTQIA+ Affirming

Do you ever feel like you're living two lives?

The one others see — capable, together, functioning. And the one underneath — quietly asking: when did I stop feeling like myself?

01
The Expat · The Newcomer · The First-Generation
Home is a feeling you've been chasing across borders, cultures, and generations.
"You're too changed to go back, not fully arrived where you are — and still healing from wounds that were never yours to carry."
  • You've built a life in a country that isn't yours and you're proud of it — but something underneath aches in a way you can't explain to people who haven't done it
  • You go home and feel like a visitor. You live here yet feel like you're pretending you fit in
  • The practical challenges are solved. It's the identity ones that linger
  • You've always lived between two worlds — the culture you come from and the country you grew up in — never feeling fully at home in either one
This sounds like me →
02
The High Achiever · The Burnt Out
You built yourself
around performance.
"You're the capable one. The one who holds it together. The one people don't worry about — which means nobody's asking if you're okay."
  • You've achieved everything others expected of you — but it still never feels good enough, or it has stopped feeling good at all
  • You're exhausted in a way that sleep doesn't fix, and you don't know who you are when you're not being productive
  • You would never admit to others that you struggle. Maybe this is even the first time you are admitting it to yourself
This sounds like me →
What connects all of this

Whatever brings you here —
the work is the same.

There's a version of yourself you've lost track of. Maybe it happened gradually, in the gap between who you had to be and who you actually are. Maybe it happened the moment you crossed a border, received a diagnosis, or hit a wall you didn't see coming. The work isn't about fixing you. You're not broken. It's about finding the thread back — to something more honest, more grounded, more fully yours.

Learn about my approach

Warm. Curious.
Attachment-informed.

I don't work from a script. I think in connections — noticing what's underneath, following threads that aren't always obvious, and staying genuinely curious about you as a whole person rather than a set of symptoms. Sessions feel like a real conversation, not a clinical transaction.

My approach is grounded in attachment theory and compassion-focused work — which means we explore the patterns that formed early, evolved over time, and echo throughout your life today keeping you stuck. This is a space without judgement, where every part of who you are is welcome.

— Jen
01
Attachment-Informed
Our earliest relationships shape how we move through every subsequent one — including our most important relationship: the one we have with ourselves. Understanding those patterns and cycles is where lasting change can grow.
02
Compassion Focused
High achievers and people who've had to be strong for a long time are often their own harshest critics. This work creates a different relationship with that inner voice.
03
Trauma-Informed
Trauma work is intentional, supportive, and above all — safe. Your healing is achieved through finding a secure present, envisioning a brighter future, and reclaiming control from the nightmares of the past.
04
Genuinely Collaborative
You're the expert on your own life. I bring a different perspective, the question you haven't asked yet, and consistent curiosity about what's true for you.
Jen McDonnell, Psychotherapist

Planted in Dublin.
Warmed in Florida.
Bloomed in Toronto.

My professional journey was theoretically, educationally, and physically multicultural — learning and uprooting across three countries and two continents inside of ten years. I understand how doing difficult things can foster resilience and self-growth, as much as it can lead to self-doubt and loneliness.

I'm a Registered Psychotherapist registered with the CRPO, trained across Ireland, the US, and Canada. My background spans inpatient care, addiction rehab, community mental health, and private practice.

🎓
Master's Degree — Florida, USA Trained across Ireland, the United States, and Canada
🏛️
CRPO Registered Psychotherapist Practicing in Ontario since July 2021
🌍
Understanding the First-Generation International Experience Clinical training, lived context, and deep curiosity about what it costs to rebuild yourself across borders
🏳️‍🌈
LGBTQIA+ Affirming A genuinely safe and inclusive space for all
Read my full story

Two ways
to work together

View all →
For Clinicians
Clinical Supervision
Thoughtful, attachment-informed supervision for therapists in early practice. A collaborative space to develop your clinical voice, build your expertise, and reinforce your self-care.
Explore supervision →
Speciality Focus
Attachment-Based Therapy
Exploring the patterns that formed early and show up in every relationship, every role, and how you feel about yourself when nobody's watching.
Learn more →
On Finding Your Way
"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."
Martin Luther King Jr.
On Wholeness
"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop."
Rumi
On Healing
"The wound is the place where the light enters you."
Rumi
On Showing Up
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena — who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again."
Theodore Roosevelt
Citizenship in a Republic, 1910
On Moving Forward
"We can't go back. We can only do our best now — and sometimes that has to be enough."
Fleabag
Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
On Belonging
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."
Heraclitus
Particularly for those who've tried to go home
On Taking Up Space
"Embarrassment is an under-explored emotion. Go out there and make a fool of yourself."
Ready when you are

The hardest part
is the first message.

A free 20-minute consultation is a conversation, not a commitment. We'll talk about what's bringing you here, how I work, and whether we feel like a good fit. No pressure. No jargon. Just two people talking honestly.

Book Your Free Call
Virtual · Ontario-wide · No commitment