Denise Walusimbi

Denise Walusimbi is a Registered Social Worker with a Master of Social Work, Bachelor of Social Work, and Social Service Worker diploma. She brings nearly two decades of experience across mental health, psychotherapy, child welfare, youth and family services, homelessness, crisis intervention, trauma, acquired brain injury, chronic pain, and community based care. 

 

Clinically, Denise works with adolescents and adults experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, emotional dysregulation, grief and loss, relationship and family difficulties, parenting challenges, financial or career stress, chronic pain, identity concerns, empty nesting, and other significant life transitions.  

 

Denise’s therapeutic approach is integrative and evidence based. She draws from Emotion Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal Family Systems informed approaches, Narrative Therapy, attachment based approaches, Brief Solution Focused Therapy, and Trauma Informed Cognitive Process Therapy. 

 

But connection comes first. 

 

Clients are met by a real person who is warm, curious, compassionate, straightforward, and comfortable bringing humor into the room when it fits. Denise and her clients determine goals together, then purposefully bring evidence-based tools and interventions into the work. This may mean exploring difficult thoughts and emotions, understanding patterns, developing practical coping and emotional regulation skills, strengthening relationships, processing experiences, or finding different ways of responding to what life is asking of you. 

 

Denise is interested in understanding, “What happened, how did you learn to survive it, and what do you need?” Together, you will have opportunities to ask questions, have real conversations, allow for curiosity, make connections, and understand what’s happening in your brain, nervous system, relationships, and emotional world. 

 

Denise has a particular passion for trauma work. Trauma doesn’t always look the way people expect it to.Sometimes it looks like anxiety, anger, perfectionism, people pleasing, shutting down, difficulty trusting, oral ways preparing for something to go wrong. And therapy doesn’t have to begin with a diagnosis. Sometimes life itself is hard. 

 

Denise brings extensive experience working alongside Indigenous children, youth, adults, and families, as well as individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and life experiences. Her approach is culturally responsive, relational, strengths-based, and anti-oppressive.

Come as you are—you don’t need to have everything figured out. We will start where you are and work together toward where you want to be.