Catherine Kates, MSW, RSW
(been in clinical practice since 2010)
Here's a little about my story. After completing an undergraduate degree in International Development and World Religions, I spent several years traveling and working with various non-profit organizations in London, Pakistan, and Nepal and completing a MSC in Public Policy and Management. These experiences not only deepened my global perspective but also brought me to a personal crossroads. Confronted with questions about how I wanted to contribute moving forward, I returned home to Canada to pursue a Master's of Social Work.
Working with children had always been a significant part of my life—I had supported kids in many different capacities over the years—and pursuing my MSW felt like the natural next step to deepen that work. After gaining experience with the Toronto District School Board and at the Hinks-Dellcrest Centre (now SickKids), I spent several impactful years as a trauma therapist at BOOST Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, supporting children and parents, navigating the complexities of trauma.
After establishing my own family, I felt called to create a space of my own and founded the Junction Triangle Collective. I see my role as a therapist to support people in feeling safer, more connected, and more at home in their bodies, relationships, and daily lives. I strive to create a space where your full self is seen, where healing honours both your personal story, relational wounding, and systemic forces that have shaped it.
With a background in child development and years of experience supporting kids and families, I work not only with children in the present day — but also with the child parts we all carry within us, that are still holding old fears, unmet needs, and the capacity to heal. Whether you’re moving through anxiety, depression, grief, identity shifts, disconnection, or just trying to hold it all together, I’m here to help you understand your patterns with compassion and curiosity — and to support change that feels meaningful and sustainable. Often this means ​engaging the wisdom of the body and somatic approaches to find ways to soothe, calm, and energise the body, as we deepen our understanding of our internal landscape and shift our somatic and emotional responses.
As a white, cisgender, settler therapist, I hold a great deal of privilege — and I recognize that this impacts the therapeutic space. I strive to bring humility, accountability, and ongoing reflection into my work. I am committed to unlearning white supremacy, confronting internalized biases, and showing up with care and responsibility when holding space for clients whose lived experiences differ from my own.I don't pretend to be neutral — healing happens in the context of systems that impact us differently.
I welcome conversations about race, power, gender, identity, and systemic injustice, and I invite clients to bring their full experience — including anger, mistrust, or ambivalence — into the room. My commitment is to walk alongside you, holding space for complexity, resistance, grief, and possibility.I also believe that accountability and repair are a part of relational healing, and I stay open to feedback.​ This is lifelong work, and I’m continually learning from clients, teachers, colleagues, and communities.​​​​​​​​

Learn More About How I Work
I work with individuals, couples, and parents of all genders and life stages who are navigating transitions, self-worth, dissociation, self-harm and suicidality, anxiety, depression, relational difficulties and burnout. ​My work also includes helping clients recognize the impacts of systemic racism, colonization, ableism, cissexism, and other barriers to health and safety, while building tools for resilience, empowerment, and collective liberation.
Explore my areas of interest and work on my website:
Training
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ADHD Clinical Services Provider (ADHD-CCSP) Certification Course: Strength-based Interventions to Thrive with ADHD from Childhood to Adulthood (2025)
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The Ultimate Clinical Supervision Certificate Course: Preparing Supervisees for Today's Most Critical Issues in Psychotherapy 30 plus hours (2025)
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Heart Math Interventions Online Certification Program for Health Professionals, (2024)
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Gottman Level 1 Couples Therapy Training, (2023)
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Certified Sex Therapy Informed Professional (CSTIP) Course (2023)
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IPI Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Program Certification, and MAPS certification (2022).
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Internal Family Systems, Skills and Competency, First level training, Derek Scott (2020)
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How to Work with Clients Who Struggle with an Inner Critic, NICABM (2019)
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The Clinical Application of Compassion, NICABM (2019)
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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, Level I: Affect Dysregulation, Survival Defenses, and Traumatic Memory (2019)
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A Three Day Trauma Sensitive Yoga Training. David Emerson E-RYT, TCTSY-F, (2019)
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Trauma, Memory, and the Restoration of One's Self: When Talk Isn't Enough. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Leading Edge Seminars (2018)
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Attachment-Based Yoga and Meditation for Trauma Recovery: Practical Ways to Shift Attachment Patterns, Deirdre Faye, Leading Edge Seminars, (2018)
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma (advanced training), Training by Dr. Russ Harris (2016)
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Certification (level one), SafeGuards Training for Children and Adult Services (2016)​
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Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) Model, SafeGuards Training for Children and Adult Services (2014)
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Defusing Hostility 1 Day Training; Canadian Training Institute (2014)
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Understanding and Managing Aggressive Behaviour, Hy’N’Consulting (2014)
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Yoga Teacher Training 200-Hour Certification, Hatha Yoga, Kula Studio (2014)
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Yoga for Kids: Teacher Training Certification (2014)
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Interpersonal Neurobiology and Innovative Therapeutic Practices: Working with Children and Families, by Dan Siegel, Offered through the Hincks Dellcrest Centre (2014)
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Trauma-Informed Services for Children, Adolescents, And Families: A Strengths-Based Approach, Conducted by Kevin M. Powell, Ph.D. (2013)
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ASIST: Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, Living Works (2013)
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“Walk a Mile in My Shoes”, An interactive Workshop on Learning Disabilities and Associated Mental Health Concerns (2013)