Joelle Forbes

Welcome! Looking for a therapist can be difficult, especially if you are ready to talk about the stuff that feels dark, too heavy, and unchangeable: to the point that you engage in self-punishment and being mean to yourself.

I have experience and truly have the honour of supporting racialized women, trans, and non‑binary people who are struggling to feel their feelings, build a relationship with their bodies, or believe they are worthy of safety, belonging, and care.

I am a registered social worker and psychotherapist in Ontario, Canada, with extensive experience providing mental health care to racialized communities in both community health and private practice settings. As a Black woman with lived experience in an immigrant family, my work is grounded in an Afrocentric and culturally responsive framework that celebrates collective care, honours the ways we thrive in our alone times, and makes room for humor, tears, intergenerational wisdom, and survival.

I support adults navigating:

• Abortion support, including thinking about having an abortion or processing a past abortion.
• Trauma, including Complex PTSD, racial trauma, and childhood trauma
• Academic stress and school‑related burnout
• Body image concerns and experiencing the impact of fatphobia
• Intersections of race and queerness
• Mental health challenges related to hormonal imbalance, including Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and emerging understandings of Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS).
• Gender identity and gender‑related experiences
• Grief and loss related to life transitions, changes in relationships or community, and shifts in identity or sense of self.
• Identity exploration and life transitions
• Workplace and educational stressors
• Experiences of racism and systemic oppression

My integrative therapeutic approach goes beyond the textbooks that do not include our lived experiences. My hope is to facilitate therapeutic spaces where you can nurture your authentic self from a place of emotional safety, joy, and empowerment.