My Story

I have been in the social services field since 2005 and have worked all over the GTA. My work with individuals and families has been within the community, different hospitals, the education and healthcare sectors and I have also worked in crisis intervention and private practice. I completed a Kinesiology Degree as well as an Honours Bachelor of Social Work Degree from McMaster University. I then went on to complete a Masters of Social Work Degree from the University of Waterloo.

I often get asked, how do I figure out what would be a good fit for me when I am looking for mental health support? There are a lot of different mental health professionals out there, including social workers, psychologists, and psychotherapists to name a few. I have a lot of appreciation for anyone that is working to support and improve the mental health of others, especially in these difficult times. I also know many amazing providers from all of these different professions.

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Ava Frans | Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist

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While we cannot always change past experiences, having someone to partner with, through counselling support, can help you to process, reframe and ultimately find other healthier ways to cope and integrate these experiences into your life. A strong therapeutic connection is one of the biggest contributors towards meaningful change when trying to address the problems facing us. I offer a warm, welcoming and comfortable space for my clients to start working on those changes.

As a psychotherapist and Registered Masters level Social Worker who is located in Burlington, Ontario and who can provide virtual support to anyone who resides within Ontario, I not only focus on individualized problems, but I also help people to consider and understand the impact that larger systems have on personal challenges. In my day to day work, I hear stories of people who feel stuck and responsible for things that are not going well in their lives. I can offer you additional ways of understanding and viewing personal problems. This is often done by giving consideration to the many inequities that continue to exist in our society, or by giving thought to the other factors that can compound or perpetuate a problem someone is experiencing.

Through this process, challenges can be understood differently. This can help to create a path towards real change, where hope can be instilled that things can and will get better.

I strongly believe that counselling support and any resulting interventions must always consider and acknowledge the impact that these larger systems have on a person’s mental health and general level of functioning. I have spent years partnering with individuals and families to navigate the many pitfalls throughout our various systems.

As a social worker, I offer counselling support while also using my professional experience and time within these sectors to guide my clients and their families, so they can step over these gaps in the system to ultimately receive the services they need. For more information, contact us today.