Tamsen Simon, RCC

You may want to bring your partner(s) into therapy with you to work through tricky agreements and repair misunderstandings. Sometimes it can feel hard to have a conversation, and avoiding it is causing even more distress.

Maybe you’re realizing your family or friends aren’t as supportive as you wanted, and you’d like to figure out how close you want to be now. With me, you can practice those conversations before you need to set hard limits that feel like being the “bad guy” and perhaps learn what boundaries you’d been missing all along.

How I work

I use the first session to get as much information as I can from everyone in the room. You know your relationship best. Being in the room is making an effort, and I honor that. I want to know what makes it hard to be on the same team about whatever issue is present.

Everyone comes in with their own experiential histories, families and cultures of origin, and beliefs on how to be in relationship. I want to get everyone in the room as much of what they want as they can get. And sometimes we do learn that it isn’t going to be gotten in this relationship. That doesn’t necessarily end the connection. I support staying in good relations through whatever changes happen by working directly with each person.

Things about me

As a white, able-bodied, non-binary person, I am constantly investigating my privileges and ways of being. I am a 5th-generation settler and a 1st-generation immigrant to so-called Canada. I am bisexual, polyamorous, and have been partnered for over 20 years. I have travelled extensively throughout my life and enjoy cultural differences.

As a couples therapist, I believe my work supports the wider cultural need for human connections and inclusion, especially with difference. I am a kink, non-monogamy, and trans enthusiast.