The Other Chair — Therapy for therapists

The idea

You already know how this works. You could probably map your own patterns as clearly as you map anyone’s — and being able to explain it isn’t the same as it changing.

At the end of a day of holding other people, there may not be much left. It’s hard to let someone hold you when you know all the moves — and harder still to fall apart in front of a colleague you might meet at a conference next week.

The Other Chair is for exactly that: a place to stop being the composed one and work with what’s actually happening underneath — with someone who knows the work from the inside, because she does it too.

Why here

Here, you get to just be the client.

01

No translating

You won’t have to explain what a full caseload does to a nervous system, or what it’s like to be someone’s third emergency this week. I already know.

02

Outside your circle

Wanting someone outside your own professional circles is completely reasonable — and worth being deliberate about. I work online, with no shared waiting room or local office, and if we do turn out to have any overlap, we’ll name it openly and decide together.

03

Your hour — not supervision

This isn’t case consultation or clinical supervision. We’re not here to make you a better clinician. We’re here for you.

04

You don’t have to be the composed one

You can drop the calm, competent voice. Nothing you feel will surprise me, and none of it makes you worse at your work.

What we can work on

What brings therapists to the other chair

It doesn’t have to be a crisis to deserve the seat.

Burnout, compassion fatigue, and the slow erosion of caring
Vicarious and secondary trauma from what you carry for clients
The blur between your clients’ pain and your own
Imposter feelings that somehow got louder as you got more qualified
The stuff that predates the career — and quietly shaped why you chose it
Grief, relationships, parenting, identity — everything that keeps living while you work
The specific loneliness of being everyone’s steady one
Quietly wondering whether you still want to do this

How it works

It starts with a conversation.

1

A free consultation

20 minutes, phone or video. You get a feel for me; I answer anything on your mind. No notes, no pressure.

2

We decide together

If it’s a fit, we book a first full session. If I’m not the right person, I’ll help you find someone who is.

3

Ongoing sessions

Weekly or every other week, in 50- or 75-minute sessions, securely online. Your pace, your focus — for as long as it’s useful.

Ways to work together

Start wherever feels right.

Start here

Free

Consultation

A low-stakes way to ask what matters — fit, confidentiality, overlap, fees — and get a feel for working together.

Book the call →

$250 / 50 min

50-minute session

The standard session. Weekly or every other week, at your pace, for as long as it’s useful.

Book a session

$375 / 75 min

75-minute session

A longer session with room to go deep — a good fit for the experiential, somatic work I do.

Book a session

Sessions are covered by most extended health insurance plans that include psychology — I provide receipts for reimbursement.

How I work

Hi, I’m Dr. Natsumi Sawada.

I’m a registered psychologist with 17 years in practice, and a meaningful part of it is therapists and other helping professionals. My approach is experiential and depth-oriented — AEDP, attachment-focused, and somatic work, alongside practical tools when they’re useful.

Rather than teaching you skills you already teach, we slow down and work with what’s actually happening emotionally, as it happens — so the patterns underneath the depletion can shift, rather than just be managed. I won’t handle you with kid gloves, and I won’t pretend you don’t know what I’m doing; the work is collaborative and honest about the fact that you’re a sophisticated participant in it.

I see clients online across Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. If we have a real professional overlap — shared workplaces, close referral ties, supervision — we’ll name it openly in the consultation and decide together whether it makes sense to work together.

Training & experience

CBT in tertiary-care hospital settings
Research therapist on a DBT efficacy study at CAMH
Extensive training in AEDP and mindfulness-based therapies
Ongoing consultation and advanced training

Dr. Natsumi Sawada · Registered Psychologist · Alberta CAP #4935 · Ontario CPBAO #7366 · Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick & Nova Scotia

Straight answers

The things therapists actually ask.

Is it awkward to be a therapist in therapy?

It can feel that way at first — watching the process, predicting the interventions, wondering how you come across as a client. That’s normal, and it’s workable. Often it becomes part of the work itself: noticing what it’s like to be on the receiving end of care, and what makes it hard to stay there.

Will you just use the same techniques I use with my own clients?

Knowing a technique from the inside doesn’t make it useless — but being walked through a worksheet you assign your own clients can feel hollow. My work is experiential: rather than teaching you skills you already know, we work with what’s actually happening emotionally as it happens — which tends to be exactly the part that’s hard to do alone, no matter how much you know.

What if we already know each other?

If we have a real professional overlap — shared workplaces, close referral relationships, supervision ties — we’d talk about it openly in the consultation and decide together whether it makes sense to work together. Your confidentiality and comfort come first, every time.

Is this supervision or consultation?

No. This is your own therapy. We won’t review your cases or sharpen your clinical skills — unless you want to look at how the work is landing on you personally. This hour is for you, not your caseload.

Is online therapy private enough for someone in a small professional community?

Confidentiality applies fully, and online sessions can actually offer more privacy — no shared waiting rooms, no local office. If you have specific concerns about records, insurance claims, or professional overlap, bring them to the consultation; those questions deserve direct answers before you commit to anything.

Do you see my profession specifically?

I work with therapists, psychologists, counsellors, and social workers, as well as physicians, nurses, and others in caring roles — from students to decades in. If you hold space for others, you’re in the right place.

You take care of everyone.
Let someone take care of you.

The other chair is open.

Book a free consultation →

Not ready to book? Email natsumi@mindbright.ca with any question first.