• Vaughan Relationship Centre: Counselling to Empower.

How to Create a Healthy Relationship Check-In Routine with Your Partner (with Free Resource!)

You might feel like you’re talking to your partner without really being heard, or maybe you’re not talking much at all. It’s normal to hit rough patches in communication, especially when stress from work, parenting, or life’s constant demands piles up. As someone who specializes in couple therapy and has seen a wide range of […]

Finding Professional Counselling Near Me: Tips for Choosing the Right Therapist

If you’re searching for professional counseling near you, it can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re considering couples therapy, family counselling services, or individual sessions, finding the right therapist is a crucial first step in your journey toward healing and growth. As a relationship therapist, I’ve guided many individuals and couples through this process, and I’m here […]

Couples Counselling for One

Couples Counselling for One: How Focusing on Yourself Can Improve Your Relationship. When people think about couples therapy, they often picture two partners sitting together in a room, working through their issues with a therapist. While this traditional approach can be incredibly effective, there is another powerful method that can make a significant impact on […]

Healing or Parting Ways: Discernment Counseling for Couples at a Crossroads

Discernment counseling is specifically designed for couples who are uncertain about the future of their relationship. It provides a structured environment to explore their feelings and options, whether to continue working on the relationship or to separate. The main benefit of a therapist in discernment counseling is their ability to provide expert guidance, emotional support, […]

Your First Appointment

Many couples who come to us have struggled for years, having the same argument over and over again, feeling the same dissatisfaction, and experiencing the same loneliness in their partnership. It can be difficult to change well-established patterns after such a long time of shaping them. Research shows that it takes five positive interactions to […]

Let’s Talk Mental Health

Let’s talk about mental health this month. January is a hard month as it is, especially since Christmas is over and the bills of said holiday are trickling in. It is also hard because the days are short and cold. So, what can one do to combat these winter blues? Get outside Even though it […]

Praise vs Criticism

The Netflix series “100 Humans” conducted a unique experiment to investigate the impact of praise and criticism on individuals. Experiment: Sixteen individuals were chosen to learn the art of plate spinning. They participated in a training session led by a talented plate spinner and were given two hours to practice.  Subsequently, their performance was assessed […]

Should your partner have access to your phone

Two therapists, who work in the same office, have different views on this controversial topic…or do they? Leslie Yaffa and Amanda Backus, both from Vaughan Relationship Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, find themselves discussing issues or questions that might come up in their jobs. Rather than keeping these valuable discussions to themselves, they decided to […]

How to communicate and connect in your relationship

How to communicate and connect in your relationship

It’s no joke, relationships are complex and require both partners’ hard work, dedication, and commitment to be successful. Many couples struggle to effectively communicate, but communication that is open and honest can allow both partners to feel heard, respected, and understood. Setting boundaries is also necessary to ensure that both people in the relationship feel […]

To Share or Not to Share: Is it ok to keep secrets from my partner?

To Share or Not to Share: Is it ok to keep secrets from my partner?

Building trust within your relationship is an integral piece to keeping it healthy. When trust is broken, however, it can be very difficult to rebuild. The idea of keeping a secret from the one you love can be seen as something negative and trust-breaking, but is it really? Some secrets may have good intentions and […]