This story is part of the “Helpers” series, which shares stories about the people making positive impacts in our community
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For Jessy Boudreau, becoming a registered psychotherapist was a journey that began with a deep interest in mental health and a desire to help people through difficult times. Now fully registered for three years, she has worked in the field since 2019, first as a counsellor before transitioning into psychotherapy.
Understanding the distinction between counselling and psychotherapy can be important for those seeking support.
“Psychotherapy is registered as a controlled health act in Ontario because there is an inherent risk in delving deep into people's inner psyche and should only be practiced by qualified professionals to ensure client safety,” Boudreau explains.
She notes that counselling is often goal-oriented and more focused on helping individuals stabilize in the short term, while psychotherapy involves deeper, more intensive work.
“In therapy, you're going into historical trauma and working on childhood stuff—it’s a lot more vulnerable for people in psychotherapy,” she adds.
Boudreau’s journey into psychotherapy required years of education and hands-on experience.
“I had to complete my master's degree in counselling psychology,” she says. “I did that with Yorkville University and started practicing mental health counselling during my studies, which I began in 2018.”
Before and while becoming a registered psychotherapist, she gained experience in crisis response, addictions, and case management—roles that helped shape her approach to therapy.
Boudreau’s decision to enter the field was driven by both personal experience and an academic fascination with psychology.
“I ended up kind of on a whim taking mental health and addictions at Canadore, and I absolutely fell in love with the psychology course,” she says. “Learning about abnormal psychology felt like putting together a puzzle to me—understanding why people behave the way they do and how outside factors impact their internal experience.”
Beyond the intellectual draw, she also recognized firsthand the difference a good therapist can make.
“It’s an incredibly honouring experience when someone is so open and raw with you,” she adds. “Being able to help people in that way is really fulfilling.”
The nature of psychotherapy requires emotional resilience, and Boudreau is mindful of maintaining a balanced workload.
“Ideally, for me, I see about four to five clients a day,” she explains. “That’s a good amount—any more and I risk burnout; any less and I might feel under-stimulated at work.”
Burnout is a real concern in the field, as psychotherapists hold space for deep emotional pain while knowing they cannot always fix the circumstances causing it.
“The challenge is making space for a client’s pain while recognizing that you can’t necessarily ‘fix’ it, sometimes the only thing we can do is accept and validate that pain without judgment,” she says. “Psychotherapy isn’t about solving people’s problems—it’s about helping them develop the resilience to cope with what comes and understanding what led them to that circumstance in the first place.”
Boudreau emphasizes the importance of giving clients tangible tools to work with outside of sessions.
“I always say, we’ll have a great hour session, but that’s not what’s going to change your life. What changes your life is the work you do outside of our session,” she says. “That’s why I’m big on giving tools—not just being a listener, but providing things clients can actually apply.”
In some clinical settings, therapists may see more patients in a day, leaving little time for self-care and regulation between sessions. That, she says, is where the risk of burnout becomes even greater.
“You’re going from one person’s deeply personal struggles to another’s, and while you’re intervening in ways that give them tools, space, and hope, you can’t change their circumstances,” she explains. “That can weigh on you over time which is why therapists need to prioritize self-care practices and seek consultation and supervision as needed.”
Many people seek psychotherapy with the hope of understanding their emotions, breaking unhealthy patterns, and learning how to navigate challenges.
“For me, when I work with clients, I really focus on building up mindfulness—specifically of emotion,” Boudreau explains. “That means not trying to get rid of emotions, but stopping avoidant behaviours and learning to sit with discomfort.”
She emphasizes that painful moments in life are natural and unavoidable, despite the societal message that negative emotions should be suppressed.
“Oftentimes, society tells us it’s bad to feel scared or down or sad, but that’s not actually true,” she says. “It’s neither good nor bad to feel any type of feeling. The challenge is learning that it’s okay to feel all of them and that it’s actually safe as an adult to do so.”
A key part of that process, she says, is self-compassion.
“I really focus on helping clients build self-compassion, which just means having acceptance, tenderness, and care toward yourself while you’re experiencing pain or suffering.”
Boudreau believes there has been a noticeable shift in how mental health is perceived, especially among younger generations.
“I think the stigma is less fierce now,” she says. “People are more apt to seek treatment and get the help they need. Stigmas like ‘men don’t cry’ are still there, but they’re not as harsh as they once were.”
Beyond emotional regulation, therapy also helps clients uncover the roots of their behaviours.
“Sometimes knowledge can bring a lot of relief—understanding that the way you relate to people now might be because of certain experiences in childhood,” she explains. “That understanding allows someone to have the ability to change internal narratives and create more repairative experiences in the present.”
She also highlights the role of therapy in helping people build healthier relationships.
“A lot of adult issues come from having insecure attachments with primary caregivers as children,” she says. “When you work with a therapist, you’re building a secure attachment with them. Over time, you internalize that relationship, so you can have security with yourself and others moving forward.”
Ultimately, Boudreau believes the therapist-client relationship itself is the foundation of effective therapy.
“That is the main intervention—the relationship you have with your therapist,” she says. “It’s what helps create real change.”
Although based in North Bay, Boudreau works with clients from across Ontario, thanks to the flexibility of virtual therapy.
“I have clients in Ottawa, Toronto, Sudbury, and other areas,” she says. “I can only see clients who are based in Ontario because I’m regulated by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. But I can personally be outside of Ontario and still practice, as long as my clients are within the province.”
She says the biggest step someone can take is just starting the process of seeking help.
“I think it takes strength and bravery to make the appointments to get the help that they need and I think that everybody can benefit from psychotherapy,” she says. “Even if there's not a tumultuous time or some major stressor, it's so beneficial to have a nonbiased person supporting them and to gain a better understanding of their relationships and behaviours.”
With a strong commitment to helping individuals navigate their mental health, Boudreau continues to offer a safe and professional space for clients, virtually, ensuring that mental health care is accessible to those who need it most. Boudreau says she’s available through her website at www.boudreaucounselling.com.
“You can book a free meet and greet with me online at a time that's mutually convenient and we would have that meeting for about 20 minutes to see if we are a good fit therapeutically and then we would go forward with booking our first session.”
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