Drew Watson, BSc, MACP

Empowering and supporting children and families through fostering connection, mutual understanding, and healing

Welcome! My name is Drew, and I am an associate therapist at Counselling and Co. My goal is to provide you with a safe space to explore life’s challenges while fostering connection and healing. With extensive knowledge in child and family development through my education and professional experience as a child and youth worker, I am here to empower and support children, youth, families, and parents as they grow, discover their strengths, and create meaningful change.

My passion for working with children, youth, and families began early in life and, since then, has been reinforced through continuing education, personal, and professional experience. Personally, I would describe myself as a true empath, as building connections and helping others has always brought meaning to my life. In my professional experience, I have worked with children and youth with developmental disabilities, mental health challenges, behavioural issues, emotional disturbances, trauma, ADHD, autism, and grief. Through professional work and training, I have also found myself spending time in the world of children’s grief work, and I have learned how to support children, youth, and families who are grieving the death of a family member.

My personal experiences and undergraduate research on ADHD have been a driving force motivating me to work with children and adolescents and their unique neurotypes. With a deep understanding of the numerous unique challenges faced by children and youth with autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, learning disabilities, and other developmental conditions, I am passionate about supporting my clients to develop important life skills, improve self-regulation, and build meaningful relationships with peers and family members.

In addition to my passion for individual work with children and youth, I deeply understand the importance of family and parental therapeutic work. Raising children comes with much joy, but also hardships. Through my professional experience, I have become aware of the impact of family dynamics and interpersonal familial relationships on individual family member development.

Why Work With Me

I work closely with children, teens, adults, and families to create a safe, inclusive, and empowering environment for my clients to thrive emotionally and socially. I aspire to provide my clients with an environment where they are encouraged to express themselves, explore their strengths and associated coping strategies, and build resilience. I highly value personalized care and know that each child and adult that I work with requires a specialized approach.

In my work with children and teens, I rely on a person-centred approach, deeply listening to and considering my clients’ goals, interests, characteristics, and needs. For some children and youth, I rely on play-based methods where we include games, art, crafts, and pretend play in our sessions. I pride myself on being creative when it comes to finding activities that align with each client’s desired therapeutic outcomes and play preferences.

In my individual work with adults, I bring compassion, authenticity, and humour into my sessions. I help adult clients make sense of their inner world and how it shows up in relationships with others and with themselves. Therapy with me is a space to slow things down, notice patterns, and understand emotions with curiosity rather than self-criticism. From this place of awareness, we work toward greater emotional security, clearer boundaries, and deeper connection.

In family therapy, I provide a warm and nonjudgmental space for family members to communicate openly, work to understand one another on a deeper level, and collaborate to reach mutual goals. Whether your family is facing major life transitions, parenting struggles, sibling conflict, or one of the many additional challenges that a family encounters together, I will be compassionate and supportive moving forward.

In both individual and family therapy settings, I am committed to guiding parents through difficult times by building upon strengths and fostering a collaborative approach. I believe that therapy can be a powerful tool for parents’ personal and familial growth. As a therapist who values holism, I support parents to gain deeper insight into their child’s needs and behaviors, while also focusing on parental emotional well-being.

Professional Background

I am a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. I have completed a Master of Arts degree in Counselling Psychology through Yorkville University. I hold a Bachelor of Applied Science degree with a major in Child, Youth, and Family, and a minor in Psychology from the University of Guelph.

Additionally, I have completed numerous trainings focusing on play-based therapies, Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) for individuals and families, and childhood grief and loss. In addition to my work as a therapist, I have spent time working as a child and youth worker in day treatment, supporting children with their behavioural and emotional regulation. Further, I continue to spend time volunteering with children’s grief groups.

Things I bet you didn't know about me:

• I love to express myself through cooking. The combination of delicious and creative food, time to decompress while chopping or whisking, and the joy of mealtime with loved ones cannot be beaten!

• I spent much time in my undergraduate studies participating in research projects focused on mental health in childhood and helping professionals, ADHD, and social justice movements for individuals with mental health diagnoses.

• I love dogs (especially my two pups)! I would love to incorporate dogs into my therapeutic work in the future.