Patrick De Bortoli
Couple and Family Therapist and Psychotherapist -
If today seems like an interminable day, and sets the stage for a profound apprehension for tomorrow, whether individually, within your couple or your family; it is maybe time to consult.
Life has this innate ability to hit us hard when we least expect it. It takes sharp twists and turns that tear us to pieces, to finally, build us back up again. This reconstruction process, however, must be done properly in order to favour lasting healing that will invariably strengthen us as well as our family and couple relationships.
Psychotherapy is a catalyst for renewal, hope and harmony with at its core a unique, reassuring, safe and stimulating human relationship.
What makes ultimately psychotherapy a successfully healing process are mainly these following three elements:
– your and your loved one’s true desire to make a change or to achieve your therapeutic goals.
– the ability and willingness of your psychotherapist to look closely at self, to recognize the blind spots of her privileged and subjugated parts and to authentically participate in the therapeutic relationship as a fallible human being, beyond his role as a therapist.
– And, the quality of the therapeutic bond that you will develop with him or her.
It is, in fact, what I have best to offer you: a human experience different from any you know or have known. A unique, singular psychotherapeutic experience, active, committed, real, comforting and challenging. An open perspective on diversity that values and nurtures it. A collaboration, an exchange, oriented towards your needs and distinctive objectives. An attentive ear and a caring nudge, pushing you to go beyond yourself.
My practice focuses on a present and future solution-oriented perspective (Solution-focused Brief Therapy) putting the emphasis on strengths to find concrete solutions to present day problems. It is a collaborative work enriching people’s lives with alternative ways to see themselves and their relationships, by re-thinking their problems and re-authoring their lives (Narrative Therapy).
Values of social justice, nurturing human diversity and work on self, permeate my practice and make my work that which can be described as psychotherapeutic activism.
My psychotherapy practice also distinguishes me as I was trained by Dr. Sue Johnson, in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), a couple therapy approach proven to durably heal wounded relationships. I have also been trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a revolutionary approach for the treatment of small and big trauma, anxiety disorders, addictions, etc. This technique, based on the latest findings in neuroscience, provides quick relief from long-standing pain by reprocessing neural connections through rapid eye movements. Finally, trained in MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy), and Dr. Reid Wilson’s brief strategic approach to anxiety, I bring a radically different perspective to suffering, one of compassionate attention, effective in alleviating anxious and depressive symptoms.
I completed my Master’s in Couple and Family Therapy at Syracuse University, in one of the most respected programs in the field of Couple and Family Counselling, in the country. Backed by twelve years of clinical practice, I work as much with couples, families as individuals and guaranty professionalism and a genuine presence.
Professionally, I presently work in Montreal, in private practice, and through the Montreal Therapy Centre, where I offer individual, couple as well as family counselling.
I’m a member of the Ordre des travailleurs sociaux et thérapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Québec (OTSTCFQ) and hold a psychotherapist permit from the Ordre des psychologues du Quebec (OPQ).
I also offer clinical supervision to other psychotherapists and couple and family therapists, as well as to students and interns working toward licensure.
Don’t hesitate to contact me!
Skills and Expertise
Adjusting to Change / Life Transitions
Adjustment to College
Adult
Aging and Geriatric Issues
Anxiety
Attachment Issues
Behavioral Issues
Behavioral Issues
birth
Blended Family Issues
Breakups
Bullying
Caregiver Issues or Stress
college age
Commitment Issues
Communication Problems
Control Issues
Coping Mechanisms
Couple Counseling
Couples therapy
Depression
Divorce
Divorce and Divorce Adjustment
Emotional Abuse
Emotional Intelligence
Emptiness
Entitlement
Family Conflict
Family of Origin Issues
Fatherless
Fear
Forgiveness
Gay Issues
grief
Guilt
Helplessness and Victimhood
Highly Sensitive Persons
Inadequacy
Individuation
Infidelity and Affair Recovery
Irritability
LGBTQ
Life Coaching
Life Purpose
Loss
Loss or Grief
Marital Therapy
Marriage Couseling
Meditation
Men
Mens Issues and Problems
Midlife Crisis
Mindfulness based therapy
Mood Disorders
Multicultural Concerns
Navigating Identity in Relationships
Panic
Parenting
Peer Relationships
Perfectionism
Polyamory and Nonmonogamous Relationships
Premarital Counseling
Relationship Issues
Self Esteem
Self-Harming
Single Parenting Issues
Spirituality
Stress
teen
Teens
Transgender Issues
Trauma
Women's issue
Treatment Orientation
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Couple and Family Systems Therapy
DBT Informed Therapy
Developmental
Eclectic
EMDR
Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy
Existential
Experiential
Experiential Therapy
Family Systems Therapy
Family/Marital Therapy
Feminist
Gottman Method
Gottman Method Couples Therapy
Humanistic
Interpersonal
Marital Couple/ Family Communication Therapy
Meditation
Mindfulness
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Narrative
Person Centered Therapy
Psychotherapy
Relational Therapy
Rogerian
Self-Compassion
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Solution Focused Therapy
Telehealth-based
Modality