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Therapy, Coaching, and Psychoeducation for 

Stress, Anxiety & Nervous System Dysregulation

Virtual and In-Person in Markham, Ontario

Support for teens and adults who are struggling emotionally, feeling stuck, or looking for a space to better understand their thoughts, feelings, and patterns.

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SURVIVAL MODE MASTERCLASS

You’ve mastered the art of keeping it together.

But you’re tired of pretending it’s fine.

Regulate. Restore. Reconnect.

Work with Christina DeFranco, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), Mindfulness Meditation Practitioner, and 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher.

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Individual

Therapy or Coaching Sessions

Psychoeducation

Programs and Speaking

Mindfulness

Yoga and Meditation Classes

I work with teens and adults who are navigating emotional, mental, or physical stress and are looking for a supportive space to better understand themselves, build coping skills, and move through life with more clarity and resilience.

Clients often come to me when they are:

  • Feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or emotionally shut down

  • Struggling with chronic stress, burnout, or ongoing pressure

  • Having trouble expressing needs, setting boundaries, or slowing down

  • Feeling disconnected from themselves, others, or their bodies

  • Navigating big changes, health challenges, or identity shifts

  • Carrying shame, self-criticism, or a sense of “never being enough”

  • Unsure how to cope, but knowing something needs to change

Some clients arrive with a clear understanding of what they’re struggling with, while others come in simply feeling “off,” stuck, or exhausted without knowing why. Both are welcome here.

Guided by evidence-based frameworks to strengthen awareness, regulation, and relational functioning.

How this work helps...

ENHANCE SELF-AWARENESS & INSIGHT

Clarify internal experiences, emotional patterns, and cognitive processes to better understand how they influence daily functioning and overall well-being.

DEVELOP REGULATION AND COPING CAPACITIES

Strengthen emotional, cognitive, and nervous system skills to manage stress, anxiety, and overwhelm with greater flexibility, stability, and resilience.

SUPPORT IDENTITY AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Explore attachment, values, relational patterns, and personal identity to improve connection with self and others, especially during periods of change or distress.

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I’ve Been There Too

Long before I ever sat across from someone as a therapist, I sat in the other chair. I know what it’s like to push through chronic stress, to feel disconnected from your own body, and to look “fine” on the outside while struggling internally. I know the pressure to keep functioning, producing, and holding it all together, even when your system is quietly slipping into survival mode.

Those experiences shaped how I show up today: with curiosity instead of judgment, compassion instead of assumptions, and an understanding that stress and dysregulation aren’t just “in your head” — they show up emotionally, mentally, and physically.

I don’t believe in quick fixes or one-size-fits-all solutions. What I do believe in is nervous system safety, emotional attunement, and evidence-based strategies that help you reconnect with yourself, build capacity, and move through life with more stability and self-trust.

If you’re tired of feeling misunderstood, minimized, or expected to “just push through,” you’re not alone, and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself.

Read My Story

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

Explore a range of support options created to help you slow down, feel deeply, and move forward with intention.

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VIRTUAL INDIVIDUAL THERAPY AND COACHING

One-on-one therapy or coaching sessions to help you regulate your nervous system, process emotions, and build the inner safety to thrive. Psychotherapy offered in Canada only.

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ON-DEMAND PSYCHOEDUCATION COURSES

Self-paced courses designed to help you understand your stress response, build emotional resilience, and apply nervous system-informed tools to everyday life. Coming soon!

COMING SOON
MOVEMENT AND MINDFULNESS CLASSES (Virtual + In-person)

Gentle, trauma-informed practices combining breath, movement, and stillness to support regulation, reconnection, and release. Virtual or in-person in Markham, Ontario.

COMING SOON

I hear you, 

You’ve Been in Survival Mode Long Enough

You learned how to stay small, agreeable, and safe. You learned how to keep the peace, read the room, and carry what was never yours.

Your nervous system did not fail you. It protected you.
But protection is not the same as living.

You do not need to push harder or become someone new.
You need safety to show up as the person you already are.

This is not self-improvement. This is self-return.

Find Freedom From Stress in 5 Breaths

Download the Free Mini-Course 

Five techniques to help you find freedom from stress in only five breaths (yes, it's that fast!)