LGBTQ+ Therapy in Ajax & Across Ontario
You shouldn't have to explain yourself in therapy. You shouldn't have to wonder if your therapist truly understands what it's like to navigate the world as a queer person. And you definitely shouldn't have to settle for a therapist who's just "LGBTQ+ friendly" without the actual lived experience or deep competency to back it up.
2SLGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy with Queer Therapists Who Get It
At The Relationship Agency, we're not just affirming—we're queer ourselves. Our therapists Leigh Hunter and Maria Yammine are both gay women who bring not only clinical expertise but the kind of understanding that only comes from living it. They know what it's like to navigate identity, deal with family dynamics around queerness, and build relationships in a world that wasn't designed with queer love in mind.
Since opening in 2022, we've been committed to serving the queer community with therapists who share your lived experience. When fit matters—and it really does—having a therapist who's walked similar paths can make all the difference.
In-person therapy in Ajax & Oshawa | Virtual therapy across Ontario
What It's Really Like to Be a Queer Person in Durham Region
If you're reading this from Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa, or anywhere in Durham Region, you know the specific challenges of being queer outside of Toronto.
The pattern we see most often: Queer clients in Durham Region tell us they're often the only queer person in their family, or they're navigating a cultural background that doesn't accept 2SLGBTQ+ people. The distance from Toronto's larger queer community can make it harder to find connection and support. Finding a queer therapist in Durham Region can be difficult.
We've heard from so many clients who've driven to Toronto for therapy, settled for virtual sessions with therapists who don't truly get it, or just gone without support because accessing affirming care felt too difficult.
That's why we're here. Our queer therapists live and work in this community. We understand what it's like to be queer in smaller cities, to navigate family dynamics in cultures that may not be accepting, and to build a life where you can be authentically yourself even when you don't see many reflections of yourself around you.
What Our Ontario & Ajax Therapy Helps 2SLGBTQ+ Clients With
Individual Therapy for Queer People
Our queer therapists work with clients on a wide range of issues, including:
Identity exploration and navigation - Whether you're questioning, newly out, or still figuring out where you fit
Coming out - To yourself, your family, your workplace, or your community
Family rejection or strained relationships - Processing the grief when family doesn't accept you
Internalized homophobia or transphobia - Unlearning the shame and stigma you've absorbed
Depression and anxiety related to being queer - The mental health toll of minority stress
Religious trauma - Healing from messages that your queerness is wrong or sinful
Dating challenges - Navigating the complexities of queer dating and finding authentic connection
Workplace discrimination or microaggressions - When you can't be fully yourself at work
Chosen family vs biological family dynamics - Building the family you need when your birth family isn't supportive
Intersectional identities - The unique experience of being BIPOC and queer, disabled and queer, or holding other intersecting identities
Queer Couples Therapy
What makes queer relationships different?
Our therapists understand the unique dynamics that show up in queer relationships:
Emotional intensity: Queer relationships often carry an intensity that comes from finally being seen and understood in ways you may not have experienced growing up.
Attachment wounds: Many queer people experienced misunderstanding, exclusion, or abandonment from family during crucial developmental years. These wounds show up in how we attach and connect with partners.
Identity and coming out: How you each navigate your queerness—whether you're out, to whom, and how that evolves—can create unique dynamics in relationships.
Lack of models: Without growing up seeing healthy queer relationships modeled, we often have to figure things out as we go.
Minority stress: The ongoing impact of discrimination, microaggressions, and living in a heteronormative world affects how you relate to each other and the world.
We work with all types of queer couples:
Lesbian couples
Gay male couples
Bisexual/pansexual folks in same-sex relationships
Trans and non-binary people in relationships
Polyamorous and ENM (ethical non-monogamy) relationships
Issues We're Particularly Skilled at Helping With:
Trust, betrayal, and abandonment patterns
Conflict skills for healthy rupture and repair
Understanding and healing negative cycles
Identifying and healing attachment wounds
Self-abandonment and relationship patterns (rushing into relationships or avoiding intimacy entirely)
Navigating breakups and divorce in queer relationships
Building secure functioning relationships
Navigating Sensitive Issues with Skill and Care in Queer Therapy
Religious Trauma
If you're carrying wounds from religious messaging that your queerness is wrong, sinful, or shameful, we understand how deep that pain goes. We work by honoring what's important to you while bringing a trauma-informed, scientific understanding of how these messages impact you. We'll help you work through the trauma while clarifying your own values—so you can find healing and build a life that feels authentic, whether that includes faith or not.
Intersectionality for BIPOC Queer Clients
If you're BIPOC and queer, you're navigating intersecting identities that come with unique challenges. Maria, as a biracial gay woman herself, has both the lived experience and clinical expertise to support BIPOC 2SLGBTQ+ folks. She understands what it means to hold multiple marginalized identities and how that shapes your experience of the world and your relationships.
Families That Don't Accept You
When your family isn't accepting, we work on building your own sense of acceptance, helping you identify your values, and supporting you through the grief that comes with losing the hope that they would accept you. Sometimes family relationships can heal and evolve; sometimes they don't. Either way, we'll help you navigate the complexity and build the chosen family and support system you deserve.
Internalized Homophobia and Shame
Unlearning internalized homophobia is deep work. We explore identity formation, the influence of culture and stigma, and help you unburden the parts of yourself that carry shame. Using approaches like Internal Family Systems, we help you recognize that the shame isn't yours—it's what you absorbed from a homophobic world. And it can be healed.
Our Approach to Queer Therapy: More Than Just "Friendly"
We Bring a Critical, Systems-Based Understanding
When you work with our queer therapists, we don't just focus on what's happening inside you—we consider the full context of your life. That means understanding:
How being queer influences how the world sees and treats you
The choices you have to make while navigating heteronormative spaces
The impact of minority stress on your mental health and relationships
Your developmental history and how family acceptance (or lack of it) shaped you
Cultural and racial factors if you're BIPOC and queer
The unique dynamics of queer relationships and chosen family
We pair this critical consciousness with clinical expertise in relationships and attachment, addictions and mental health, emotional regulation, trauma, and personality patterns. You get both the lived experience understanding and the professional training that creates real, lasting change.
Our Therapeutic Approaches
We integrate multiple evidence-based approaches tailored to your needs:
Internal Family Systems (IFS) - Understanding the different parts of yourself, including the parts that carry shame or fear
Attachment-focused work - Healing early wounds and building secure connections
Interpersonal psychotherapy - Improving your relationships and social functioning
Systems theory - Understanding how you exist within family, community, and cultural contexts
Queer-affirming couple therapy - Specialized approaches for the unique dynamics of queer relationships
Starting 2SLGBTQ+ Therapy in Ajax or Virtually
A Typical Journey with Us
When a queer client comes to us—whether you're struggling with a relationship issue, going through a breakup, navigating family conflict, exploring your identity, or working on your relationship with yourself—we start from a place of deep understanding.
Our therapists work from an integrated approach: We combine what we know about the individual self with a strong understanding of systems and the importance of context in people's lives. You're not just an individual with problems—you're a whole person navigating a world that has specific impacts on queer people.
What progress looks like: People move through therapy with increased self-knowledge, confidence, and compassion. You develop the skills to navigate relationships more effectively, heal old wounds, and make choices that feel authentic to who you are. Whether your goal is to come out, repair family relationships, build a healthier partnership, or simply feel more at peace with yourself, we'll support you every step of the way.
We move at your pace. There's no pressure to be out if you're not ready, to label yourself before you're sure, or to make any changes before you feel prepared. Therapy is your space to explore, question, and figure things out in a way that works for you.
What Makes Someone Ready for Queer Therapy?
You don't need to have everything figured out. You don't need to be "out enough" or "queer enough." You just need to be open to setting aside time for yourself each week to work with someone who understands you and supports you in navigating life in a way that feels authentic.
You might be ready for queer therapy if:
You're questioning your sexual orientation or gender identity
You're struggling with whether or how to come out
Your family isn't accepting of your queerness and it's taking a toll
You're dealing with relationship challenges that feel uniquely queer
You're experiencing depression or anxiety related to minority stress
You're navigating religious trauma around your identity
You're going through a breakup and need support from someone who gets queer relationship dynamics
You're tired of being the only queer person in your social circles and need connection
You're married to an opposite-sex partner but questioning your sexuality (we welcome this too)
You simply want a therapist who you don't have to educate or explain yourself to
What we wish more queer people knew: Therapy with a queer therapist who truly understands you is immensely helpful. Dedicating time to yourself once a week in a space with someone who gets it—someone who supports you in navigating life authentically—can be transformative.
Why Queer Therapists Matter
There's a difference between a therapist who says they're "LGBTQ+ friendly" and a therapist who is queer themselves.
When you work with a queer therapist, you don't waste session time explaining basic concepts or wondering if they'll truly get it. You don't have to translate your experience or worry about microaggressions. You can dive straight into the real work—whether that's navigating your identity, healing from family rejection, working through relationship challenges, or simply having a space where you can show up as your full, authentic self.
Our therapists Leigh and Maria (she/her pronouns) aren't just trained in LGBTQ+ affirming therapy—they've lived the experience of being queer in a world that often doesn't understand us. They've navigated their own coming out journeys, built queer relationships, dealt with family dynamics, and found their place in the community. That lived experience, combined with years of clinical training, means you get both deep understanding and professional expertise.
Our Philosophy: Relationships are Everything
At The Relationship Agency, we're built on the belief that Relationships are Everything. This isn't just a tagline—it's backed by research. The quality of our relationships is the biggest predictor of happiness and wellbeing throughout our lives.
For queer people, relationships take on even more significance. When your family of origin might not accept you, your chosen family becomes everything. When the world tells you your love isn't valid, finding secure, healthy relationships becomes an act of resistance. When you've experienced rejection or abandonment, learning to trust and connect becomes the healing work.
Whether you're working on your relationship with yourself, your partner, your family, your friends, or your community, we're here to support you in building the connections that make life meaningful.
Ready to Work with a Queer Therapist Who Gets It?
You deserve a therapist who understands you—not just intellectually, but from lived experience. You deserve a space where you can show up as your full self without explanation or translation. You deserve support that honors both your queerness and your humanity.
Our queer therapists Leigh and Maria are here for you.
Why Choose The Relationship Agency for Queer Therapy?
We have queer therapists on staff who bring both lived experience and clinical expertise—not just "friendliness."
We take a critical, systems-based view that considers not just your internal experience, but how being queer in a heteronormative world affects you.
We're trained in relationships and attachment - the areas where queer people often need the most support, given our unique developmental experiences and relationship dynamics.
We understand intersectionality - especially for BIPOC queer clients navigating multiple identities.
We're located in Durham Region - serving the local queer community in Ajax, Oshawa, Pickering, Whitby, and beyond, both in-person and virtually.
We believe in fit - and we know that for many queer people, having a therapist who shares your identity and lived experience makes all the difference.
No waitlist - We have availability now for queer clients ready to begin.
Frequently Asked Questions About our In Person Queer Therapy in Ajax and Ontario Virtual Queer Therapy
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No. Many of our clients come to therapy while they're still figuring things out, not out to family, or only out in certain spaces. Your therapist will never pressure you to be out before you're ready. Therapy can actually be a space to explore what coming out might look like for you—or to process why you're choosing not to come out in certain areas of your life.
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That's completely normal and welcome. Therapy is a great space to explore questions about your sexual orientation or gender identity without pressure to label yourself or make any decisions. We handle clients who are questioning the same way we handle any other queer clients—with respect, patience, and deep understanding.
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No. Our therapists are queer themselves and have years of experience working with LGBTQ+ clients. While every person's experience is unique and we'll want to understand YOUR specific story, you won't have to explain basic concepts or teach us about queer culture and dynamics.
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We work with poly and ENM relationships. Our therapists understand that relationship structures exist on a spectrum and that healthy relationships can take many forms. We're here to support you in building the kind of relationship(s) that work for you.
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Yes, absolutely. We welcome clients in this situation and are happy to support you in exploring your identity and having secure, functioning conversations about it—whether with your partner or on your own first.
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Most queer people are dealing with multiple things—that's why we take a holistic, systems-based approach. Whether you're also navigating addiction, mental health challenges, family trauma, workplace issues, or anything else, we'll address all of it in the context of your whole life and identity.
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The free consultation is designed exactly for this. You'll get to meet either Leigh or Maria, ask questions, share a bit about what brings you to therapy, and get a sense of whether it feels like a good fit. If it doesn't feel right, we'll be honest with you and can suggest other resources.
