McKaylah Nurse

I’m a Bajan who migrated to Canada on my own at 19 years old to pursue my higher education and career while being immersed in an unfamiliar culture. My journey has been challenging, having experienced systemic barriers and internalized influences as I navigate the path to reaching my authentic potential. Engaging in critical thinking and facilitating real systemic change is highly important to me. Additionally, I find it wildly fulfilling to have meaningful conversations with others. Being a therapist allows me to honour these values I hold.

In my life I enjoy laughing and connecting with the people I hold dear, watching (and rewatching) tv series and movies, spending time alone, scrolling TikTok, and creating content to share my thoughts and insight with others. At this point in my life, I am strengthening my relationship with spirituality (not to be confused with religion) and restructuring my mindset around what I am deserving of. I prioritize my authenticity and those who know me best would most likely describe me as direct, sarcastic, and passionate.

About me as an Individual Therapist…

Hello there and welcome. Therapy is a deeply personal experience that oftentimes invites feelings of discomfort but has the potential to be transformative. For me, it is a space where your identities, personal experiences, and innate strengths are honored and explored. I believe each client holds agency and expertise in their life which they bring to therapy, and it is my role to support you in harnessing that in a way that feels right for you. I aim to cultivate a space where you feel safe enough to engage in honest reflection and journey on your referred way of being.

As a systemic therapist I engage in anti-oppressive, trauma-informed practice that helps you make sense of the contexts your experiences and their influence on various aspects of your life, including your mental wellbeing and relationships. I work collaboratively with you to identify and understand where you are, where you want to be, what might be getting in your way, and how you can navigate these challenges in alignment with your authenticity. My approach is grounded in the strong values I hold around intentionality, vulnerability, humour, and the therapeutic relationship. I invite you to connect if you think we would be a good fit.

About me as a Couple Therapist + Family Therapist

Hi there! As a Couple and Family Therapist, I prioritize your relationship- no single person is viewed as “the problem”.  For one, I consider that each person exists in the relationship with the amalgamation of their individual experiences and secondly, I attune to the context the relationship has been situated in. I orient couples and families to view the problem as something they are teaming up against.

I see clients as bringing your own expertise about their lives to therapy, and believe my role is to support you in harnessing your strengths. I uphold a social justice and trauma informed lens and aim to open space where you feel safe enough to share your stories, engage in honest reflection, and journey on your preferred way of being. Couple and Family therapy may support you in coping with hardship, heal relationship wounds, foster feelings of safety and trust in the relationship, and restructure problematic patterns of interaction to allow each person to exist in a way that honours the relational bond as your personal authenticity. My therapeutic approach is grounded in the values I hold around intentionality, collaboration, connection, intentionality, and humour.

• Experience

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  • 3 years of experience providing counselling services in to individuals, couples and families ranging in ages in educational and private practice settings
  • Research experience:
    • To better understand how parental employment is impacted by access to services for children with disabilities and is influenced by different aspects and intersections of identities
    • To better understand lived experiences and concerns of BIPOC graduate students, and their subsequent expectations for supports in higher education

  Education

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  • Graduated with a Masters in Science Couples and Family Therapy, University of Guelph
    • This included 500 hours of direct experience with clients in the context of individual, couple and family therapy with specific training in the following approaches across two years: 
      • Dialogic Model 
      • Solution Focused Therapy Model 
      • Narrative Model 
      • Emotion Focused Therapy Model
      • Aspects of Gottman Method
    • Intensive Sex Therapy Training Course
  • Graduated with a Bachelor in Applied Science in Child Youth and Family Studies with a Minor in Psychology, University of Guelph
    • This included completing to two co-op work terms and one practicum at the University of Guelph’s Child Care and Learning Centre
      • Fostered strong professional relationships with toddlers and preschoolers, and their families
      • Planned and implemented programing and intervention activities that were emergent, developmentally appropriate, and child-centred
      • Inclusion Facilitator

Anger Management • Anxiety • Behaviour Challenges • Bipolar • Body Image Concerns • Boundaries • Break Ups • Bullying • Burn Out • Child Development • Chronic Pain • Co-Parenting • Codependency • Communication • Cross Cultural Challenges • Death • Depression • Divorce/Separation • Domestic Violence • Emotion Regulation • Faith/Spirituality • Family Relationships • Friend Relationships • Gender Identity • Grief • Harm Reduction • Immigration/Emmigration • Imposter Syndrome • Infidelity/Deceit • LGBTQIA2+ Experiences • Life Transitions • Loneliness • Loss • Marginalization and Oppression • Marriage and Romantic Relationships • Narcissism • Parenting • Perfectionism • Pre Marital • Racial Identity • Self Esteem/Self Worth • Sex and Intimacy • Sexual Identity • Social Anxiety • Stress • Trauma • Work-Life Balance