Leanne Sawchuk, Psychotherapy & Counselling Services

Home
Canada
Kitchener, ON
Leanne Sawchuk, Psychotherapy & Counselling Services

Psychotherapist | Clinical Supervisor | Healer
Helping people unravel + heal their inner wounds Welcome to my page!

As Registered Psychotherapist, I provide services to both individual's and couple's within a safe and therapeutic space. Some of my areas of specialization include: depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, relationship challenges, trauma, and PTSD. This page is updated with information pertaining to mental health, well-being, coping strategies, speaking engagements, community events, workshops, and mindfulness based ideas and tips. Like my page and visit my website (www.leannesawchuk.com) for more information.

11/14/2025

Sometimes, avoiding accountability isn’t about being difficult, defiant, or stubborn, it’s about survival.

For some people, being wrong, being seen, or being held responsible felt too dangerous at some point in their life so now they do everything they can to avoid it. Avoiding it became a way to stay safe and a way to protect themselves. Accountability can’t grow where safety doesn’t exist. I know how much we often want people in our lives to take accountability, but trying to froce this to happen may feel more like an attack, not an invitation.

But this doesn't mean you just accept this, especially if it means you end up on a perpetual loop of self-abandonment.

Being on the receiving end of that is brutal. You feel unseen. Your feelings don’t land. Your needs get pushed aside. You start questioning if your voice even matters, if your heart is safe, if trust is possible. It can leave you frustrated, lonely, and sad because the pattern keeps repeating.

It's wildy disorenting.

Here’s the hard truth: sometimes, we can’t wait around for someone to become accountable. We can’t make them do it. And as much as we want them to, as much as we need them to, growth in someone else isn’t something we can control.

But waking away is not the only option, nor should it be. You can hold space for them while protecting yourself. You can be consistent in expressing your feelings, calmly naming what hurts and what you need. You can encourage reflection by asking open, compassionate questions rather than trying to force a change. And you can acknowledge the small steps they are capable of taking, because this will go a long way.

10/19/2025

Not everything is meant to take root,and we can't always rush what is.

I’ve been thinking about how much of life and healing resembles the slow process of planting. You tuck something small and fragile beneath the soil. You water it, you nurture it, you do everything “right,” and still… there’s this long, uncertain stretch of waiting before anything appears.

It’s such a strange kind of faith to keep showing up when you can’t yet see any proof that your effort matters. To trust that something is quietly taking shape in the dark.

There have been so many moments in my own life where I wanted to rush that process. I wanted the answers, the healing, the clarity now. I wanted to know that what I was pouring my energy into would eventually bloom. But life rarely moves on the schedule we wish it would. Real, lasting, embodied growth happens underground first. In silence. In slowness. In murky and uncertain conditions. In unexpected ways.

Sometimes, what we’re tending to needs time to anchor. We need to work out the kinks. Sometimes, it needs stillness more than strategy. And sometimes, despite all our care and hope, not everything we plant will take root. Not every dream will bloom, not every relationship will grow, not every version of ourselves will make it through the seasons.

And that’s hard. It can feel like loss or failure. But it’s also part of how we learn about timing, readiness, and alignment. Some things are meant to root elsewhere, and some not at all.

Lately, I have been asking myself what kind of conditions am I creating for the things I hope will grow? As well as the things that have died.

I have been giving myself permission to wonder about the things that aren't growing. That have died a long time ago.

The truth is, we can’t rush what’s meant to root, or always save what's meant to die.The work happens quietly, often invisibly, while we’re learning how to hold space for what we can’t yet see.

So if you’re in that in-between space right now and tending to something that hasn’t bloomed yet, I hope you can remember this: unseen growth is still growth.

10/14/2025

Many of us carry the abandonment wound disguised as something else. Abandoment is often thought of in the physical sense. But it often shows up more subtly: emotional unavailability, inconsistent caregiving, chronic criticism, neglect, or moments when your feelings were minimized. These experiences teach your nervous system that love is unpredictable, and connection can’t be relied on.

When this wound is alive, relationships feel like walking a tightrope. Every pause, every shift in tone, every distance triggers your body before your mind catches up. You might overthink, give too much, or seek constant reassurance. Anxious attachment isn’t a flaw, it’s your heart trying to survive.

Healing starts with noticing these patterns and naming them. But healing also means learning to step back from relationships that leave you feeling abandoned. Some people simply cannot meet you where you need or want them to. Protecting your heart doesn’t mean giving up, it means giving yourself the safety you were denied.

Anxious attachment is not a flaw. It’s an invitation: to understand yourself, care for yourself, and experience connection that can endure. Healing begins when you validate your experiences, and allow yourself to feel worthy of love with no chasing required!

04/02/2025

What (or who) are you avoiding right now? And what story is running in the background about why you're avoiding it/them?

Maybe it’s the story that…
✨ If you share your needs or feelings, you’ll be seen as too much or rejected.
✨ They won’t be able to hold space for you in the way you need.
✨ If you let yourself get too close, you’ll only end up getting hurt.
✨ Conflict has never been safe for you, so it’s better to stay silent.
✨ You don’t trust yourself to navigate the discomfort, so avoidance feels like the safer option.

Do any of these resonate?

When we avoid something (or someone), it’s not always *only about the situation itself, but the meaning we’ve attached to it. Sometimes it’s about the old wounds it touches, the patterns we’ve lived through, and the fears we’ve learned to believe as truth.

But here’s the thing: Not all of your stories are true.

Many are rooted in past experiences, not present reality. Many were formed to keep you safe, not to help you grow.

So ask yourself:
💭 What story am I telling myself about me?
💭 What story am I telling myself about them?
💭 And what would it mean if that story wasn’t true?

Sometimes, we fear our story being confirmed—that if we reach out, we will be rejected.

Other times, we fear our story being denied—because if it turns out we were wrong all along, then what?

Growth happens in the space between fear and curiosity. Healing begins when we question the stories that have shaped us and gently ask ourselves: Is this still serving me?

With you in this,
💛 Leanne

03/20/2025

To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go. - Mary Oliver

03/19/2025

And as a therapist, I listen to all of them.

Some stories are told with words.

They're spoken out loud, with detail and clarity — the ones clients have rehearsed in their heads before entering into a session with me. Stories filled with facts, explanations, reasons. Sometimes fast, like they need to get it all out before it’s too late. Sometimes slow, deliberate, testing the waters to see if they’ll be met with understanding and attunement.

But not all stories come that way.

Some stories are told through silence.
The quiet that lingers after a sentence trails off. The pause after a big inhale, where something important hovers but doesn’t quite land. The heavy quiet that says, I don’t know how to put this into words yet… or if I even can.

And then there’s the story in the space between words.

The way someone looks away mid-sentence. The half-smile that doesn’t quite reach their eyes. The shift in tone, the clenched hands, the moments they change the subject. It’s in the things they didn’t plan to say — but do, almost accidentally. Or the things they leave out entirely, hoping maybe I’ll catch it anyway.

I don't just listen to the words people bring, but also the silences and the spaces between.

Because all of it matters.
All of it is the story.

And the truth is, we all carry parts of our stories like this. Some loud, some quiet, some barely spoken even to ourselves.

It’s okay if yours doesn’t have neat language yet.
It’s okay if it slips out sideways, in a pause, in a breath, in a look.

I’m listening 💛

Address

276 Frederick Street
Kitchener, ON
N2H2N4

Telephone

+15197726896

Website

http://www.leannesawchuk.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Leanne Sawchuk, Psychotherapy & Counselling Services posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Leanne Sawchuk, Psychotherapy & Counselling Services:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Kitchener?