About Vanessa

Vanessa is a therapist rooted in the Guelph community, where she lives with her husband of 19 years, two teenagers, and their goldendoodle, Bowie. She is a proud 2SLGBTQIA+ ally and is committed to creating a safe, affirming space for every client who walks through her door. Outside of her practice, you will find her in her garden, playing board games with her family, volunteering with Hope House, and helping bring neighbours together through the Exhibition Park Neighbourhood Group. During the early days of the pandemic, she sewed over 350 masks for the Guelph Mask Squad. A memory that makes her proud, was being selected as an Olympic torch runner for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Vanessa believes deeply in the resilience of the human spirit, because she has had plenty of opportunities to test her own.

Child and Youth Therapy (5+), Coregulation and Parenting Support

If your child is navigating big emotions, school stress, or moments when they feel hard to reach, Vanessa supports both you and your child with warmth, patience, and practical tools that can make a meaningful difference. She works with children and youth aged 5 and up, creating a safe space where they can explore who they are, build confidence, and develop skills that support life at home, at school, and in their overall well-being.

As a mother of two children with ADHD, Vanessa brings more than theory to this work. She understands what it is like when a child is struggling and the adults around them feel overwhelmed too. She connects with young clients by first meeting them in their world, whether that means talking about their favourite games, music, or anything else that matters to them. From there, she introduces practical CBT tools they can use in everyday life. Vanessa also supports parents with coregulation strategies, because how we respond in difficult moments matters just as much as the skills we teach.

ADHD and Neurodivergence

If everyday tasks have always felt harder for you than they seem to for others, it does not mean you are lazy or failing. It may mean your brain has not yet been properly understood or supported.

Vanessa supports children, youth, young adults, teens, post secondary students and adults with ADHD or other forms of neurodivergence who feel stuck in cycles of overwhelm, procrastination, and self criticism. Whether you are a student who cannot start assignments until the last minute or a professional buried under tasks that feel impossible to manage, she helps you better understand how your brain works and build strategies that fit your real life. Vanessa brings both professional training and lived experience to this work. As someone with a neurodivergent family, she has seen how it can affect confidence, relationships, and daily functioning. Using CBT and a strengths-based lens, she helps clients move toward self understanding, practical change, and a more sustainable way of coping.

Anxiety, Depression and Student Stress

Anxiety and depression can make you feel like you are struggling alone, even when you are surrounded by others. For students, that feeling can become even heavier under the pressure to keep up, the pull of all or nothing thinking, last minute deadlines, and the sense that everyone else has it together.

Vanessa works with clients who are tired of just getting through the day and want to better understand what is driving how they feel. She especially enjoys supporting teens, post secondary students and adults navigating overwhelm, low motivation, and the stress of trying to succeed in environments that may not be designed with their needs in mind. Using CBT and a strengths-based approach, she helps clients notice their patterns and build tools that fit the rhythm of real life. She also incorporates mindfulness in practical, realistic ways, offering in the moment strategies that help clients regulate when things feel like too much. The goal is not perfection. It is learning how to support yourself in a way that feels possible.

Midlife Challenges, Caregiver Burnout and Parenthood

Midlife can arrive quietly, then suddenly feel overwhelming. You may be caring for aging parents, raising children, managing work, navigating perimenopause or chronic pain, or trying to keep up while wondering when you lost touch with yourself. Vanessa supports people through the layered exhaustion of this stage of life, including burnout, caregiver stress, new parenthood, and the pressure of trying to be everything to everyone.

She also understands how lonely transitions like postpartum, early motherhood, and changing family roles can feel. These experiences are not something you should have to push through quietly. Vanessa brings both professional care and lived experience with chronic pain, anxiety, midlife, and parenting teenagers. Using a person centered, strengths-based approach, she helps you notice what is still working, rebuild energy around what matters most, and reconnect with a version of yourself that feels more grounded and real.

2SLGBTQIA+ Affirming Care

Vanessa is a proud 2SLGBTQIA+ ally who offers care that is safe and affirming in both words and practice. Whether you are exploring identity, navigating relationships or family dynamics, managing your mental health, or looking for a therapist who will not ask you to explain or justify who you are, you are welcome here exactly as you are.

Email: vanessa.luxen@mylifecounselling.ca
Phone: 1-800-828-9484 (ext. 145)