My Story
LISA BARNWELL, MSW, RSW (she/her)
I am a Toronto-based Social Worker, Psychotherapist serving clients both virtually and in-person across the GTA. I’ve spent most of my career supporting children and adults who experience systemic barriers due to various mental health difficulties.
In addition to my professional role as a social worker/psychotherapist specializing in trauma, my lifetime partner and I are proud parents to two dynamic teenagers.
I live and work in Toronto, having grown up here my whole life. I come from a large Caribbean family and have inherited many intergenerational gifts from this rich lineage. I identify as a Black person of mixed ethnocultural heritage, and as a member of the Global Majority.
My Path to Practice
Education, Credentials & Meaningful Work
Formal Education
After receiving a Bachelor in Life Sciences Degree, Majoring in Psychology at the University of Toronto, I spent several years searching for my professional calling. I took my time, even teaching English in Japan for a period. Eventually I merged the energy of my heart and mind to pursue a Masters of Social Work at U of T, fully affirming my earlier dreams.
Memberships
I am a member in good standing with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, and the Ontario Association of Social Workers (see links below). I served as a Regional Director for the OASW from 2014-2016.
I am a fully certified EMDR therapist and a member of both EMDRIA and EMDR Canada.
Professional Career
Twenty some years later, I’m so lucky to say that I chose a rich and rewarding career. What I am most proud of:
- Supporting youth with psychosis in a day treatment program that included hiking through Toronto trails, trips to Kensington Market, secondary school credits, and eventually living independently
- Practicing the craft of Family Therapy, Prevention and Early Intervention & Restorative Justice at Oolagen and the George Hull Centre for Children and Families
- At the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, guiding and supporting adults & their families through the storms of serious mental illness, in the settings of both inpatient and outpatient care
- Counselling and advocating for hundreds of children and youth across the continuum of need at the Toronto District School Board
- Growing a private practice and protecting time and space for healing conversations and interventions
Clinical Training
The practice of psychotherapy is often a lifelong commitment to continuous learning and unlearning. Of course formal training only takes you half-way there, and the rest is a collection of lived experiences and practice. Some of my clinical training:
EMDR
- Fully certified EMDR therapist with EMDRIA
IFS (Internal Family Systems)
- Certificate of Completion for IFS 4-day intensive with the IFSCA, Derek Scott (July 13th, 2021)
- Enrolled in the IFS Institute, Level One (September 2024)
Ego State Therapy
- Ego State Therapy Foundations Course (October 2023) with Wendy Lemke
Hypnotherapy
- Fundamentals of Clinical Hypnosis Level 1 (ASCH) with Wendy Lemke
Accelerated Resolution Therapy
- Certificate of Completion for Basic Accelerated Resolution Therapy Training from the Rosenzweig Center of Rapid Recovery (October 2022)
Motivational Interviewing
- Motivational Interviewing Certificate, OISE (March 2015)
Emotion-Focused Therapy
- Emotion-Focused Therapy Training- Level One, York University with Serine Warwar and Leslie Greenberg (August 2021)
- Level Two, York University with Serine Warwar and Leslie Greenberg (August 2022)
Emotionaly-Focused Couples Therapy
- 4-day Externship with Sue Johnson (2008)
Clinical Supervision
- Certificate of Professional Development from Adler Graduate Professional School, 50 HR Clinical Supervisor Training (September 2022)
Deep Brain Reorienting
- Registered for Level One & Level Two in the fall of 2024
