Jennifer Robinson, MA, RP(Q)
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) | Associate Clinician
Couples & Relationships • Women’s Mental Health • Pregnancy, Postpartum & Motherhood • Developmental Disabilities & Dual Diagnoses • Anxiety & Depression • First Responders
Hello! I’m Jen.
I understand that reaching out for therapy can feel intimidating. My goal is to provide an open, collaborative, and down-to-earth environment where you can feel safe, validated, heard, and free to talk about whatever may be weighing on you.
I bring 12 years of experience supporting people in a variety of roles and currently provide psychotherapy to adults and couples in Peterborough and virtually across Ontario.
Whether you are coming to therapy because your relationship is struggling, or you are facing something personally, I believe therapy should be tailored to your unique needs, experiences, strengths, relationships, and goals.
Together, we can understand what is happening and develop an intentional path forward.
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A Down-to-Earth Place to Work Through What Matters
Couples & Relationship Therapy
Relationships can change over time.
Stress, parenthood, work, unresolved conflict, changing responsibilities, differences in expectations, and the demands of everyday life can gradually change the way partners communicate and connect with one another.
Sometimes couples know exactly what is wrong. Other times, they simply know that something between them no longer feels the way it once did.
As a Gottman-trained couples therapist, I work collaboratively with couples who want to better understand their relationship and develop healthier ways of communicating, resolving conflict, and staying connected.
Couples may come to therapy for concerns such as:
Communication difficulties
Recurring arguments or unresolved conflict
Emotional disconnection
Difficulty feeling heard or understood
Changes in the relationship following pregnancy or parenthood
Parenting and family pressures
Boundaries and expectations
Differences in responsibilities or priorities
Stress affecting the relationship
Rebuilding connection and strengthening the partnership
My role isn’t to take sides. It is to help both partners feel heard while we become curious about the patterns that have developed between you and identify practical ways of changing them.
Individual Therapy
Sometimes you need a place that is simply yours. I work with adults experiencing a variety of concerns, including anxiety, depression, trauma, domestic violence, relationship difficulties, stress, emotional challenges, significant transitions, and other experiences that can make life feel overwhelming or difficult to navigate.
My approach is person-centred and collaborative.
That means therapy isn’t something I simply do to you. We work together to identify what matters to you, understand what you would like to change, recognize your strengths, and develop strategies that fit your actual life.
Depending on your needs, I draw from approaches including:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Mindfulness
Practical coping and emotional-regulation strategies
Gottman-informed principles where relationship concerns are part of individual therapy
Above all, I believe you need to feel safe, respected, and genuinely heard in therapy.
Women’s Mental Health, Pregnancy, Postpartum & Motherhood
I have a particular passion for supporting women through pregnancy, postpartum life, motherhood, and matrescence — the psychological, emotional, relational, and identity transition that occurs as a woman becomes a mother.
Becoming a mother can be deeply meaningful while also changing nearly every part of life.
Your identity may change. Your relationship with your partner may change. Your body, responsibilities, friendships, priorities, routines, and expectations of yourself may all feel different.
As a mother of two young children myself, I appreciate how significantly the transition into parenthood can affect an individual, a couple, and the family as a whole.
Therapy can provide a place to talk honestly about these changes without needing to pretend that everything is easy simply because this season of life is also meaningful.
I am passionate about helping women navigate the emotional and relational changes associated with pregnancy, postpartum life, motherhood, raising a young family, and discovering who they are within these changing roles.
Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities and Dual Diagnoses
I bring extensive professional experience supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and dual diagnoses.
Before becoming a psychotherapist, I spent many years working within developmental services and community mental health, including more than six years with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Dual Diagnosis Team.
These experiences gave me an understanding not only of developmental disabilities themselves, but also of the ways developmental and mental health needs can affect relationships, caregivers, and families.
I believe strongly in meeting people where they are, recognizing individual strengths and abilities, and adapting support to the needs of the person rather than expecting the person to fit a predetermined approach.
Trauma, Victim Services, and First Responders
My professional background also includes training and work with Victim Services of Peterborough and Northumberland, with experience related to trauma, domestic violence, crisis intervention, court accompaniment, and emergency crisis response.
This work strengthened my understanding of how people can be affected by traumatic and destabilizing experiences and reinforced the importance of creating an environment where clients feel safe, respected, and in control of their therapeutic process.
My work with Victim Services has also contributed to my understanding of first-responder culture and the environments in which police, paramedics, firefighters, and other emergency personnel work.
This background provides a foundation for understanding some of the culture, demands, and experiences that may be relevant when a first responder seeks therapy.
My Approach
I believe good therapy begins with the relationship between therapist and client.
You need to feel that you can speak honestly, ask questions, disagree, laugh, become emotional, and bring difficult things into the room without being judged.
My style is warm, collaborative, practical, and down-to-earth.
I draw primarily from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, practical strategies, and Gottman-trained couples therapy while tailoring treatment to the person or couple sitting in front of me.
Regardless of the approach we use, I want therapy to help you better understand yourself and your relationships while also giving you practical ways of responding differently to the challenges you face.
My Background
I hold a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University, an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Trent University, and a Social Service Worker diploma from Fleming College.
Before becoming a psychotherapist, I worked extensively within developmental services and community mental health, including more than six years with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Dual Diagnosis Team.
My professional development has included training in Gottman couples therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), cultural awareness, opioid prevention and response, understanding hoarding, trauma, domestic violence, crisis intervention, and court accompaniment.
Across these experiences, I have developed a deep appreciation for meeting people where they are and helping them work toward goals that are personally meaningful to them.
Getting Started
You don’t need to have everything figured out before reaching out.
Maybe your relationship isn’t where you want it to be or you’re adjusting to a difficult transition. Perhaps you’re navigating pregnancy or motherhood, carrying the effects of something you’ve experienced, or simply realizing that you could use some support yourself.
We can start by talking about what’s happening, what you would like to be different, and what kind of support would be most helpful.
I provide in-person psychotherapy in Peterborough, Ontario, and virtual psychotherapy for adults throughout Ontario.