Associates
Binnie Son
MA, M.Div. (Cand.), CTPS (Cand.), RP (Qual.)
Binnie values the uniqueness of each person who seeks therapy. She is passionate about reaching out to clients who are struggling with various life challenges such as grief, transitions, identity, anxiety, trauma, depression, spirituality, or racism. She strives to provide a compassionate and supportive environment where her clients can safely share their life stories, relational struggles, and grief, while intentionally identifying their strengths in order to journey with them towards healing and comfort. Her approaches are warm, creative, and individualized.
Her commitment to working and engaging with various people, including children and families, is borne out of her background as a mother of three children, and her experiences in different communities and contexts around the world, including in numerous cities in the U.S. and Asia. She has lived and worked in many different countries, and understands that each person emerges from and reflects a unique culture...
Binnie completed her undergraduate degree at Wellesley College in architectural design and Chinese studies, and a master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University in arts administration. Currently, she is in her final academic year at Tyndale Seminary, completing her master’s degree in clinical counselling, with a concentration in thanatology (care in areas of grief, death, and dying). Binnie brings her diverse personal, educational, and professional experience to therapy sessions in walking alongside her clients. With compassion and sensitivity, she invites her clients to explore their relational and interactional patterns within family and societal systems.
Binnie sets up her clients for therapeutic success by utilizing a strengths-based, culturally sensitive, and grief/trauma-informed approaches, incorporating attachment-based, family systems, psychodynamic and other clinically proven modalities such as narrative therapy, solution focused therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and experiential therapy.
When not working, Binnie loves cooking, travelling, and skiing, and playing board games with friends and family.
Mingxiu (Mindy) Jiang
MDiv, RP
Mingxiu (Mindy) Jiang is a Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario, who holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Alberta and a Master’s in Clinical Counselling from Tyndale University.
Mindy’s style is holistic, empathetic, and collaborative. She is passionate about assisting clients to experience emotional transformation and recovery from the impact of trauma. Mindy is primarily trained in and utilizes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Her approach is trauma-informed and trauma-focused.
Mindy has experience in working with clients with issues related to anxiety, depression, self-esteem, identity, trauma, emotional awareness and regulation, attachment, inner critic, boundaries, and interpersonal relationships.
Asanda Cheung
RP, MPS, SRC
Life can be a series of challenges that come in all shapes and sizes. They test our patience, inner strength, resilience and core values. These challenges can be stressful and difficult, but there are ways to manage and work through the complex situations all therapists face in their therapeutic work. Asanda is passionate about sensitively journeying with persons through their life stages. She is qualified as both a Registered Psychotherapist and also as a Spiritual Care Practitioner. Underpinning her approach is an unconditional positive regard for the people with whom she works, who come from all walks of life, including diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Asanda has experience in working with motor vehicle accident clients, post-traumatic distress (PTSD), anxiety, depression, loss and grief, relational and work related issues.
Asanda works with people in Cantonese, Mandarin as well as English...
Asanda passionately believes that people have the capacity to change, and often need encouragement, guidance and assistance in experiencing and achieving positive outcomes. Being an active listener and through using an integrated holistic approach, Asanda engages collaboratively with persons to mutually create conditions for healing and growth.
Asanda works with individuals, couples and families , referrals from healthcare providers including mental health workers, and is guided by the clients’ specific needs in their own given situation, using a variety of therapeutic approaches including person centred, family systems, gestalt therapy, guided imagery, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and mindfulness approaches in her therapeutic relationships.
Ji Yoon Kim
MDiv, RP
Life, with all of its ups and downs, twists and turns, can be disorienting as you struggle to find your footing. Taking the steps to make sense of and work through it can feel daunting and overwhelming. It takes much courage to begin to work through this and orient oneself. Therapy can provide the space to safely unravel your story, to be seen and heard in all the complexities and simplicity of being human, and to be known and cared for by another. This courageous process often lays the foundation for rediscovering and owning who you are and overcoming life’s struggles.
Ji Yoon believes that every person is unique and worthy of care and love. As such, she is passionate about journeying with individuals and families in the intricacies of life. Her curious nature and ability to come alongside people in a compassionate yet direct way has empowered those she works with to heal, allowing them to discover their own potential and work towards achieving their goals. Her approach is based in psychodynamic and attachment theory and she incorporates cognitive behavioural and emotion-focused practices into therapy ...
As a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) who holds a Master’s in Clinical Counselling and a Bachelor’s in Economics and Politics, Ji Yoon values integration and its significance in understanding a person’s and family’s experiences. She continues to strive for excellence by seeking interdisciplinary training, having worked closely with and been supervised by other Registered Psychotherapists, Psychologists, Social Workers and Psychiatrists/GPs. She is also an EMDR therapist in training.
Ji Yoon specializes in working with both adults and children. She is skilled in the treatment of depression, anxiety and overcoming the impact of trauma. She also works with those looking for direction and perspective in life and those struggling with relationship issues. In her work with children, youth and young adults and their families, she incorporates a systemic and neurobiological lens to development, which provides patients and their families with the tools to understand and work with one another towards restoration.
She loves learning and getting to know people. In her spare time, you will often find her enjoying food while spending time with friends and family or venturing down various rabbit holes of information and loving every second of it.
Dr. Merry C. Lin
PhD, CPsych
Dr. Merry C. Lin is a psychologist with over 25 years of clinical experience. At the Charis Clinic for Mental Wellness, she provides psycho-educational and diagnostic assessments for kids, adolescents and adults, to identify giftedness, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and behavioural/emotional/mental health issues. She also provides consultation and supervision services for psychotherapists.
Additionally, she is the Executive Director of Dr. Lin & Associates where she leads a team of leadership and life coaches and HR management consultants. In this role, Dr. Lin is an executive and leadership coach. She also consults with corporations and not-for-profit organizations, providing expertise in a wide variety of areas, including mental health, stress management, trauma, leadership and team development. She has an extensive background in assessment, working with individuals and organizations for selection, career assessments, developmental and leadership coaching purposes, and the selection of leaders and executives...
A wise counsellor and respected speaker, she can be heard on her popular podcast, The Fully Lived Life, with her friend, Coach Gillian, where they speak about life, love and purpose through the lens of faith and science. Dr. Lin has made regular TV appearances on 700 Club Canada, 100 Huntley Street, A Better Us and See Hear Love, and her teaching videos are available on RightNow Media. Dr. Lin is the author of The Fully Lived Life: Rescuing Our Souls from All that Holds Us Back.
Dr. Cara Brown
MD, FRCPC
Dr. Cara Brown is a psychiatrist whose community practice focuses on group therapy. She completed medical school and psychiatry residency at the University of Toronto. She has expertise in psychotherapy (IPT, CBT, Mindfulness) for mood and anxiety disorders in women across the reproductive lifespan. Dr. Brown has also been a staff psychiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre since 2013 and leads groups for the Women’s Mood and Anxiety Clinic: Reproductive Transitions. She has an academic appointment as a Lecturer at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr Brown is a Certified IPT Supervisor through the International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISITP) and at Sunnybrook supervises trainees in IPT and perinatal group therapy.
Dr. Anna Chen
MD, FRCPC
Dr. Chen is a psychiatrist with special interest in the mental health of young children with anxiety. She completed medical school at the University of Calgary and psychiatry residency at the University of Toronto. Her work at Charis Clinic includes psychiatric assessment and treatment of young children with primary anxiety disorders, and various group psychotherapies.
Dr. Patrick Lo
MD, MDiv, RMFT-SQ, FRCPC
Dr. Lo provides medication consultation in the area of mood and anxiety disorders. He provides CBT and Emotion Regulation group therapy. He also provides assessments in Cantonese.
Dr. Lo finished his medical school at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. He subsequently completed his psychiatric training at the University of Toronto. Even though he primarily only provides consultation services his psychotherapeutic training informs his assessments significantly. He integrates perspectives from modalities such as psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, emotion-focused, mindfulness, and dialectical behavioral therapy. He received training in marriage & family therapy prior his medical training.
He is a staff psychiatrist working in various outpatient clinics at the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby. He has special interests in the treatment of mood/anxiety disorders & sequelae of trauma. He is also a Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, and is a Registered Marriage & Family Therapist in Ontario.
Dr. Nicola Yang
MD, CCFP
Dr. Yang is a family physician and GP Psychotherapist with a focus on mood and anxiety disorders. She completed medical school at McMaster University and subsequenty completed her family medicine training at the University of Toronto.
At the Charis Clinic for Mental Wellness, Dr. Yang provides both individual and group psychotherapy services. She predominantly uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) in her psychotherapeutic approach but incorporates elements from other modalities to tailor therapy to each individual's unique needs. She also provides CBT and Emotion Regulation group therapy.
In addition to her work at the Charis Clinic, Dr. Yang is a consultant physician in the Outpatient Mental Health Program at Markham Stouffville Hospital. She is also the Chair of the Ontario Medical Association Section on Primary Care Mental Health.