Psychogeriatrics & Older Adult Therapy in Barrie, Ontario

• Late-life depression — including loss-related depression and depression associated with health decline. In later life, a low mood is often read as simply what aging is, by others and by the person carrying it. It is not, and it deserves the same attention it would receive at any other age.
• Grief and bereavement — including the accumulation of losses that often accompanies later life. A spouse, a sibling, a friend, and then another friend: when the losses arrive one after another, there is rarely time to grieve one before the next.
• Anxiety in older adults — including health anxiety, fear of death, and anxiety related to diminishing independence. The body’s changes give worry something concrete to fasten onto, and the fear can take up more of the day than the change itself.
• Adjustment to cognitive changes — including early cognitive decline and the psychological impact of memory difficulties. Noticing that memory is not what it was is frightening in its own right, and that fear can be worked with, whatever the changes turn out to be.
• End-of-life preparation — for those who wish to approach death with intention, peace, and clarity. This is not morbid; for many people it is the most meaningful conversation they have not yet been able to have.
• Life review and meaning-making — the psychological and spiritual work of reviewing and integrating a life. Looking back over the whole of it — what was chosen, what was lost, what was given — and finding a way to hold it together.
• Caregiver support — for those caring for aging spouses, parents, or loved ones. Caregivers are often grieving while they care, and are rarely asked how they themselves are doing.
• Transition and loss of role — retirement, loss of driving, loss of home, loss of independence. Each of these is a loss of a role, and of a piece of who you have been, and each is real.
• Existential and spiritual questions of later life — mortality, legacy, and ultimate meaning. For those who want it, Wanda offers spiritual direction alongside therapy, within her own Integrative Psycho-Spiritual Therapy framework.

Very little of this is spoken about openly, and much of it is carried alone. Some of what you may recognize:

• A sadness that others, and perhaps you, have put down to simply getting older
• Losses arriving one after another, with no room to grieve each before the next
• Worry about your health, or about death, that takes up more of the day than you would like
• Fear of losing your independence — your driving, your home, your say in your own life
• Noticing changes in your memory, and being frightened of what they might mean
• Caring for a spouse or a parent, and grieving them while they are still here
• Retirement, or the end of a role, leaving a silence you did not expect
• Looking back over your life and wanting to make sense of the whole of it
• Questions about mortality, legacy, and what it has all meant, with no one to ask them to

None of this is a sign of weakness, and none of it is too late to bring to someone. The later chapters of life deserve the same depth of attention as any other.

Every session is with Wanda herself. The approach is chosen with you rather than applied to you.

The whole person, in daily life. As a Registered Occupational Therapist, Wanda attends not only to the emotional and psychological dimensions of later life but to how they intersect with everyday living — self-care routines, sleep, independence, and the capacity to stay engaged with the activities and relationships that give life structure and purpose. When a loss of role or capacity disrupts daily functioning, that is part of the work, not separate from it.

Depth, at a pace that respects you. Wanda’s psychotherapy draws on psychodynamic psychotherapy, CBT, trauma-informed care and somatic awareness, and her 39 years of practice include end-of-life care. Life review and meaning-making are given the unhurried space they require.

The spiritual dimension of later life. The existential and spiritual questions of later life — mortality, legacy, and ultimate meaning — are met with the same depth of care as everything else, within your own tradition, outside of any, or not at all.

The wounded healer’s understanding. Wanda has navigated her own significant losses. She meets the losses of later life not from a clinical distance but from genuine human understanding.

The first consultation is free. It is a conversation, not an intake interview — a chance to say some of it out loud and to see whether this feels like the right fit. There is no obligation to continue.

Sessions are available in person in Barrie at 80 Bradford Street, Suite 801 (Entrance Door 3), and by secure video or telephone across Canada. For those who no longer drive, or for whom a trip into Barrie has become difficult, telephone sessions mean the work does not depend on getting to the office. Current rates are on the fees page.

This page is educational and is not a substitute for emergency care. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department. In Canada, the Suicide Crisis Helpline can be reached by calling or texting 988, at any hour.

• Grief counsellingFor bereavement, and for the losses that arrive one after another.
• Depression therapyWhen the heaviness of later life stops lifting.
• Anxiety counsellingHealth anxiety, fear of death, and the dread of losing independence.
• Cancer and chronic illness therapyLiving with a diagnosis, and preparing for what may come.
• Spiritual directionFor the questions of legacy, mortality, and ultimate meaning.
• Integrative Psycho-Spiritual TherapyFor the second half of life, when healing and meaning cannot be separated.

Wanda’s office is centrally located in Barrie and is used by clients from across Simcoe County, including Orillia, Midland, Innisfil, Angus, Bradford, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst. For those further out, for anyone who no longer drives, or for anyone who would rather not travel after a difficult hour, secure virtual and telephone sessions are available across Canada.

If you are ready, the first conversation is free. You can reach Wanda at 705-321-4297, by email at wandanayduk@gmail.com, or through the contact page. There is no need to have the words ready first.

The first conversation is free and there is no obligation. Call 705-321-4297, email wandanayduk@gmail.com, or use the contact form — Wanda replies personally.