Soteldo Psychotherapy Clinic · Ottawa & Ontario
Support for the emotional impact of separation, ongoing conflict, and post-separation abuse.
When divorce keeps you on edge, psychotherapy offers space to work through what you are experiencing, strengthen boundaries, and consider your next steps without losing sight of your wellbeing.
Separation can involve grief, uncertainty, financial pressure, and changes in family life. For some people, hostile communication, repeated disputes, or controlling behaviour continue long after the relationship ends.
You may be managing parenting exchanges, legal appointments, and daily responsibilities while feeling exhausted, frightened, or unsure of yourself.
You do not need to have everything figured out before asking for support.
These experiences can have different causes. An individual assessment helps clarify your needs; this list is not a diagnosis.
Disagreement during divorce is not the same as coercive control. Threats, intimidation, monitoring, financial restrictions, or using children and ongoing contact to exert control may reflect an abusive pattern rather than two people who simply cannot get along.
Being distressed in response to intimidation does not mean you are equally responsible for it. Therapy can explore the context of what is happening without assuming that both partners have the same power or freedom to act.
You do not need to diagnose your former partner or prove a personality disorder to discuss harmful behaviour and its impact on you.
Goals are developed with you and adapted to your circumstances, readiness, and safety needs. Areas of work may include:
Recognizing stress responses, practising grounding, and developing ways to manage overwhelm before and after difficult interactions.
Exploring realistic boundaries and responses to hostile or demanding contact, taking account of safety concerns and any legal requirements.
Working through loss, shame, ambivalence, and self-doubt while reconnecting with your values and sense of identity.
Considering ways to support children emotionally and reduce their exposure to adult conflict, without asking them to take sides.
Separating immediate emotional pressure from longer-term priorities so that you can consider choices more deliberately.
Rebuilding routines, support networks, and a life that is not organised entirely around the conflict.
Psychotherapy cannot control another person’s behaviour or guarantee safety, agreement, or a particular legal outcome.
Co-parenting is not equally workable in every situation. Where communication repeatedly becomes hostile or controlling, lower-contact approaches such as parallel parenting may be worth discussing with appropriate clinical and legal professionals.
Therapy can help you explore the emotional impact of parenting contact and practise responses that fit your circumstances. Decisions about parenting arrangements, court orders, and legal obligations belong with your lawyer or the relevant legal authority.
The focus is on your wellbeing and your children’s emotional needs—not on forcing cooperation or reconciliation where that may be unsafe.
Clinical care focused on emotional distress, patterns of responding, relational trauma, and mental wellbeing. This page describes psychotherapy support.
A separate service focused on navigating aspects of separation. Discuss the scope of the service and whether psychotherapy or coaching fits your needs.
A separate process for working toward agreements. Mediation is not appropriate in every situation; safety, coercive control, and power imbalances require careful consideration before joint participation.
Psychotherapy is not legal advice, a custody evaluation, or a determination of who is right in a dispute. A consultation can clarify the therapist’s role, the limits of the service, and any concerns about records or involvement in legal proceedings.
Discuss what brings you here, what support you are seeking, and whether the clinic’s services are a suitable fit.
If you proceed with psychotherapy, explore your current concerns, relevant history, safety needs, and priorities. Discuss consent, fees, privacy and its legal limits, and the proposed approach.
Work toward agreed goals at a pace that fits your needs, reviewing progress and adjusting the focus as circumstances change.
Founded by Raquel Soteldo, RP, Soteldo Psychotherapy Clinic provides psychotherapy in Ottawa and across Ontario. Ask about current in-person and virtual appointment availability.
No. You can seek support while considering separation, during a divorce, or after the legal process has ended. Suitability is discussed individually.
You can enquire about individual psychotherapy without your former partner attending. Any request for joint work needs a separate discussion of purpose, suitability, and safety.
You can describe specific experiences and how they have affected you without choosing a label. Therapy does not require you to diagnose your former partner.
Therapy can focus on the emotional impact of legal proceedings and ways to manage stress. It does not provide legal strategy, guarantee a court outcome, or replace advice from your lawyer.
Ask about virtual psychotherapy availability in Ontario. Appointment format and suitability are discussed at consultation.
Raise this before sharing sensitive details. The therapist can explain how records are handled, the limits of confidentiality, and any relevant reporting or legal obligations. Avoid sending detailed personal or legal information through general enquiry forms.
You can start by talking about what is happening now and what you would like support with. You do not need to have a complete account of the relationship or know exactly what comes next.
Riverside Office by Billings Bridge · 2211 Riverside Drive, Suite 107, Ottawa, ON K1H 7X5
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. The clinic is not an emergency or crisis service. For shelter, victim services, healthcare, and legal resources, visit HELP NOW.
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This page provides general information, not a diagnosis or individual treatment recommendation. Care and outcomes vary according to individual circumstances.
