Anu Chahauver Nelson

The Your Therapy team is led by founder Anu Chahauver-Nelson, a skilled and highly trained therapist with over two decades of clinical therapy experience, working with children, youth and adults, along with couples and families. Anu  developed and led The Family Therapy Treatment Seminar at SickKids Hospital, helping to train and mentor clinicians in advanced family therapy practices.

As well as supporting clients with mental health issues such as ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression and somatization, Anu has been recognized for her particular expertise in several other areas. Some of her specialties include working with chronic illness (diabetes, lupus, GI issues, POTS, dysautonomia, chronic fatigue syndrome), somatization and treating medical- and sexual-abuse trauma. She has also provided clinical supervision to many social-work interns, psychologists, clinical social workers, medical & psychiatry  residents.

Anu’s passion for helping people with mental-health issues started when she was a young adult. Long before she could have imagined her current role managing a mental health clinic, Anu was a student studying social work, when a job placement changed her life. Tasked with counselling a young man who had serious substance-abuse issues, Anu was privately doubtful she could help, since his problems seemed so overwhelming.

So she simply asked a few questions and listened as he opened up and told his tale. To the rookie counselor’s surprise, her client’s relief was palpable, and Anu saw, firsthand, how simply being listened to in a safe, non-judgmental way could make a difference in someone’s life. When this man eventually graduated from his substance abuse program, he told Anu that their initial conversation had been a turning point for him.

Shortly after, Anu worked with another client—an educated, cultured elderly gentleman in his 60s. In a matter of months, this once-successful man had lost everything—his home, his job, his wife—due to untreated major depression. For Anu, this experience gave a face and a name to the devastating impact of mental illness. These two encounters, one hopeful, one sobering and both powerful, inspired her to become a therapist.

While pursuing her Masters at the University of Toronto, Anu also learned the value of evidence-informed treatment, which is now a cornerstone of her practice. Research shows that meaningful change comes from building a therapeutic alliance between client and therapist. Anu asks clients to give her regular feedback, this keeps her accountable to you, and helps create a feeling of collaboration, as client and therapist develop and work toward their goals.

Those clients include children, their parents, families and adults. During the 14 years Anu spent with Toronto’s SickKids hospital, she developed a special focus on helping young people and their families through their medical and mental health challenges as well as working with medical professionals. And to this day, many of Your Therapy clients come via referrals from Pediatricians,Neurologists, Family Doctors and Child Psychiatrists.

More than ever, Anu believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship and the strengths-based model to effect lasting, positive changes in the lives of individuals, families, and couples. Opening up your life to a therapist is not an easy step, but as you work toward a happier, more satisfying life, Anu is honoured to take this journey with you.

Outside of her professional life, Anu enjoys exploring her eclectic interests. She is an avid fan of anime, loves reading fantasy fiction, and has a wide-ranging taste in music. Whenever she gets the chance, Anu also enjoys traveling and discovering new cultures and experiences.

Anu is fluent in:  Hindi, Punjabi & Urdu