To be successful, we need to be alert, focused, and engaged in the work that we do. But oftentimes, the very nature of helping work makes it challenging to think rationally, keep cool and stay in the game.

I know what it’s like. Early in my career, working closely with people was hard. On one hand, I was motivated to help others overcome their challenges and feel better. On the other hand, I was completely unprepared for the complexity of problems people faced. Many were highly distressed by their life situations (understandably so), and emotions often ran high (mine included!).

It was awkward and draining to not have all the answers that people seemed to want from me. I somehow muddled my way through tense situations, but there were times when I felt completely lost. I began to dread working on heavy and complex cases. I wanted assignments that were easy, safe, predictable and even boring.

Others saw physiotherapy as an aspirational career, but I just wasn’t feeling it! I was just annoyed and confused, and so while continuing to work, I went ‘underground’ in search of a solution. It eventually became a personal quest: I took all the courses I thought I was missing; I studied coaching, mindfulness, and meditation; I worked and volunteered in remote and rural locations; and I took ‘unconventional’ contract jobs that I normally would have avoided. I even took a sabbatical!

As I was finishing my final paper for a Masters degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Toronto, work began to make a lot more sense. I was no longer “muddling through”. In fact, I was engaged and enjoying it. I began to understand that, in my wandering, I had acquired a number of key foundational skills for helping work. Presently, I teach these skills as the very foundation of helping work. They form the basis of how we learn, communicate, connect, and engage with ourselves and others.

The truth is that helping work - just like any relationship - is only healthy when it is reciprocal. When we help a fellow human, we must also take care of ourselves in equal and opposite measure.

You’re the expert and I’m here to help you practice. It’s truly my privilege to support you, whatever your helping mission may be.

Andrea Meade  PT, MEd

Education

• Master of Education in Counselling Psychology (University of Toronto - Ontario Institute for Studies in Education ) (2024)

• Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy (University of Toronto) (2002)

• Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology (University of Victoria) (1999)

Titles, Designations and Certifications

• Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (2023 - present)

• Registered Physiotherapist, College of Physiotherapists of Ontario (2002 - present)

• Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto (2021 - present)

• Practice Enhancement Coach, College of Physiotherapists of Ontario (2024 - present)

• Certified Coach (University of British Columbia) (2017)

• Certificate of Achievement in Pelvic Physiotherapy (American Physical Therapy Association) (2012)

Notable Life Experience

• Mom of One

• Well-adjusted Middle Child

• Clinical Instructor, International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation (2014)

• Senior Resident Advisor (Head ‘Don’), University of Victoria (1999)