Melissa Donohue is an internationally trained and licensed psychotherapist who’s passion is to help individuals process trauma.  Melissa is the owner and lead therapist at Striving for Synergy Psychotherapy and Counselling Clinic and has been providing holistic evidenced based psychotherapy to individuals, families and group for nearly a decade.  As a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and a board certified Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Association of Social Work Boards), Melissa is able to connect with a vast array of humans at the level of the individual, community and internationally.  

Melissa opened her private practice after working in agency settings where she noticed some gaps in service, particularly around the lack of availability of trauma specific treatment.  In an attempt to address this gap, Melissa honed her clinical skills and now is proud to offer specialized treatment of trauma and attachment related concerns.  Melissa’s knowledge and expertise accredited her the role as the team lead of a new trauma program at a major Toronto hospital, where she worked with an interdisciplinary team to provide wrap around care for individuals who have experienced developmental trauma. 

In pursuit of her love of teaching and learning, Melissa is an Adjunct Faculty at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto where she has the pleasure of supervising the next generation of clinicians.  During her tenure as Professor in the Social Service Work Program at Centennial College, Melissa was afforded the opportunity to create foundational curriculum and use it to educate (and learn from) students, many of whom she continues to be connected with as colleagues.  Melissa continually offers both individual and group supervision to students and licensed clinicians as she believes in life long learning and development. 

Melissa has contributed in both clinical research and clinical service provision at top Canadian institutions including: Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Ontario Shores Center for Mental Health Sciences, McMaster University, St. Michael’s Hospital and Scarborough Health Network. 

Melissa’s passion for the brain was born during her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto (U of T) where she studied Neuroscience and Psychology receiving a Honours Bachelor of Science degree.  She continued her studies at U of T where she completed her Master of Social Work, specializing in Mental Health. 

Outside of her work in the mental health community, Melissa has been a proponent of increasing both physical and mental health literacy and service availability through her work as a fitness instructor.  Growing up as a competitive dancer, Melissa believes that movement and social connection are integral aspects of the human experience.  Melissa has had the pleasure of connecting with the community at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Center for a number of years, where she has promoted mental and physical health awareness through her classes. 

More recently, Melissa fused her passion and knowledge of neuroscience and movement with a trusted colleague as the Co-Founder of a holistic health and wellness program, CoreSet.  This program was born from taking note of a major gap in the wellness industry- the exclusion of the brain in nutrition and fitness programs.  The goal of this program is to help folks achieve long term, sustainable and holistic health goals through using science based tools.  Though this program is in its infancy, it has helped dozens of people achieve their goals and empower them for a path in long term wellness.  

Melissa’s strength lies in her ability to connect; the ability to connect with people, connect to people and her ability to help people connect with themselves and each other.  Though Melissa is very grateful for her education, Melissa views her ability to connect with people in meaningful ways as being the major vehicle of transformation in everything that she does.

Melissa continuously brings an effective blend of experience, expertise and action to every community that she works with in order to empower individuals, groups and families as we move towards becoming the most authentic version of themselves. .