Sara Shrestha

RCC #27076

Sara Shrestha is accepting new clients now.

Hey! I’m Sara, and I’m a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with a Master’s in Counselling Psychology.

Even as a counsellor myself, there were times when I found seeking the help I needed, really intimidating, confusing, and pretty overwhelming, when I was on the other side of the chair as a client. I want to make that process feel easier, less intimidating, and as inviting as I can. I believe that this can happen when counselling is collaborative, genuine, and rooted in curiosity and a desire to understand, rather than jumping to conclusions or judgments. I aim to cultivate that in every session together, where we can get to know each other, explore life experiences, and work towards a strong sense of growth, progress, and healing together.

Counselling for Anxiety, Perfectionism, and Burnout

Anxiety doesn’t have a specific face. It can look like fidgeting a lot, pacing back and forth, and heart palpitations, and it can also look like procrastination, self-isolation, people-pleasing, seemingly having everything together, or burnout. Whether you experience anxiety around health, social situations, work/career, or life in general, living in a state of always being on high alert can become exhausting. I like to pull from different modalities and approaches so that we together can identify the roots behind patterns, break anxiety cycles, and work towards a more balanced sense of well-being, in a way that is the most connective and impactful for you.

Immigration, BIPOC, and Cultural Identity

I was born in Nepal and then immigrated to Canada when I was 3 years old with my family. A lot of life for me then became about the balance between honouring my Nepali heritage and fitting in to the societal and cultural norms of the Canadian culture around me, while also staying true to myself. My lived experience gives me a nuanced and authentic understanding of intergenerational and intersectional dynamics, cultural identity, and societal pressures. I am always putting conscious effort into not assuming a shared story but rather using my personal experience, education, and clinical background to stay curious, honour each client’s unique cultural norms, and adapt therapy to your specific intersectional lived experience.

Self-Esteem and Comparison

As much joy and freedom as dance has given me, being a part of the dance community since I was a kid also came with experiences of comparison, body image pressures, and perfectionism. Whether it’s through something like dance, scrolling through social media, or simply feeling like you’re living in a world that constantly emphasizes everyone else’s highlights, it can make it hard not to question your own progress, appearance, or value. I prioritize providing a compassionate and judgment-free space to explore where these critical voices come from, challenge perfectionist standards, and work together to step into your life with a genuine and stronger sense of self-worth and confidence.

Lack of Purpose or Meaning, Life Transitions, and Timeline Anxiety

Sometimes it can be hard to even place a finger on the exact reason that something feels off or we feel like we want to start therapy. It can be difficult to not feel a strong sense of urgency or panic when it seems like everyone around us knows what they’re doing and is moving forward with their lives, but life for us isn’t unfolding in the way we expected. It can be heavy and incredibly lonely to constantly feel like we don’t know what’s coming next, like we should have hit certain milestones already, or just having a deep sense of being directionless. Together, we can work on what it looks like to exist authentically, without the pressure to always appear like you have things under control, process the weight of external expectations, and build confidence in your own unique timing.

Adolescent and Young Adult Counselling

I have extensive experience working with adolescent and young adult populations in community mental health environments. From that, I know a one-size-fits-all approach to therapy isn’t the best way to approach people that are coming of age and navigating the unique life transitions that come along with that. I like to adapt my therapeutic style with all of my clients, and especially with youth/young adults, to be flexible, interactive, and catered to what would be the most impactful, rather than using a very rigid, standardized approach.

Relationship Counselling

Grounded in my Gottman Level 1 training, I love supporting clients in relationships who are looking to improve communication, navigate life transitions or conflicts, and rebuild emotional intimacy. Whether you are feeling stuck in repetitive arguments or simply looking to strengthen your connection, we will work together to build practical tools and deeper understanding in a compassionate, non-judgmental space.

My Approach to Counselling

In counselling, I like to view the client as the expert of their own life, with my role being to provide the space for you to feel truly heard, understood, validated, and empowered. My approach to counselling incorporates Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and person-centred and solution-focused therapy, among others. This means I like to focus on exploring the learned underlying beliefs that often come through your upbringing or past experiences and also understand how these patterns come to play in our current daily lives. We work together on unlearning and relearning patterns that give way to a more balanced sense of well-being. While this is how I generally approach counselling, I also like to be more eclectic in my practice and work together with every client to adapt my approach to one that is the most connective and impactful for you specifically.

About Me

When I’m not working, one of my favourite things of all time to do is dance. I have been doing Bollywood dance since I was a kid, and I still couldn’t enjoy it more. My love for Bollywood dance definitely came from me growing up listening to Bollywood songs and watching Bollywood movies,

which I still love to watch over and over again. I’m a huge fan of pop culture and love to binge watch TV shows or go to the movies with my friends.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time to get to know me, and I hope we can get to know each other. I offer in-person or virtual sessions to individuals and relationship clients on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

If you feel like we may be a good fit, you can book a free 15-minute consultation call or your first session through my booking page or by contacting me directly at shrestha.counselling@gmail.com.

You can view my informed consent here.

Approaches Used

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Oppressive, Attachment Informed / Attachment Based Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Critical Race Theory / Culturally Informed / Culturally Competent, Feminist Intersectional Therapy (FIT), Gottman Method, Humanistic / Person-Centred Therapy / Rogerian, LGBTQIA2S+ Affirming, Mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Motivational Interviewing, Solutions Focused Therapy (SFT), Trauma Informed Therapy

Specialties and Areas of Practice

Accessible Counselling, Accountability, ADHD, Anxiety, BIPOC and Cultural Issues, Body Image, Boundary Setting, Break-Ups, Burnout, Career Counselling / Work Issues, Childhood Trauma, Communication Skills, Couples Therapy, Creative Blocks, Dating, Depersonalization, Depression, Emotional Abuse, Emotional Regulation and Anger, Family Conflict, Fears and Phobias, Goal Setting, Grief and Loss, Identity, Immigrant Experience, Interpersonal Challenges, Leadership Development, LGBTQIA2S+, Life Meaning and Purpose, Life Transitions, Marriage Therapy, Menopause, Minority Issues, Motivation, Neglect, Nervous System Regulation, Neurodivergence, Perfectionism, Postpartum, Pregnancy, PTSD / Complex PTSD, Queer Relationships, Relational Trauma, Relationship Issues, Religious Trauma, Reproductive Struggles, Self Worth and Personal Growth, Self-Development and Coaching, Self-Esteem, Sexuality and Gender, Shame, Stress Management and Stress Reduction, Student Support, Trauma, Youth / Young Adults 14+

Sara Shrestha is accepting new clients now.

How Much Counselling Will I Need?

It depends on what you want. Most clients fall into one of three categories:

One (or two) and done – I just want some advice to move forward on a problem. Cool, just let me know that so I can make sure the session will be focused.
Acute issue – I need some support to resolve an issue, but I don’t want to be in counselling forever. This usually takes 8-12 sessions but could be shorter or longer based on your needs (time, financial, issue complexity). We create the ideal structure together.
Long-term therapeutic relationship – I need a safe space to process life events. Sessions are often booked up to a year in advance so you can count on the structure and support. The topic often changes session to session, but relates back to an overarching theme of self-development, relationship management, or something of that nature.

I can’t tell you which issues fall into which bucket, or guarantee results, because each client is unique. It’s best to let me know which category you think you might fall into, we can check and adjust as needed.

What is your favourite thing about working closely with people every day?

I love sitting down and just getting to know people from all different walks of life. A person is so much more than symptoms or what they have been through, and each and every single one of us experiences complexities, personalities, and cultures that all together make up who we are. I love that working closely with people every day essentially means that I get to experience and learn about the the intricacies, power, and complexities of what it means to be human on the regular, and I couldn’t be more passionate about anything else.

What is a personal challenge that you have overcome in your own life?

I faced a lot of challenges after I graduated from school and when I started transitioning from being a student to entering the workforce. I didn’t realize how much of my identity and self-esteem I tied to academic validation or how dependent I became on the structure that the school system provided. Not being a student anymore meant, all of a sudden, I didn’t know exactly what was next for me, and I didn’t have a grading system to measure progress. I started to feel really lost with constant doubt and anxiety, and it triggered a really strong fear of failure I didn’t even know that I had. Overcoming this challenge didn’t just mean figuring out what I wanted to do with my life as an individual, because I don’t just exist as an individual. I also exist as a Nepali daughter in an immigrant family, and that draws in a complex cultural context of gendered expectations and societal meanings tied to academic success, which brought on a more nuanced and complex kind of pressure. As challenging as it was to navigate and overcome that, I feel grateful that I know firsthand how crucial it is to bring in and acknowledge culture into every conversation and can connect with those that have a shared or similar story.

What have you learned from your work?

I’ve learned that so much healing and connection can come from simply striving to understand each other. There are so many histories and life experiences behind the way we all exist in the present day. At its core, I’ve learned that so much of counselling is diving in and striving to understand our histories, experiences, identities, and goals in a safe, non-judgmental, and connective way. It can seem super

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Last Updated: October 7, 2026 Created: September 1, 2026

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