Our Circle

Registered Social Worker (MSW, BSSW, RSW)

Emily founded Maternal Health Niagara (est. 2017) to build a circle of support for individuals and families during the perinatal period and beyond. Emily's clinical focus is infertility, surrogacy, pregnancy and infant loss,  birth trauma, postpartum anxiety, and healing from childhood trauma. Emily enjoys working with birth and health care professionals as they navigate the intricacies of the field, and she is a therapists therapist. 

During her perinatal journey of pregnancy loss and pregnancy complications, Emily's lived experience sparked her passion for maternal mental health. Emily had hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), which affected her physical and emotional wellness. From her challenges during the perinatal period, Emily recognized the service gap and was determined to build a circle of support for others. Combining lived experience and extensive professional skills allows Emily to bring her clients a unique clinical lens of empathy, validation, and healing. She is down-to-earth, nurturing, realistic and accepting.   

Emily has been in the profession for 19 years. She obtained her Master's in Social Work from Ohio State University and is a Registered Social Worker in Ontario. Emily is trained in EMDR levels 1 and 2, advanced perinatal EMDR, Maternal Mental Health Now, Postpartum Support International advanced perinatal training, and FLASH. Emily often says therapy is an art and blends different skills into her therapy with clients. She uses her intuitive connection to help guide her work. 

Embracing all parts of yourself is something Emily deeply values, and lives true to this by embracing her ADHD as a superpower.  Emily can connect themes with her clients, use her creatively to explore topics and go to a deeper level. Emily values accepting all people for who they are, and strives to be inclusive. 

Developing community capacity and awareness is essential in helping individuals and families build their circle of support. Emily has facilitated perinatal mental health training for healthcare professionals and provides clinical consultation and mentorship to other therapists in periantal mental health. 

When she is off work, Emily enjoys spending time with her family. She is a mom of two active kids and is often at the baseball diamond.  She would describe herself as an HSP and loves to have some quiet time to reset. Her favourite things are going for walks, sending handwritten cards, diamond art or cuddling with her furbabies!

Associate Therapist

RP (Qualifying)

Amanda understands that therapy can be a deeply personal and transformative journey. Her approach to therapy is warm, holistic, and trauma-informed, blending mindfulness, somatic healing, attachment-based strategies and intuition. She works alongside each client to build coping skills, process emotions, strengthen relationships, and set meaningful goals—helping them feel more grounded and authentic.

Amanda believes that when we tune into our inner wisdom—mind, body, and spirit—we can navigate challenges with greater ease and confidence. She provides a safe, supportive space for individuals facing various complexities, including fertility treatments, pregnancy, birth trauma, postpartum struggles, the emotional shifts of parenting and one’s own inner child healing.

Her passion for maternal mental health is rooted in her own experience with motherhood. Growing up in a multicultural family as a second-generation Canadian with Vietnamese refugee parents, Amanda understands the complexity of balancing different identities and expectations. This perspective shapes her inclusive, non-judgmental approach to therapy, where every client’s story is honoured and valued.

With training in mindfulness, somatic regulation strategies, trauma-focused therapy, and emotion-focused therapy, Amanda helps individuals break free from self-doubt, overwhelm, and exhaustion. Whether you’re navigating excessive thoughts, adjusting to life’s transitions, or working through past experiences that surface in parenthood, she’s here to guide you with compassion and care.

Before becoming a therapist, Amanda spent two decades working in corporate, government, nonprofit, education, and wellness settings, bringing a wealth of real-world experience to her practice. Outside of work, she finds joy in family time, yoga, and nature—embracing the little moments of rest and play that bring balance to life

AVAILABILITY:

Tuesday

Wednesday 

Thursday

Location:

Virtual Only

Maternal Health Niagara associate since 2025

Associate Therapist

Registered Social Worker (BA, BSW, MSW, RSW) 

Randi has completed a diploma in Social Service Work, a Bachelor's and a Master of Social Work degree. Randi is a lifelong learner who continues to passionately build her knowledge about the impact that childhood trauma and hurtful adult partnerships can have on current parenting challenges. Throughout her studies, Randi primarily worked with caregivers and children aged 0-6 through a lens of relational and attachment-based trauma-informed care. From this, it sparked her clinical passion for providing parenting support to caregivers of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. She focuses on self-compassion and well-being while parenting, promoting secure attachments, and exploring the role our relationships with our caregivers growing up may play when responding to children's emotional spectrum. Randi believes all caregivers possess the strengths and tools to help their children thrive, and through a collaborative therapeutic process, those skills and expertise can flourish!

Randi has experience supporting parents in recovery from substance use, women parenting and co-parenting after hurtful and/or abusive relationships, and supporting pregnant and parenting youth. Randi uses warmth and curiosity, bringing her authentic self to the therapeutic dynamic. Randi recognizes that the parenting journey can be tough! Randi will work with you to explore the role that your unique experiences may play in the parent-child dynamic as you support your child throughout evolving stages of development. She will honour and recognize your needs as a parent/human. 

Randi recognizes the importance of healthy adult relationships and has experience supporting caregivers in healing early attachment wounds that may show up in your current adult relationships. Randi can work with you to identify specific challenges you may face, such as fostering open communication with your partner, setting healthy boundaries, resolving intimate partner conflict, and honouring your relational needs. These domains may not have been modelled for you growing up and can make these skills much more challenging to integrate within adult relationships.  

Randi has experience integrating a working blend of trauma-informed cognitive behavioural therapy principles, attachment theory and strengths-based perspective through anti-oppressive and intersectional lenses. Randi values mindfulness and grounding strategies in her practice and helps caregivers integrate them with their children using child-friendly techniques.

Randi believes that work/life balance is crucial to self-fulfillment and personal well-being. In her spare time, Randi loves to read fiction, do yoga, spend time outdoors and listen to comedy podcasts. 

AVAILABILITY: 

Tuesday: 2:00 pm- 9:00 pm

Wednesday: 2:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Thursday: 1:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Friday: 10:00 am- 5:00 pm

Location:

Ontario

Virtual only

Maternal Health Niagara associate since 2023

Associate Therapist

Registered Social Worker  (RSW, MSW,  BSW, BSc )

Heidi is a somatic therapist who focuses on the connection between the mind, body, and spirit. She believes everyone has inner wisdom and strength waiting to be uncovered; sometimes, we need support. Heidi recognizes the transformative power within each individual to overcome challenges.

As a Registered Social Worker and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in training, she is deeply committed to her clients, fostering an atmosphere of warmth, creativity, compassion, and empathy. Heidi guides her clients toward finding balance in their lives by working with nervous system regulation. She understands that the body holds and stores trauma, and through Somatic Experiencing, healing becomes possible by improving access to internal resilience and releasing trauma at the body level. Heidi emphasizes the importance of her clients discovering the answers within themselves and adopts a gentle approach to help them connect with their bodies.

Heidi practices from anti-oppressive and strength-based perspectives, integrating modalities such as mindfulness-based therapies, Somatic Experiencing, body-based techniques, attachment theory, and FLASH. 

Clients can use the skills learned to support their nervous systems between sessions.Heidi invites clients to be mindful and to learn to trust their needs between sessions.

Heidi holds multiple degrees, including a Bachelor of Social Work from York University, a Master of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology with a joint major in Spanish Language and Culture from Concordia University. Her diverse educational background has shaped her comprehensive approach to therapy. She has experience working with women and families in physical health, rehabilitation, and emotional and mental well-being, utilizing various modalities to create a holistic therapeutic experience.

Additionally, she is trained as a postpartum doula with Doula Canada and has completed the Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders course through the Seleni Institute. Her training includes grief and trauma, and she continuously engages in professional development. 

In her leisure time, Heidi enjoys being in nature, playing hockey, dancing, and travelling. 

Heidi is bilingual and speaks both English and French.

AVAILABILITY: 

Monday: 9-5 pm

Tuesday: 9-12 pm

Thursday: 11-7 pm

Friday: 9-5 pm

Location: 

Ontario & Quebec

Virtual

Maternal Health Niagara associate since 2022

Associate Therapist

Registered Social Worker (BSW, RSW)

Krystin has worked in the Social Service field for over a decade. She is devoted to supporting people in crisis and debriefing after a traumatic event(s). Krystin's experience working in various mental health and community settings has derived her clinical knowledge of mental health diagnoses. From these roles, she has sound knowledge of navigating services and empowering clients through advocacy.

As a crisis response worker, Krystin provided direct interventions for people experiencing perinatal distress, including postpartum depression, psychosis, and perinatal/infant loss. It is from seeing people "where they were at" that she saw the direct impact on the individual and family. She joined Maternal Health Niagara in 2023 to continue this work with people during the perinatal period. She has completed the "Maternal Mental Health Now, Bringing the Light to Motherhood" training.

Krystin's clinical interest is assisting people in navigating and processing Trauma, including childhood. She aspires to provide a comforting, grounding, safe, and empathic environment. Krysin's approach blends modalities such as Poly Vagal, IFS components, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), crisis intervention, Motivational Interviewing (MI), and Mindfulness into her trauma-focused care. She is also trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Krystin has training and certification in trauma-informed practice in the Motivational Interviewing approach from the University at Buffalo and Trauma and body training levels 1 and 2 from the Trauma Informed Practice Institute. Krystin also has certification in Concurrent Disorders from the University of British Columbia.

In 2014, Krystin completed her social service work diploma at Niagara College. During her crisis intervention/support counselling work, she pursued her degree in Social Work. She graduated with her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Manitoba(2022). She is a registered member of the OCSWSSW and the OASW. 

Outside of practice, Krystin enjoys hiking, going to the gym/practicing yoga, trying new activities, and spending time with her family/friends. Krystin believes in a work/life balance and upholding mind, body, and spirit as a form of self-care.

AVAILABILITY: 

Wednesday: 10:00- 3:30 PM

Location:

Ontario

In-Person

Maternal Health Niagara associate since 2023

Registered Social Worker, MSW Student

Supervised by Emily Pollak, MSW, RSW

Kendra Scali is a Master of Social Work student from the University of Waterloo, completing her clinical placement with Maternal Health Niagara. She holds degrees in Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies, as well as Social Work, and is passionate about supporting individuals and families through life's transformative stages, focusing on maternal mental health and the perinatal experience.

As someone with lived experience, Kendra's personal experiences navigating the joys and challenges of parenthood have shaped her compassionate and empathetic approach to her work. She strives to create a supportive, nonjudgmental space where clients feel heard, validated, and empowered to explore their unique journeys.

Kendra's therapeutic approach is collaborative and rooted in trauma-informed care, incorporating mindfulness, self-compassion, and evidence-based practices. She is particularly passionate about supporting clients who may be experiencing perinatal anxiety, birth trauma, or parenting challenges.

In addition to her focus on maternal mental health, Kendra is dedicated to working with clients navigating anxiety, emotional regulation, and identity exploration. She is committed to ongoing professional development to provide the highest quality care for those she works with.

Outside of her studies and work, Kendra enjoys spending time outdoors, baking, crafting and taking on creative DIY projects. She values balance and mindfulness in her personal life and brings this perspective to her work with clients.

Kendra's placement is until August 5, 2025