HAVING lived in Canada for the past 39 years, Dr Joan Samuels-Dennis has emerged as one of the country’s top psychotherapists.

Among her numerous accolades is that she is the founder of Becoming Inc, a private practice which offers coaching and therapy to individuals who have a vision that they are trying to fulfil.

“As a psychotherapist I am exceptionally good at helping my clients overcome their trauma, but about seven years ago I began to look at my clients and their recovery processes differently. I shifted from a central focus on diagnosis and talk therapy to viewing life and mental health from a transformational perspective. Becoming Inc was founded in 2016 with a deep desire to bring about a paradigm shift in how we view and treat mental illness. Our focus is ending fear-based response patterns created and adopted as partial and sub-partial identities during a traumatic moment,” Dr Samuels-Dennis disclosed.

She continued: “The transformation is a bit like moving through the rebirth cycle of the butterfly. One or all of our traumatic moments place us in a really dark place for months, years, decades, and generations, but it is our healing and transformation journey that leads us out. Becoming Inc goes a step further than most psychotherapy practices to recognise the power of faith and spirituality in the healing process. Our programmes recognise that once our clients overcome their emotional responses to the traumatic moments they encountered, they reconnect to God or amplify that relationship. Additionally, our clients immediately refocus on maintaining an everyday existence that is meaningful, purposeful, and impactful.”

Dr Samuels-Dennis grew up in the community of Grange Hill in Westmoreland.

“I left Jamaica in 1983 and immigrated to Toronto, Canada, and have lived most of my life in the greater Toronto area. I completed my undergraduate degree in nursing at Ryerson University, my master’s at D’Youville in Buffalo, New York, and my PhD at the University of Western Ontario,” she shared.

Dr Samuels-Dennis is passionate about providing individuals, organisations, and communities impacted by traumatic life and health experiences with advice and a safe space to overcome challenges, reclaim their lives, and become their own advocates for change. She has more than 15 years of experience treating depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic responses.

She is also an author, having written books, including 490: Forgive and Live Fearlessly, Forgive: Master the Art of Letting Go, and Becoming the Journey to Love.

“I have wisdom and knowledge that I think are uniquely mine to share. Writing allows me to creatively share what I know,” Dr Samuels-Dennis confided.

Dr Samuels-Dennis has taught at colleges and universities, using her extensive knowledge and experience to develop an 18-month certificate programme for nurses and allied health professionals who desire training as trauma recovery specialists.

“In Ontario, Canada, nurses can now practice psychotherapy under the title RN-psychotherapist. But nurses often have to leave the profession to seek training as psychotherapists from other fields, like social work, psychology, etc. I developed the transformational model of trauma and recovery called Smashing the Mirror that accounts for the fundamental role forgiveness plays in healing our traumas. In January 2023 my team will launch an 18-month certificate programme to certify nurses and allied health professionals in becoming trauma recovery specialists without having to go outside of our profession,” she explained.

She has taught in the nursing programme at York University and Humber College in Canada.

Asked how rewarding it was to be able to share her extensive knowledge and experience with others, Dr Samuels-Dennis said, “I think this is one of the most humbling and gratifying parts of my life and work experience. The ability to connect with others and share the wisdom that I have to assist them is not just healing but living the life they love. Each week, as I see my clients, there’s typically a life experience or life lesson that I have moved through that I see reflected in their current struggle. My job is to tune in and with sensitivity and to attend to their needs by using my life lessons without ever telling them that I am doing so. This approach helps me to reflect back to them an answer to a question that they don’t even know that they’re asking. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Dr Samuels-Dennis has a two-month-old podcast called Hey I’m Listening. The podcast is a space where she speaks with people who are using their most challenging life experiences to inspire a new approach to life, mental health, education, entrepreneurship, community building, and spirituality.