Our Therapists
Sandra Miller, MSW, RSW
Owner & Director, Supervisor, Therapist (she/her)
Since graduating with a Master of Social Work in 1987, Sandra has committed herself to support wellness, and helping to build healthy communities, relationships and lives. In the fall of 2004, she opened a private practice on Roncesvalles Avenue in West Toronto in a shared community wellness space. In the spring of 2015, she moved to build what is now Upstairs Counselling Services: a practice with a group of social workers who provide a professional blend of approaches and modalities to meet the community's diverse needs.
Sandra works with adults and couples and supports other mental health professionals in their professional and private practice development.
Send Sandra an email at hello@upstairscounselling.ca.
Ali Lienaux, MA, RSW
Supervisor & Senior Therapist (he/him)
Ali works with families, couples, children, youth and adults. Ali also supports other mental health professionals in their professional development. Addictions and substance use/dependency, trauma and PTSD, anger management, anxiety and depression, family and relationship conflict resolution, and work-life concerns are some of the issues Ali can help with.
Ali has a grounded and seasoned background in clinical social work, both as a therapist and supervisor in private practice and as staff and VP of clinical and well-being services in community agencies and employee assistant programs. In 1983 he graduated with a Degree in Social Work and he has been in practice since 2002, in 2017 he obtained his Certificate in Family Mediation from York University. Ali brings specialization in Narrative Therapy, Trauma and Recovery Counselling, Family Mediation, Life and Executive Coaching within a multicultural and inclusive framework. He has additional training in adult learning, cognitive behavioural, neuro linguistic, solution focused and mindfulness based approaches.
Alexandra (Alex) Dean, MSW, RSW
Senior Therapist & Supervisor (she/her)
Alex works with children (8+ years), youth, adults and families, and also supports other mental health professionals in their clinical work. Alex offers a collaborative, responsive and compassionate approach where clients can explore and work on the issues important to them and move toward a more fulfilling quality of life.
She brings 25 years of experience in children and youth mental health, maternal mental health, parenting and family support, and in supporting individuals in managing life’s stresses and transitions. She has a particular interest and expertise in ADHD support for young people, youth and their parents and in as well as support adults with coping strategies. Also of passion and experience to Alex is maternal mental health/perinatal health. Some of the issues Alex can support individual adults with include: managing depression and anxiety, family dynamics, relationship issues, career and other life changes.
Along with her Master of Social Work, Alex is certified in Intensive Brief Therapy (Hinks Dellcrest), is completing Clinical Supervision (Adler Professional Graduate School) and has additional training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CB) Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Solution Focused and Narrative Therapy, Mindfulness approaches, and is a trainer in LivingWorks ASIST and safeTALK.
Brooke Derousseau, MSW, RSW
Senior Therapist & Supervisor (she/her)
Brooke works with individuals aged ten through adulthood and families with children of any age. She also provides clinical support to other mental health professionals. Issues related to mood, anxiety and depression, life coping, life transitions, relationship and other life stressors are some of the issues Brooke can help with.
Along with her Masters of Social Work, Brooke is certified in Clinical Supervision (Adler Professional Graduate School) and has additional training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), EFT for Couples (Ottawa Couple and Family Institute), Cognitive Based Therapy (CBT), Trauma Focused Approaches, Solution Focused and Narrative Therapies and Family Systems.
Brooke has a gentle and transparent approach in her work and offers an empathic environment that cultivates a strong working connection with clients. With 25 years working in the fields of children, family, parent-child attachment and relationship, and adult mental health, Brooke has a grounding that provides a seasoned base from which clients can draw on their strengths as well as explore new ways of being, understanding and coping.
Todd Elliott, MSW, RSW
Senior Therapist (he/him)
Todd works with children, youth, adults, couples and families. Todd is empathetic, compassionate and non-judgmental and works from an anti-oppressive, client-focused, strengths-based, collaborative approach providing a therapeutic space that is physically and emotionally safe and comfortable.
Along with his Master of Social Work, Todd had additional training in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused Therapy (TF-CBT), Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for Couples, Narrative Therapy, Brief Solution-Focused Therapy and Mindfulness-based approaches.
Examples of issues Todd can help with include: anxiety, depression, managing stress, managing stress, male and masculine identifying survivors of childhood trauma, anger, grief and loss, parenting issues, family and relationship issues, interpersonal trauma, gender and sexuality issues.
Aaron Laye, MSW, RSW
Therapist (he/him)
Aaron works with adults (18+ years). He is a skilled and compassionate therapist who creates a therapeutic space in which his clients can identify what’s most important to them, learn more about themselves, and build a life that is most meaningful to them. He helps his clients face their life’s challenges with more clarity and confidence.
Along with his Master of Social Work, Aaron has additional training in a variety of modalities including: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness and meditation, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and performance psychology.
Examples of issues Aaron can help with include: anxiety, depression, stress and overwhelm, managing uncertainty, life transitions, sleep issues, chronic pain, trauma, self-esteem, self-confidence, and performance anxiety.