About
Your Journey, Your Pace
Discover a safe, structured space to heal relational trauma, navigate transitions, and rebuild deep connections.
Meet Fatemeh Heshmati
Hello, and welcome. I am Fatemeh Heshmati, the sole practitioner behind Polaris Counselling. With many years of experience working across various organizations in Canada, I have dedicated my career to guiding individuals, couples, and families, including children aged 2 to 18, through their self-growth and mental health recovery. Family conflict leaves no one untouched, straining bonds and deeply impacting a child's development. As a trauma specialist and family reunification therapist, I help you break away from these exhausting, reactive cycles and move toward proactive, meaningful connection.
My practice is built on the belief that everyone deserves a compassionate, trauma-informed environment. Whether you are an individual seeking deep healing, a family navigating high-conflict divorce, or a parent seeking specialized support for your child, my approach is tailored to your unique dynamics.
I firmly believe that the health of our community begins at home. My mission is to help families thrive, breaking generational cycles to create a stronger, healthier foundation for the future. On a personal level, my purpose in life is simple: to leave a smile on people's faces by helping them rediscover joy, hope, and peace of mind.
Evidence-Based, Trauma-Informed Counselling
Healing requires more than just conversation; it requires effective, proven interventions.
I specialize in trauma-focused counseling, utilizing years of advanced training to provide evidence-based modalities. My therapeutic toolkit includes:
EMDR, IFS, CBT, & EFT
Targeted interventions for deep emotional healing and cognitive restructuring.
Certified Play Therapy
Because "toys are children's words and play is their language," I provide specialized psychotherapy for children to help them communicate and process complex emotions.
Neurofeedback for ADHD
A science-backed, technology-based brain training intervention to calm stress and help individuals, especially children with special needs, regulate and thrive.
Areas of Counselling
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Anxiety
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Depression
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Relationships
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Stress, Overwhelm, and Burnout
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Grief/Loss Therapy
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Trauma and Abuse
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Life Transitions
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Emotion Regulation
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Motivation
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Anger Management
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Obsessions and Compulsions
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Culture, Race, and Immigration
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Sexuality, and Attraction
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Gender
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Work Related Concerns
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Couple Counselling
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Marriage Counselling
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Pre-marital/co-habitation preparation
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Communication
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Infidelity
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Control and Abuse
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Attachment and Co-Dependency
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Issues relating to Infidelity
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Separation and Divorce
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Healthy Boundaries
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Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) and Poly Relationships
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Pre-marital/co-habitation preparation
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Parenting Strategies
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Co-Parenting after divorce/separation
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Parent-Child Relationships
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Supervised Access
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Living with ASD, ADHD, and individuals with special needs
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Anger management
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Parenting Coordination
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Family Reunification
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My Approach
I use a variety of techniques to support individuals, couples, and families including but not limited to:
Feelings, thoughts, and behaviours are connected. Using your personal example, we will explore the thoughts and feelings behind each emotional reaction and behaviour. This helps you find out where you can focus in order to improve your social relationships, communications, and the way you respond to stressful situations. You will receive homework to work on between sessions and that helps with improving the leaned skills. Depression, anxiety, anger, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and substance abuse are among many psychological problems that can be addressed effectively by CBT.
EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing is an evidence-based technique that is used to help the clients with PTSD and attachment trauma and reprocessing any traumatizing memories that can bring negative feelings and thoughts to the surface.
Once the conflicts are explored at individual, couple, or family level, you learn that there are always unprocessed emotions that have led to certain behaviours. Through this approach, I help you become more aware of your emotions and deeper feelings and express them in more effective way and regulate them.
A solution-focused approach is what we all need in our day-to-day life. By applying solution-focused strategies, clients feel empowered and in control of their life. Individuals and families who apply these strategies, will improve problem-solving and conflict resolution. They learn that they all have hidden powers that could change their relationships.
Think about your life as a story line. There have been significant events in the past that shaped you as a person by impacting your values, beliefs, skills, and goals. During our sessions, I help you with rewriting your story by separating yourself from the problem. You will learn that the problems do not define you and that is one empowering experience. Do you want to try that?
At times, thinking about past events and worrying about the future consumes your time and energy. You need to live in the moment to feel happy. Mindfulness is a technique that allows you to get rid of overwhelming thoughts and feelings and connect with yourself and your surrounding in the moment. Mindfulness is a technique that is used for individual, couple, and family clients. Anxiety and depression are the best examples that mindfulness has been found helpful.
Play therapy is an ageless intervention especially when it comes to using a sand tray and art therapy, as it provides a relaxed environment for therapy. Play therapy consists of a variety of techniques that are used for different populations who experience grief/loss, behavioural challenges, anxiety, depression, childhood trauma, and family conflicts. You can learn more about this approach here.
Technology assisted interventions are used as effective tools to enhance psychotherapy sessions.
Our Core Philosophy
At Polaris Counselling, our mission is to help families navigate high conflict, heal trauma, and protect children’s well-being. We are committed to fostering an atmosphere of clarity, warmth, safety, and trust.
"Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible, the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family."
Virginia Satir.
A Safe Space to Heal
Polaris Counselling is proudly based in Mississauga, Ontario. To ensure that you receive the support you need in the environment where you feel most comfortable, we provide compassionate, specialized therapy both In-Person and Virtually. Let’s work together to restore peace to your life and your home.