Adult Counseling & Mental Health Therapy in Edmonton & St. Albert
Life brings challenges—anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, career stress, major transitions, grief, and times when you just feel stuck or overwhelmed. You don't have to navigate these moments alone.
How We Support Adult Mental Health
Seeking support isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. Whether you're facing a specific challenge or feeling like something just isn't right, therapy provides a safe space to process, heal, and develop the tools you need to thrive.
At Ruby Speech Therapy, our registered counselors and mental health therapists provide compassionate, evidence-based support for adults navigating anxiety, depression, stress, relationships, life transitions, and all aspects of mental health. We offer both individual counseling and couples therapy.
Serving adults across St. Albert, Edmonton, and Northern Alberta. Virtual and in-person options available.
Challenges We Work On Together
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Are you experiencing persistent worry, anxiety, or fear that's impacting your daily life, work, relationships, or wellbeing?
What It Looks Like:
- Excessive worry about everyday things that's hard to control
- Physical symptoms: rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, muscle tension, stomach issues
- Panic attacks or intense waves of fear
- Social anxiety: fear of judgment, avoidance of social situations
- Constant "what if" thinking or catastrophizing
- Difficulty sleeping due to racing thoughts
- Avoidance of situations that trigger anxiety
- Health anxiety or worry about physical symptoms
- Perfectionism or fear of making mistakes
- Feeling on edge, restless, or unable to relax
How We Help:
Our counselors use evidence-based approaches including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness strategies, and exposure-based techniques to help you understand and manage anxiety. You'll learn to identify anxious thought patterns, challenge unhelpful beliefs, develop effective coping strategies, and gradually face fears in a supportive environment. Therapy provides tools you can use for life.
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Are you experiencing persistent sadness, loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, or feeling stuck in a low mood?
What It Looks Like:
- Persistent sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
- Changes in sleep (sleeping too much or too little)
- Changes in appetite or weight
- Fatigue or low energy most days
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt
- Withdrawal from relationships and social activities
- Thoughts that life isn't worth living (please seek immediate help if you're experiencing suicidal thoughts)
- Irritability or anger alongside sadness
How We Help:
Our counselors use evidence-based approaches like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), behavioral activation, and emotion-focused therapy to help you work through depression. We'll explore contributing factors, challenge negative thought patterns, rebuild engagement with meaningful activities, and develop sustainable strategies for managing mood. If appropriate, we can also collaborate with your physician regarding comprehensive treatment, which may include medication.
Important: If you're in crisis or experiencing thoughts of suicide, please contact a crisis line immediately or visit your nearest emergency department. Crisis Services Canada: 1-833-456-4566 (24/7)
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Are you feeling chronically stressed, overwhelmed, or burned out by work, life demands, or caregiving responsibilities?
What It Looks Like:
- Feeling constantly overwhelmed by responsibilities
- Physical symptoms of stress: headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, digestive issues
- Emotional exhaustion or feeling "running on empty"
- Difficulty disconnecting from work or relaxing
- Cynicism, detachment, or loss of motivation
- Decreased productivity despite working harder
- Sleep difficulties related to stress
- Irritability, impatience, or emotional reactivity
- Neglecting self-care or relationships due to demands
- Feeling like you can't keep up or can't do enough
How We Help:
We help you identify sources of stress, examine patterns contributing to burnout, and develop practical strategies for managing demands. You'll learn stress-reduction techniques, boundary-setting skills, work-life balance strategies, and ways to rebuild resilience. Therapy focuses on sustainable change, not just coping with an unsustainable situation.
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Are you navigating a major life change—career transition, divorce, move, retirement, empty nest, or other significant shift?
What It Looks Like:
- Uncertainty or anxiety about the future
- Grief over what you're leaving behind
- Identity questions ("Who am I now?")
- Feeling lost, stuck, or overwhelmed by change
- Difficulty making decisions about next steps
- Loss of purpose or direction
- Stress in relationships due to transition
- Mixed emotions (relief and sadness, excitement and fear)
How We Help:
Life transitions—even positive ones—can be destabilizing. Our counselors help you process the emotions that come with change, explore your values and priorities, make meaning of the transition, and move forward with clarity and confidence. We provide support as you navigate the practical and emotional aspects of major life changes.
Common Transitions We Support:
- Career changes, job loss, or retirement
- Divorce, separation, or relationship endings
- Relocation or moving to a new city
- Empty nest or children leaving home
- Becoming a parent or adjusting to parenthood
- Caring for aging parents
- Health diagnoses or disability
- Loss of identity or role changes
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Are you and your partner experiencing communication breakdowns, conflict, disconnection, or challenges in your relationship?
What It Looks Like:
- Frequent arguments or conflict that goes unresolved
- Communication breakdowns ("We just can't talk anymore")
- Feeling disconnected, lonely, or like roommates rather than partners
- Trust issues or difficulty rebuilding trust after betrayal
- Differences in parenting, finances, or life goals
- Navigating major transitions together (new baby, job loss, relocation, illness)
- Intimacy challenges or emotional distance
- Considering separation but uncertain about the decision
- Patterns that keep repeating despite efforts to change
How We Help:
Our couples counselors create a safe, non-judgmental space for both partners to be heard. We help you improve communication, resolve conflicts constructively, understand each other's perspectives, rebuild trust and connection, and strengthen your relationship. Whether you're working to save your relationship or making a difficult decision about your future, we provide support and guidance.
Therapeutic Approaches: Emotionally-focused therapy for couples (EFT), Gottman Method principles, communication skills training, conflict resolution strategies
Note: We provide general relationship and marriage counseling. For specialized concerns like sex therapy, we can provide referrals to appropriate specialists.
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Are you grieving the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, or another significant loss?
What It Looks Like:
- Intense sadness, yearning, or emotional pain
- Numbness or feeling disconnected from emotions
- Anger, guilt, or regret related to the loss
- Difficulty accepting the reality of the loss
- Intrusive thoughts or memories
- Avoidance of reminders or difficulty engaging with life
- Changes in sleep, appetite, or energy
- Feeling like you should be "over it" by now
- Wondering if your grief is "normal"
- Struggling to find meaning after loss
How We Help:
Grief is a natural response to loss, but it can feel overwhelming and isolating. Our counselors provide compassionate support as you navigate grief, honor your loss, process complex emotions, and gradually adjust to life after loss. There's no timeline for grief—we meet you wherever you are in the process.
Types of Loss We Support:
- Death of a loved one (spouse, parent, child, friend, pet)
- Relationship endings (divorce, breakup)
- Job loss or career changes
- Health-related losses (mobility, independence, abilities)
- Miscarriage or pregnancy loss
- Loss of identity or life role
- Ambiguous loss (estrangement, dementia)
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Are you experiencing significant stress related to work, career transitions, workplace conflict, or burnout?
What It Looks Like:
- Job dissatisfaction or feeling stuck in your career
- Workplace conflict with colleagues or supervisors
- Imposter syndrome or fear of being "found out"
- Difficulty setting boundaries with work demands
- Anxiety about job performance or evaluations
- Stress from toxic work environments
- Uncertainty about career direction or next steps
- Work-life balance struggles
- Difficulty coping with job loss or career transition
How We Help:
We help you navigate work-related challenges, manage workplace stress, build confidence, set healthy boundaries, and make career decisions aligned with your values and goals. Therapy provides a space to process work stress, develop effective coping strategies, and gain clarity about your professional path.
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Are you struggling with low self-esteem, negative self-beliefs, people-pleasing patterns, or questions about identity?
What It Looks Like:
- Negative self-talk or harsh inner critic
- Difficulty believing you're good enough or worthy
- Constant comparison to others
- People-pleasing: saying yes when you want to say no
- Difficulty setting boundaries or advocating for yourself
- Perfectionism or fear of failure
- Feeling like you don't know who you are
- Identity questions related to life transitions, culture, sexuality, or gender
- Difficulty accepting compliments or recognizing your strengths
- Seeking external validation to feel worthy
How We Help:
We help you explore and challenge negative self-beliefs, develop self-compassion, build genuine confidence, set healthy boundaries, and clarify your values and identity. Therapy focuses on developing a healthier relationship with yourself and living authentically.
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Have you experienced trauma—abuse, assault, accidents, violence, or other deeply distressing events—that continues to impact your life?
What It Looks Like:
- Intrusive memories, flashbacks, or nightmares about the trauma
- Avoidance of reminders, places, or people related to the trauma
- Hypervigilance or feeling constantly on edge
- Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe
- Emotional numbing or disconnection
- Sleep disturbances
- Irritability, anger, or emotional outbursts
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Feeling like the trauma is still happening
- Shame, guilt, or self-blame related to the trauma
How We Help:
Our counselors use trauma-informed, evidence-based approaches to help you heal from traumatic experiences. We create a safe therapeutic relationship, help you process trauma at your own pace, develop coping strategies, and work toward integration and healing. Trauma therapy is collaborative, gentle, and focused on restoring your sense of safety and control.
Therapeutic Approaches: Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), EMDR (when appropriate), emotion-focused therapy, somatic approaches, narrative therapy
Important: If you're currently in an unsafe situation, please contact appropriate authorities or crisis services immediately.
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Are you struggling with anger, irritability, or difficulty managing intense emotions in healthy ways?
What It Looks Like:
- Frequent angry outbursts or "losing your temper"
- Saying or doing things you regret when angry
- Relationship or work consequences due to anger
- Feeling like emotions go from 0 to 100 very quickly
- Difficulty calming down once upset
- Irritability or impatience most of the time
- Physical symptoms: muscle tension, rapid heartbeat, feeling "hot"
- Guilt or shame after emotional outbursts
- Feeling like emotions control you, not the other way around
How We Help:
We help you understand the roots of anger, identify triggers, develop healthier ways to express and manage emotions, and build emotional regulation skills. You'll learn to recognize early warning signs, use coping strategies, communicate assertively rather than aggressively, and respond to situations more effectively.
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Are you having difficulty adjusting to a stressful life event or change, with emotional or behavioral responses that feel out of proportion or are impacting your functioning?
What It Looks Like:
- Overwhelming emotional response to a specific stressor or change
- Anxiety, depression, or behavioral changes following a life event
- Difficulty functioning at work, home, or in relationships
- Symptoms that began within three months of a specific stressor
- Feeling like you can't cope or adjust to the change
- Emotional responses that feel excessive given the situation
How We Help:
Adjustment disorders are time-limited responses to stress that benefit from short-term counseling. We help you process the stressor, develop effective coping strategies, build resilience, and adjust to the new reality. Many people find significant relief with focused, supportive therapy.
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Are you adjusting to a chronic illness diagnosis, disability, or significant health changes?
What It Looks Like:
- Grief over health losses or changes in abilities
- Anxiety about health, future, or prognosis
- Depression related to illness or limitations
- Difficulty accepting diagnosis or new reality
- Identity changes ("I'm not the same person I was")
- Relationship strain related to illness
- Difficulty managing the emotional aspects of medical care
- Feeling misunderstood or isolated
- Navigating lifestyle changes required by illness
How We Help:
Living with chronic illness involves ongoing emotional challenges alongside physical ones. We provide support for the grief, anxiety, identity changes, and life adjustments that come with health challenges. Therapy helps you process emotions, develop effective coping strategies, maintain quality of life, and find meaning despite illness.
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Are you caring for an aging parent, ill partner, or child with complex needs, and feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or burned out?
What It Looks Like:
- Emotional and physical exhaustion
- Feeling alone in caregiving responsibilities
- Guilt about feeling overwhelmed or resentful
- Neglecting your own health and self-care
- Difficulty setting boundaries with care recipient or other family members
- Grief over losses (your loved one's decline, your own life changes)
- Relationship strain with partner or family
- Feeling like there's no time for yourself
- Anxiety or depression related to caregiving demands
- Difficulty asking for or accepting help
How We Help:
Caregiving is demanding and often isolating. We provide a supportive space to process the complex emotions of caregiving, develop strategies for self-care and boundary-setting, navigate family dynamics, manage guilt and grief, and prevent or address burnout. You can't pour from an empty cup—therapy helps you sustain yourself while caring for others.
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Are you feeling isolated, lonely, or disconnected from others, even if you're around people?
What It Looks Like:
- Feeling alone even when surrounded by others
- Lack of meaningful connections or close relationships
- Difficulty making or maintaining friendships
- Social anxiety or discomfort in social situations
- Withdrawal from social activities or relationships
- Feeling like no one understands you
- Loneliness after major life changes (move, retirement, divorce)
- Difficulty reaching out or connecting with others
- Sense that something is missing in your life
How We Help:
We help you explore barriers to connection, develop social confidence, challenge beliefs that keep you isolated, and create strategies for building meaningful relationships. Therapy itself provides connection while you work on expanding your social world.
Our Approach to Adult Counseling
Taking the step to get support
takes courage.
You deserve to feel better, and you don't have to figure everything out alone. Our counselors are here to listen without judgment, provide real tools that help, and support you through whatever you're facing.
Starting therapy can feel uncertain.
Here's what the process looks like.
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No doctor's referral needed! Simply complete our online referral form sharing what brings you to therapy. Our team will contact you within 1-2 business days to discuss next steps.
What We'll Ask:
- What brings you to therapy (your concerns, challenges, or goals)
- Whether you're seeking individual counseling or couples therapy
- Any relevant background or history
- Insurance information (if applicable)
- Your preferences (virtual vs. in-person, scheduling needs)
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Your first appointment (typically 60 minutes) is an opportunity for you and your counselor to get to know each other, discuss what brings you to therapy, and determine if it's a good fit.
What Happens:
- You share your story, concerns, and what you're hoping to achieve through therapy
- Your counselor asks questions to understand your situation, history, and goals
- Together, you discuss whether counseling is appropriate and what approach might be most helpful
- You'll have a chance to ask questions about the process, confidentiality, and logistics
Goal: By the end of the initial consultation, you should feel comfortable with your counselor and have clarity about next steps.
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After your initial consultation, your counselor will work with you to create a collaborative treatment plan outlining your goals and approach.
You'll Discuss:
- Your specific therapy goals (what does success look like for you?)
- Recommended therapeutic approach and techniques
- Frequency of sessions (typically weekly or bi-weekly)
- Expected duration (short-term, longer-term, or open-ended)
- Your role and any between-session work or practice
You'll Have:
- Clarity about what therapy will address and how
- Shared understanding of goals and approach
- Realistic expectations about the process and timeline
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Therapy sessions are typically 50-60 minutes and occur weekly or bi-weekly, depending on your needs and goals.
What Sessions Look Like:
- Conversation-based therapy exploring thoughts, emotions, experiences, and patterns
- Learning and practicing new skills, strategies, or perspectives
- Processing difficult emotions or experiences in a supportive environment
- Working through challenges that arise in your life
- Consistent therapeutic relationship with the same counselor
Your Role:
- Show up honestly and openly
- Practice skills or strategies between sessions (if willing—this accelerates progress)
- Communicate what is and isn't working in therapy
- Be an active participant in your healing and growth
Flexibility: In-person at our St. Albert location or virtual sessions via secure videoconferencing
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Your counselor will regularly check in about progress and adjust the approach as needed.
Ongoing Process:
- Regular assessment of progress toward goals
- Celebration of wins and growth
- Adjustments to therapy approach based on what's working
- Open communication about what's helpful and what's not
- Flexibility to shift goals as your needs change
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When you've reached your goals and feel ready, we'll work together to plan for completion of therapy.
Transition Support:
- Discussion of progress and skills gained
- Planning for maintaining mental health after therapy
- Strategies for managing future challenges
- Open door to return if new challenges arise
- Referrals to other resources if needed
Note: Some clients benefit from periodic "maintenance" sessions after completing therapy to check in and maintain progress.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Taking the step to seek support is often the hardest part. You don't have to navigate life's challenges alone.
Our compassionate, experienced counselors are here to provide the support, tools, and perspective you need to move forward with greater wellbeing, clarity, and resilience.
FAQs
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Counseling works best when you're willing to participate, but it's normal to feel hesitant at first—especially if you didn't choose to be there. Many teens who start counseling reluctantly find that once they meet their counselor and realize it's a judgment-free space, they actually appreciate having support. We'll never force you to talk about things you're not ready to discuss. Our job is to create a safe space and build trust—the rest happens at your pace. Give it a chance with an open mind.
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No. What you share is confidential (private), and your counselor won't share the details of your sessions with your parents. However, there are important exceptions related to safety: if you're at risk of hurting yourself, hurting someone else, or if someone is abusing you, your counselor will involve your parents and appropriate professionals to keep you safe. Your counselor will explain confidentiality clearly in your first session so you know exactly what's private and what's not.
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That's totally normal, especially at first. Your counselor will help guide the conversation by asking questions and creating space for you to share what's on your mind. You don't have to have everything figured out or know exactly what to say. Sometimes sessions involve structured activities, skill-building, or just checking in about how your week went. It's a conversation, not a test—and it gets easier as you build rapport with your counselor.
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It depends on your teen's specific needs, the challenges they're facing, and their therapy goals. Some teens benefit from short-term counseling (8-12 sessions) for specific issues, while others need longer-term support for more complex challenges. Your teen's counselor will provide an initial estimate during treatment planning and give ongoing updates about progress and expected duration. Ultimately, you and your teen will decide when they're ready to finish.
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It's common for teens to be hesitant or resistant at first, especially if they didn't choose to be in counseling. Our counselors are skilled at building rapport with reluctant teens through patience, respect, and non-judgmental support. We don't force teens to talk—instead, we create a safe environment where they naturally open up at their own pace. Most teens warm up once they realize counseling is a supportive, judgment-free space where they're actually heard.
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Be honest and non-judgmental. Frame counseling as a supportive resource, not a punishment or sign that something is "wrong" with them. You might say: "I've noticed you've been struggling with [anxiety/stress/sadness/etc.], and I want to make sure you have support. A counselor is someone who helps teens navigate tough times and learn skills to feel better. It's confidential, and they're really good at helping people your age." Avoid making it feel shameful or forced.
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In Alberta, teens under 18 typically need parental consent for counseling services. However, in certain circumstances involving safety or capacity to consent, teens may be able to access counseling independently. We're happy to discuss specific situations during an initial inquiry. Our goal is always to involve parents as supportive partners while respecting teens' need for privacy and autonomy.