Hi there!

I’m Chenessa, the founder of Whole, Actually. and happily a returning Chatham resident. I am queer, cis-gender and BIPOC. I am a ferocious reader, friend and family cheerleader, and fellow dysregulated human.

For a long stretch of my career, I believed I had to be a harder version of myself to be good at this. More structured, more clinical, less me. It took doing my own work to realize that the structure I was reaching for was never about the person in front of me. It was protecting a part of me that felt like it was not enough.

What I found underneath it is the way I actually work. We start with your body, because that is where things are held. We get curious about the parts of you that you have been at war with, instead of trying to evict them. And we go slowly enough that your nervous system gets a say.

I am human too. Sometimes I put my foot in my mouth. And when I trust my gut anyway, even when the anxious part of me is loud, that is often when the most useful conversations happen. I am not here to fix you. I do not think you are broken.

Traditional ‘‘about me’’ goodies,

University of Windsor graduate with a Bachelors of Social Worker and Women’s Studies and Masters of Social Work. I am a Registered Social Worker that has spent the last 11 years working extensively with people experiencing trauma, anxiety, OCD, eating disorders/disordered eating, ADHD, relationship issues and chronic nervous system dysregulation. I work from a anti-oppressive and trauma-informed lens, blending evidence based approaches, clinical experience, and ongoing professional development.

I am committed to life long learning and intending to be EMDR certified in the near future (currently have my EMDR level-1 training). My professional background ranges from working alongside folx in harm reduction programs, family health team settings, addiction work, homelessness services, and group facilitation and development across community and private practice settings.