Hi, I’m Hayes.

For over 30 years, I lived in Toronto and I worked in the high-pressure, deadline-driven, results-oriented creative side of advertising; first as a copywriter, later as a creative director, and also as a business partner/owner. You’ve probably even seen some of the work I helped to create for Scotiabank, Chevrolet, Labatt Breweries, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer, to name just a few. One of the things I was most proud of was the empathy I brought to my roles; not just in terms of how I interacted with my colleagues or the teams that reported into me but also how I took the time to deeply understand my defined target audiences. I studied human behaviour. I was fascinated by what motivates people to change. I worked hard to earn my audiences’ trust. I brought an uncommon level of humanistic care to everything I did.

I always felt a strong urge to deepen my interest in human behaviour. And, more importantly, to use my natural skills and apply my genuine care to the people I work with. Plain and simple, I wanted to help and I wasn’t willing to deny myself that opportunity.

When I was a child, my father was a divorce lawyer and my mother was a kindergarten teacher and a parole officer. By observing and absorbing their professional and personal skills, I learned to be empathetic, logical, expressive, and creative. I also learned a lot about work-related stress, work-life balance, and the essential need for self-care.

Fast forward to after the divorce that ended my 26-year marriage to my teenage sweetheart, I chose to view this massive life shift as an opportunity to reconnect with the person I wanted to be and not just the person I had become. Through some intensive post-separation therapy and self-reflection, I came to realize that so much of who I had become was defined by the relational patterns I developed to survive through the challenges I faced in my life both personally - as an adult and a child - and professionally. I was able to bring clarity to my attachments, my behaviours, my choices, my confidence, my openness to change, and my discomfort with uncertainty.

At around the same time my marriage ended, the business I was a part owner of was forced to close due to the economic realities of a post-COVID world. Experiencing this challenge also became a sizable part of my therapeutic journey. As did having to grieve the loss of my father who was one of my best friends and biggest fans.

As Winston Churchill once said, “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”
And so I did.

While maintaining my role as an Executive Creative Director at an international advertising agency, as a father of two grown children and an adorable mini Australian Labradoodle, as a partner to a new love, as a brother, as a son, and as a friend to cherished lifelong friends, I became a mid-life Masters student (Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology). You might ask: How did you manage all that at once? The only answer I have for that is: It was all important enough to me to manage it.

Everything I have experienced has shaped me into that human I have become. I am proud of this human. I am confident in the lessons I have learned, the wisdom I have gained, and the awareness I have to thoughtfully and consciously apply it to everything I do.

And, most relevant to you, I am honoured to now be a psychotherapist. I am keenly aware of the sensitive nature of my role and the weight of the moment in which you enter my life. I work hard to develop a deeply felt sense of what my clients experience in their lives and I work continuously to earn your trust so you can get the most out of the therapeutic experience.

Now that you know a bit about me, maybe it’s time for me to get to know you?