Victoria Jacobs

I provide virtual sessions for teens, emerging adults, and young adults across Ontario, with a special focus on athletes who want stronger mindsets for training, competition, and life beyond sport. People often reach out for anxiety, overthinking, panic, performance anxiety, perfectionism, self criticism, confidence and identity concerns, school stress, focus and motivation challenges, friendship struggles in high school and university, relationship stress, life and sport transitions, and general emotional regulation. I use evidence based approaches like cognitive behaviour therapy and emotion focused therapy, and I integrate mind body practices such as guided imagery, visualization, and simple somatic tools so you can feel steadier in your body and clearer in your mind. In each session we set the agenda together. You choose what feels most important and we move at your pace. We start with a brief check in, agree on a focus, and explore what is happening in your body, thoughts, and emotions. I offer ideas and tools and you decide what fits. Expect a friendly, no pressure space where your voice is heard. We slow things down, get curious about what is going on, and practice simple skills you can use between sessions. I check in often about how things feel and invite your honest feedback so we keep shaping the work to fit you. We finish with a short recap and one small next step so progress feels clear and doable. For athletes: As a former NCAA Division I athlete, I understand the pressure that comes with high level sport. We make space to process pressure, fear of mistakes, and the weight of expectations from coaches, teams, parents, or yourself. We explore your relationship with sport and your identity and self worth beyond results. If you are navigating injury, selection changes, team conflict, or a coaching environment that feels controlling, we slow down the emotional impact and build ways to feel more at ease and more confident in your next steps. We may work with anxiety, low mood, burnout, grief about lost seasons, and the pressure to prove yourself. For students and recent graduates: I support students and early career adults who are navigating anxiety, overwhelm, perfectionism, procrastination, and feeling stuck. We can also work on friendship stress, roommate conflict, dating and breakups, family dynamics, identity questions, social media pressure, and big transitions like starting university, changing programs, graduating, finding a first job, moving away from or back to home, and learning how to balance work, school, and life. Sessions are collaborative and paced for you. We choose the focus together, slow things down, and make sense of what is happening in your body, thoughts, and emotions. Therapeutic values I use language that lowers pressure and invites curiosity. Rather than positive or negative, we look at thoughts as helpful or unhelpful and emotions as comfortable or uncomfortable. All parts of you are welcome. The goal is to understand what your mind and body are trying to do for you and to choose responses that fit your values. Your first session You do not need perfect words or a full story to begin. Come as you are and we will find the language together. Our first meeting is about getting to know you. We talk about what brings you in, what has helped or not helped before, and what would make therapy useful right now. You can share as much or as little as you like about what brings you in and what you hope will feel different. I will listen closely and ask caring questions to understand how stress shows up in your daily life. We end by noting what felt helpful, naming one small next step that feels doable this week, and deciding what you would like from our next session. My commitment is to meet you with care and clarity so you leave feeling supported, hopeful, and ready for the next small step.