CAMILLA RANGEL MOREIRA 

Camilla is a register psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). She came to Canada with a degree in Psychology from Brazil and is currently finishing her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at Adler University.  Camilla is  a member of the Ontario Association of Registered Psychotherapists and Canadian Association for Child and Play Therapy. She has Level I, II, III certifications in play therapy as well as in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Camilla has experience in providing individual therapeutic services to children, youth and adults diagnosed with depression, behavioural problems, and anxiety (GAD, PTSD, separation anxiety, fears, phobia and OCD). She also facilitated workshops for young woman that focused on independent living and effective parenting. She is fluent in English and Portuguese.

PERSONAL MESSAGE

I am from Brazil, where I originally started my career as a psychologist. However, when I immigrated to Canada I experienced what many other immigrants often also face and was told to choose a different career path as I would have to re-do all of my education in order to practice as a psychologist in Canada. So I spent the next ten years working in Human Resources. Given my background and passion for working with people, this transition made sense. I saw the potential in everyone and understood that people have different life stories, values and struggles that can impact their work performance. Unfortunately, the corporate staffing agencies saw people in a fundamentally different way: they saw them as numbers, not humans. The politics wore me down and when my daughter was born, I decided to go back into the field of psychology to help support people, especially kids and their parents, with whatever it is they may be struggling with.

It sounds contradictory because we often hear about corruption in Brazil, but ethics are central to my values. The way I was raised and the environment I grew up in fostered a strong sense of moral commitment in me.  My parents are both lawyers and our discussions around the dinner table were often about evaluating various ethical situations, understanding the meaning behind right and wrong, and trying to interpret the meaning behind people’s actions. They taught me to not only consider myself and my own personal opinion, but also the social norms and expectations within a specific cultural context. My father’s perspective on politics in Brazil also taught me that one’s values and beliefs are much more important than money.

My ideal client is someone who is trying to learn about themselves – it doesn’t’ matter what age or what language they communicate in. For example, I do a lot of play therapy with my younger clients and believe that play is a language that children use to communicate what they can’t with words. What matters is that the person is willing to grow internally. My role is to help support person towards resolution by creating a safe space that allows them to comfortably participate in the process of self-discovery.