“People experience challenges in their lives that are sometimes difficult to work through alone. Together we can make sense of it, and achieve a healthier, happier life. By providing a safe and empathic space, you can explore those challenges in your life. My approach to each session is to be with you, through truly listening, providing a judgement-free environment, respectful challenge, and mutual participation throughout the therapeutic process. As a team, you and I will process the emotional, cognitive, physical, familial, and spiritual factors impacting your life, and preventing you from achieving your goals.”
Jaime Saibil, a psychotherapist and organizational consultant, has nearly two decades of experience providing counselling and consulting in the healthcare and weight loss industry. She works within a variety of areas, including stress, anxiety, depression, couples-related issues, communication and conflict resolution, alcohol and substance abuse, eating disorders, infertility/IVF and weight management. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling & Organizational/Industrial Psychology, and began working in the field of mental health in 2002.
She began her work in the field with Aspen Education Group, an organization focused on tackling adolescent and adult weight struggles and emotional eating. During her time there, first as a clinician, and then as the clinical director, it became clear that food itself was not the problem. Through her extensive and structured assessment process that included a deep dive into the client’s childhood attachment relationship history, she found that food was merely the coping strategy that they were using to numb their pain that was caused by stress, anxiety, depression and trauma. The deep assessment process included an exploration into the client’s childhood attachment relationship history: Did the client receive reliable support and comfort from their primary attachment figures or not? Was there an experience of betrayal or neglect?, What was the model of Attachment provided by the clients parents? (Were they affectionate with one another?, How did they fight?, Did they make up and repair with one another? Did either of their parents have a history of abuse or loss?, What did the client learn about comfort and connection? This was the beginning of the deeper work that included Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) and Eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR).
Jaime has worked as a Registered Psychotherapist for Medcan, Helix Healthcare Group, Weightcare, Aspen Education Group, and Shepell-fgi, providing individual and couples counselling, using the modalities of psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, emotion-focused therapy, and EMDR.
Saibil also volunteers her clinical skills with Kutana WEMA, a Kenyan-based organization whose mission is to rehabilitate street children through holistic care and support, and attach them to stable families. Wema has over 24 years of experience in working with children living in the streets and associated interventions. Jaime is a part of their individual peer consultation program, which matches Kenyan-based counsellors with internationally-based counsellors for peer support.
She is a Registered member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, a Fellow of Massey College, and a published author in the Individual Journal of Psychology. She has also authored two books: Basketcase (2018) and Hungry Heart: Break Free from Emotional Eating and Develop a Healthy Relationship with Food (2022). In Hungry Heart, Jaime explores why we turn to food in the face of struggle, and what we can do to change this behaviour. Saibil shows how triggers such as stress, low self-esteem, and perfectionism can lead to unhealthy choices, and that the work that needs to be done is on the mind and the soul, rather than just the body. Through her accessible approach, which incorporates a combination of research, case studies, and her own personal history of emotional eating, Saibil guides readers with empathy and clinical expertise toward taking their first steps in the journey to self-awareness and physical and mental health. This book will provide you with the tools to begin healing your hungry heart with self-compassion, patience, and forgiveness.