I’m Gagan Baidwan, MSW, RSW, RCC, a Registered Social Worker and Registered Clinical Counsellor with more than 24 years of experience in mental health and addictions.
Throughout my career, I have worked across diverse mental health settings, including psychiatric hospitals, regional health authorities, forensic psychiatric services, a public university, and federal corrections. My professional journey has evolved from direct clinical practice into clinical leadership and management, allowing me to work alongside and support multidisciplinary mental health professionals while remaining deeply connected to the work of healing, growth, and human change.
I believe people are more than their symptoms, diagnoses, or the difficult experiences they have lived through. Many of the patterns we struggle with today may have developed as ways of adapting, protecting ourselves, or getting through difficult circumstances. My approach is compassionate, collaborative, trauma-informed, and grounded in the connection between mind and body. I seek to understand the whole person — your experiences, emotions, relationships, beliefs, body, nervous system, strengths, values, and the meaning you make of your life. A distinctive focus of my practice is Somatic EMDR, an integrative approach informed by my training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and advanced training in Somatic Experiencing (SE). This allows our work to go beyond talking about an experience and consider how it may continue to be carried through emotions, physical sensations, protective responses, and patterns within the nervous system. My broader clinical training includes Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), Solution-Focused Therapy, Clinical Hypnotherapy, and Interactive Guided Imagery. I also provide couples counselling, helping partners better understand recurring patterns, strengthen emotional connection, improve communication, navigate conflict, and develop healthier ways of relating to one another. Rather than applying one therapeutic model to everyone, I integrate different approaches according to each person’s unique experiences, needs, strengths, and goals.
i integrate EMDR with body-based awareness and principles from Somatic Experiencing®. This allows us to work not only with thoughts and memories, but also with physical sensations, nervous-system responses, and protective patterns that can remain after difficult or traumatic experiences. Therapy is paced carefully and collaboratively, with attention to safety, regulation, and your individual capacity.
I listen without judgment and create space for honest reflection.
Care with context
Private Practice
Present
I listen without judgment and create space for honest reflection.
Support that fits
Community Care
Ongoing
Together, we build practical steps toward meaningful, lasting change.