Welcome to Taylor Ashley Therapy

My name is Taylor and I work as a therapist located in Guelph, Ontario. My specialties include- couples, adolescents, ADHD, trauma, and eating disorders.

Although I work with a variety of specialties in my everyday practice, outside of practice my professional passion focuses on BODIES; eating disorder recovery, health at every size (HAES), changing our stigmatizing beliefs about health and body image, and helping people reconnect with their bodies and the world around us. I established Taylor Ashley Therapy with the goal of speaking up against weight stigma and discrimination, respecting the diversity of individual body shapes, and redefining what 'healthy' means in our society. I embody this passion in my personal life and approach my therapeutic process from a client-centred lens; integrating emotion-focused therapy, internal family systems, exploring somatic experiences, and grounding in our body and in nature.

My passion for this topic began with my personal experiences of mental health and recovery. I have grappled with anxiety and depression from a young age, but I only sought to get professional support in 2017. I feared the stigma of seeking help and feared what my family would think of me. In my mid-twenties, I was diagnosed with ADHD. As I received this diagnosis, I learned how to navigate my world in new ways that finally made sense to me; and not just how others told me I should function. My personal experience has helped me connect with clients, provide genuine empathy, and teach coping skills I am confident can help.

My Recovery

In 2021, mid-pandemic, and at a time when I was unhappy in my job and life transitions, my own eating disorder took hold of me. I had struggled with low self-esteem, negative body image, chronic dieting, and a misguided understanding of 'health' since I was 10 years old. I had participated in restricting, purging, and shame eating on and off since high school but kept it hidden from everyone around me. In 2021, I could not hide it anymore, and I was finally experiencing dangerous physical complications. 2021 was when I sought professional help, got my personal health team established, and the year my venture into Eating Disorder recovery began.

Now two years into recovery and one year clean of purging, my mentality towards my body and other people's bodies has shifted as I become more informed of the many impacts of diet culture, and societal injustices, and understand what truly determines health. I can honestly say all the hard work was, and still is, worth the new freedoms I can experience every day. Eating Disorders are similar to addictions; you are never fully 'healed'. Instead, you learn and grow every day, face challenges with new skills and support, and do the best you can.

My Goal

As my private practice continued to grow, I realized my professional passions deserved a space to grow, too. Being a woman in our body-centred society is difficult. Realistically, being anyone with a body in our Western Society is hard. Every day I see friends, family, customers, and even strangers fighting to 'follow' the expectations of society, deceived into thinking that they are doing it "in the name of health." Fear-mongering, misinformation and easy access to comparisons have created a world in which no one seems satisfied with themselves. As I gained factual information in recovery, collaborated with various health practitioners, and experienced the positive changes in my own life from my body AND mentality shifts, I realized I wanted to do more than just speak with individuals at my office. I wanted to be an ally and a voice for body acceptance and all those struggling to cope with body acceptance and societal expectations.

My goal for Taylor Ashley Therapy is to offer information, resources, personal experiences and insights from a body acceptance and HAES lens. I am working to develop future workshops that demonstrate skills to assist in body acceptance and connect individuals and communities who practice similar values. I hope to offer support to those struggling with their own ventures in recovery, answer questions, and create a safe space to help facilitate self-compassion.

Recovery is never linear and we need to make space for the ups and downs.

Connect with Me!

I established Taylor Ashley Therapy intending to speak up against weight stigma and discrimination, to respect the diversity of individual body shapes, and to redefine what 'healthy' means in our society.

As I create content I want to connect with my community and provide insights into topics or struggles that are tailored to real people. To accomplish this I ask you to please EMAIL ME!

Questions, concerns with content, clarification, future resources, blogs or workshops that would benefit you- I want to hear about it!

“Hating our bodies is something that we learn, and it sure as hell is something that we can unlearn.” — Megan Jayne Crabbe

I want to give people the chance to relearn.