I founded Believe Therapy & Coaching because I believed therapy should feel like being truly understood — not assessed, not managed. A space where you don't have to perform being okay.
Amelia Dowell, M.A. (Counselling Psychology), CCC., RP
Registered Psychotherapist & Canadian Certified Counsellor
Founder & Clinical Director · Believe Therapy & Coaching
Part-Time Professor, University of Ottawa
The name Believe Therapy & Coaching didn't come from a brand exercise. It came from my dad.
From a really young age, he kept telling me to believe. Believe in the process. Visualize what you want. Speak it into existence. Even when it doesn't happen right away — trust that it will. I didn't know then how much that would shape the person, and the therapist, I'd become.
I've always been a people person. Since I was sixteen, I knew I wanted to work with people. Not because I had all the answers, but because I was endlessly curious about how people think, why they get stuck, and what it actually takes to move forward. I have a natural ability to connect across ages, cultures, languages, and backgrounds — and I've come to understand that's a gift I'm meant to share.
After completing my Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology, I went into community mental health. The experience accelerated my clinical growth — I was exposed to complex cases, strong supervision, and the kind of work that deepens both skill and perspective quickly. But eventually I hit a ceiling. I wanted to go deeper, challenge the norms, and build something I actually believed in. So I left.
I joined a group practice when my eldest was nine months old — one day a week to start. My caseload grew. My confidence grew. And when the time was right, I stepped out on my own and opened Believe Therapy & Coaching.
As the practice grew, so did the team — through trusted relationships, strong clinical fit, and a shared commitment to meaningful, high-quality care. Today, Believe Therapy & Coaching is a trilingual group practice in Westboro, Ottawa — English, French, and Punjabi — built on the belief that clients are not numbers, and that the people doing this work deserve to be well supported.
My vision is to grow the practice to ten associates who are genuinely excellent at what they do and genuinely invested in the people they serve. Boutique in feel. Uncompromising in quality.
I work with adults, parents, and couples — people who are often self-aware but stuck, capable but overwhelmed, successful on the outside but running on empty underneath. What I bring isn't just clinical skill. It's consistency. I'm the same person in every room — as a therapist, as a supervisor, as a professor, as a mom. My level of appropriateness shifts with context, but who I am doesn't. People feel that quickly, and it's why trust builds fast.
I'm also not an all-or-nothing person. Adaptability is one of the most underrated strengths we can build — and I try to model it, not just talk about it. Life rarely goes to plan. The people who navigate that well aren't the ones with everything figured out. They're the ones who stay honest, stay flexible, and keep moving.
A lot of people come to me carrying guilt — about their choices, their relationships, the gap between who they are and who they think they should be. Part of our work together is learning that guilt doesn't have to become an identity. Patterns can shift. People do change.
I'm trained in trauma and EMDR, and I'm in the process of completing my Intuitive Eating Counsellor (IEC) certification. I also teach graduate-level students in the Counselling Psychology program at the University of Ottawa — which keeps me connected to evolving research, clinical thinking, and the next generation of clinicians.
Outside the office, I'm a wife, a mom of two, a dog lover, and a cross-training athlete. I know firsthand what it takes to keep showing up for yourself when life is full. That's not a talking point — it's the foundation of everything I bring into this work.
We are not a clinical factory. Every client gets real engagement, real attention, and a therapist who is actually curious about them — not just their presenting concerns.
We stay current. We train continuously. We use evidence-based approaches — and we adapt them for the person in front of us. Good intentions aren't enough.
We don't over-validate or tell you what you want to hear. We tell you the truth, with care. Real therapy sometimes means sitting in discomfort together — and that's exactly where the work happens.
In-person and virtual options, multiple languages, direct billing, and a free initial consultation — because barriers to care are real and we want to reduce them wherever we can.
Whatever you bring into this room, we meet it without judgment. You don't have to earn your way into being understood here. You're already enough.
We're not here to help you cope better. We're here to help you understand what's underneath — so the change you create is durable, not dependent on the therapy room.