Skip to main content

Brian Wrench M. Ed.
Psychologist

Finding the path together

Brian Wrench M. Ed.
Psychologist

Finding the path together

Hello, I'm Brian Wrench

I’ve been a therapist for over 25 years. In that time I’ve worked with hundreds of people who were living through many different kinds of difficulties and challenges.

Brian Wrench Headshot

“Out of your vulnerabilities
will come your strength.”

- Sigmund Freud

Problems I've Worked With

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Lack of focus, goals, or interest
  • Anger issues
  • Dissatisfaction with life and self
  • Low self-esteem
  • Troubling thoughts and feelings
  • Relationship problems (Conflict,
    lack of intimacy, and trust issues)

My Training and Experience

2013 – Present

Individual and Group Supervisor, Argyle Institute of Human Relations

1997 – Present

Private Practice with individuals and couples
Clinical Member of the Ordre des psychologues du Québec

2007

3 – Year Post-Graduate Program in Marital and Family Therapy, Argyle Institute of Human Relations,
AAMFT (American Association of Marital and Family Therapists) accredited therapist.

2000

3 – Year Post-Graduate Program in Individual Psychotherapy, Argyle Institute of Human Relations

1990

Masters degree in Counselling Psychology, McGill University

Accreditation and Client Protections

Since June 2014, Bill 21 legislates the practice of psychotherapy. Psychologists like myself and physicians are automatically granted the psychotherapy permit. Other professionals who may be granted the right to practice are counsellors, social workers, nurses, and occupational therapists, but the members of these orders must first have their training and credentials approved by the Ordre des psychologues du Québec.

You can verify that a particular professional is legally permitted to practice psychotherapy here.

When dealing with a licensed professional you have protection and legal rights. You can read in more detail here.

Tele-therapy

I am able to work through video, using Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, or your preferred platform, but won’t do so exclusively. I believe that human presence is an important part of the therapy process and I would need us to meet in person at least time-to-time, to “refresh” that connection. I see tele-therapy as useful to continue the work when one of us is away from the city or when other commitments don’t permit regular in-person attendance.

How I Work

I use an analytical (or “insight-based”) approach to help clients understand themselves better as a way to equip them to deal with their issues. This might mean helping them uncover deep-seated conflicts and self-defeating patterns of thought, feeling, or behaviour. These patterns may have begun in the past and continued, affecting mood, ability to function, or relationships. Our work might involve looking at how the past can continue to have an effect in the present. It also involves carefully exploring what is happening in the present, to bring to light aspects of your situation, your feelings or behaviour that you may have been unaware of, so that you are able to make different, better choices.

This approach can be especially helpful for people who want to know “why” they feel, act, or react the way they do. This kind of work can be beneficial for long-standing or recurring difficulties or for those problems that affect many areas of a person’s life.

When time, finances, the nature of the problem, or the person’s personal preference don’t call for open-ended work, I also do cognitive and behavioural shorter-term work with specific objectives to overcome a particular difficulty. This kind of work focuses on a problem that is troubling the client, examining the thinking and behaviours that reinforce it, and helping the client replace them with more positive and adaptive ways of perceiving and acting.

"People do not come into therapy to change their past, but their future."

- Milton Erickson

The Process

In our first meetings, we would get to know each other and begin to establish the foundation for a trusting relationship.

We begin with an assessment, during which you tell me as much as you can about the difficulties you’re facing so that I can understand your situation in depth and consider the ways I could offer help.

During this time, I also ask you to tell me about yourself apart from the difficulties that bring you to therapy. Who you are, what you’ve lived, the times when things were better. You are far more than the problems you’re facing, and knowing about all the parts of you, about the chapters of your life that preceded this one, will help us in our process of putting things together in a new and helpful way.

At the end of this phase, I tell you what I see so far and what we might be focusing on and we decide together on the best way to proceed. This assessment is a two-way process and in our first sessions, you will get a sense of who I am and how I work and see whether this fits for you.

The therapy is an ongoing process and I am very open to feedback about how things are going. Any thoughts or feelings you may have about the therapy work and relationship are appropriate to discuss and potentially very helpful in guiding the therapy.

“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.”

- Carl Rogers

Duration

Changing the ways in which we think and act is not easy so the duration of the therapy depends on many things, such as the seriousness of the problem, the objectives you want to reach, the frequency of the sessions, your reactions to therapy, your motivation to change, and commitment to the process. Psychotherapy can therefore last anywhere from many weeks to a year or more.

"Who looks outside, dreams; who look inside, awakes."

- Carl Jung

Puzzle Pieces

Supervision

As a psychologist with a wide range of experience, I also train and supervise psychotherapists and help them understand how to work better with their clients.

I’ve been the group supervisor at the Argyle Institute since 2013 and have also individually supervised dozens of Masters and Doctoral candidates as well as practicing therapists who want to deepen their understanding and practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy.

If you are a therapist who is looking to collaborate on understanding and working with your clients in a deeper way, get in touch and we can see if I can offer what you’re looking for.

Fees

My fee is $140.00 per fifty-minute session.

Currently, most group insurance plans allow for the reimbursement of at least a portion of the cost of therapy only when these services have been provided by a licensed psychologist such as myself. Some individual plans also cover these expenses. (Since reimbursement policies vary from one plan to another, it’s important to read your policy carefully or to get information from your employer or insurance plan representative to understand the extent of your coverage.)

Fees paid to a psychologist for therapy qualify as income-tax healthcare deductions provided the receipts issued by the psychologist are filed with the return. Tax deductions for health care vary according to the person’s income and his or her other health care expenses.

 

Contact

I encourage you to call or write to ask me any questions that might help you make a decision about whether you want to make an appointment. I will respond to your voicemail or email within 24 hours. I answer messages received Saturday or Sunday, on Monday.

Hours

Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday
10am-1pm and 4pm-8pm*
Tuesdays
2pm-8pm*
*Availability dependant on current workload.

Location and accessibility

My office is located in a modern building with easy access for the mobility-impaired. The building is downtown-adjacent, just one block west of Atwater. The suite comprises three offices and a private waiting room. There is metered parking on Sherbrooke St. and free parking on the side streets. It is one block from the Wood avenue entrance of the Atwater metro and the 24 bus stops across the street.

Office Building