11-1500 Upper Middle Road, Burlington ON L7P 3P5
Inside the Health Hub
1 (866) 993-7059
Services
How do I schedule an appointment?
Appointments may be arranged using the website's online booking feature, by email or by telephone. Prior to your initial counseling appointment, I will arrange a brief intake call with you. The purpose of this conversation is to learn more about how I can support you, to discuss policies and privacy/consent, and to answer any questions you might have. Please feel free to contact me with your questions via email or telephone:
Email: info@cultivatingcomfort.ca
Telephone: 1 (866) 993-7059
Supportive Counseling for Individuals Living with Dementia and their Families, Friends, Life Partners, and Care Partners
Individual Counseling:
Counseling for Individuals who are Living with Dementia:
Participants receive emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial support as they navigate the dementia journey. The counselor helps explore identity, meaning, and hope amid change while identifying strengths, resources, and coping strategies. Educational materials and referrals are provided as needed.
Fees are $80/hour with sliding scale options—contact via email or phone for details.
One-hour sessions are available in person, by phone, or virtually.
Care Partner Counseling:
Along with emotional support, services include help with healthcare system navigation, referrals to community resources, long-term care applications, Advance Care Planning, advocacy, and more.
Fees are $80/hour with sliding scale options—contact via email or phone for details.
One-hour sessions are available in person, by phone, or virtually.
Grief / Bereavement Counseling:
We experience grief in response to many life transitions. It affects individuals living with dementia and their loved ones as they face loss of health, independence, and imagined futures.
One-hour sessions are available in person, by telephone, or virtually.
Fees are $80 per hour, with sliding scale pricing available please inquire via email or phone.
One-hour sessions are available in person, by phone, or virtually.
Support Groups:
Support Group for Individuals who are Recently Bereaved:
This closed group meets virtually once per week for five weeks, with a total of five 1.5-hour sessions. This group is for individuals who have lost someone to a dementia-related life-limiting illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, or certain cardiovascular conditions.
Please call or email to inquire about support group availability.
Care Partner Support Group:
This virtual support group meets weekly for five weeks, with 1.5-hour sessions. Designed for care partners, family, and friends of individuals with dementia-related illnesses, it provides a space for guidance, knowledge exchange, and connection. Please call or email to inquire about support group availability.
In our structured, guided care partner support groups, we address the following basic needs (Shaw, E., 2019):
• To share one’s story with others in a similar situation
• To learn about different types of dementia, how they progress, and what to expect
• To adjust to a new “normal,” including adapting to changing roles and relationships
• To take care of oneself and to ask for help
• To discuss existential / spiritual questions
• To consider end-of-life planning and prepare for the future (i.e. home care, long-term care)
• To grieve one’s losses
Nature-Based Wellness Workshops
These workshops are intentionally designed to enhance participants’ physical, social, spiritual, intellectual, and emotional well-being, and to foster social connection.
Tea Mediation
This one-hour sensory experience introduces Chinese Buddhist tea meditation through a brief explanation and in-depth demonstration. Participants engage with the fragrance, flavor, sounds, and ritual of tea brewing. A cup is offered to a guest in spirit, followed by discussion, tea tasting, and Q&A. Cost: $25 per participant.
Seed Paper Making Workshop
In this workshop, participants create handmade seed paper using plant-based materials and wildflower seeds. Once dried, the paper can be shaped, decorated with messages, and either planted or gifted. Cost: $25 per participant.
Miniature Memorial Garden Workshop
This activity helps clients maintain a connection with someone they miss. Participants pot a plant that reminds them of their loved one and can personalize it with keepsakes, letters, or decorations. This small garden serves as a meaningful tribute. Cost: $25 per participant.
Welcome to Cultivating Comfort
What We Offer:
Supportive counseling and consultation services for individuals living with dementia and their families, friends, and care partners. A unique combination of nature-based interventions with conversation-based counseling.
Mission: To provide compassionate emotional, spiritual, psychosocial, and practical support to clients, empowering them with knowledge, community, and confidence.
Vision: To foster a more inclusive, empowered, and connected community.
Values:
• Client autonomy / self-determination
• Inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility - Sliding scale pricing is available to clients seeking individual counseling
• Compassion
• Respect
We are Not:
• A crisis line / crisis service (please see the Resources page for referrals to crisis services and other community resources)
• A psychotherapy service. Psychotherapy is usually longer-term, addresses present and past causes for current challenges, and involves the treatment of diagnosable mental health disorders, whereas counseling is relatively short-term and focuses on empowering clients, solving current problems, providing guidance, and building upon existing life skills.
Significance of the Dragonfly
I chose the dragonfly as a symbol of my work because it represents resilience, transformation, self-actualization, and spiritual connection across cultures. I support clients in harnessing their strengths to enhance their emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial well-being through life’s challenges and transitions.
About Me:
Meet Crystal:
I am a compassionate and experienced Registered Social Service Worker specializing in Gerontology and grief/bereavement. I teach for the Social Service Worker program at a local college and have four years of experience providing Social Services and Recreational and Horticultural Therapy in long-term care settings.
While completing my master’s degree in Buddhism and East Asian Religions, I studied tea meditation at a Buddhist temple. I also spent several years volunteering for a hospice. I am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology, and I am known for being patient, calm, light-hearted, open-minded, and approachable.
My Counseling Approaches:
I provide anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and person-centered counseling through a solutions-focused, existential lens. I help clients find meaning, purpose, and hope while facing the uncertainties related to dementia. I work with clients to identify their strengths and foster resilience. Referrals are made to community resources as needed and with the client's consent. My unique approach to counselling includes the integration of therapeutic horticulture and evidence-based creative practices to promote relaxation and connection.
Additional Credentials:
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Gentle Persuasive Approach Certified Coach
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LEAP training for LTC (Pallium Canada, 2024)
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Certification for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA, 2023)
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Fundamentals of Hospice Palliative Care (Acclaim Health, 2022)
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P.I.E.C.E.S and U First! Certification (Alzheimer’s Society of Toronto, 2021)
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Palliative Care in Dementia – Certificate of Completion (Alzheimer’s Society of Toronto, 2021)
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Positive Space Training (York University)
Professional Memberships:
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Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers
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Ontario Social Service Worker Association
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Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association
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Bereavement Ontario Network
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Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
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Hospice Palliative Care Ontario
Resources
If you or someone you know are at immediate risk of causing harm to yourself or others, please call 911.
9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Help Line: https://988.ca/get-help/what-to-expect
24/7 Crisis Line – COAST (Crisis Outreach and Support Team): 1-877-825-9011
Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868
LGBT Youth Line: text 647-694-4275 (Sunday to Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.)
Ontario Caregiver Helpline: 1 (833) 416-2273 (24 Hours)
Trans Lifeline: 1-877-330-6366 (Monday through Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
Hamilton / Halton Region:
Distress Centre Halton:
Oakville: 905-849-4541
Burlington: 905-681-1488
Halton Hills/Milton: 905-877-1211
Hamilton: 905-561-5800
Halton Women's Place:
North Halton: (905) 878-8555
South Halton: (905) 332-7892
Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services of Halton
(SAVIS) Crisis Line (24 Hours): (905) 875-1555
If you are in crisis in Southwestern Ontario, you can call 911 or contact these crisis services:
Reach Out: Call or text 519-433-2023 or 1-866-933-2023
Mental Health Helpline (Connex Ontario): Call 1-866-531-2600
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call 1-800-273-8255
Kids Help Phone: Call 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868
9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 9-8-8
211 Ontario: Call 2-1-1 for information on community, social, government, and health services
You can also contact these services for specific types of crisis:
Assaulted Women's Helpline: Call 1-888-917-3449
Seniors Safety Line: Call 1-866-299-1011
Crisis line for First Nation, Métis, and Inuit people: Call 1-855-242-3310
Support services for male survivors of sexual abuse: Call 1-866-887-0015
Crisis Services
Community Resources
Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario: 1 (877) 916-6728
Hamilton / Halton Region:
Alzheimer Society of Brant, Haldimand Norfolk, Hamilton Halton
Acclaim Health
Capillary Wave Community for Men
Ontario Health atHome
https://ontariohealthathome.ca/contact/https://
VON
https://von.ca/en/von-care/caregiver-supports
Niagara Region:
Alzheimer Society Niagara Region
https://alzheimer.ca/niagara/en
Ontario Health atHome
https://ontariohealthathome.ca/region/hamilton-niagara-haldimand-brant/
T. Roy Adams Regional Centre for Dementia Care
https://www.niagararegion.ca/living/seniors/t-roy-adams-centre.aspx
VON
https://von.ca/en/von-care/caregiver-supports
Southwestern Ontario:
Alzheimer Society Southwest Partners
Ontario Health atHome
https://ontariohealthathome.ca/region/south-west/
VON
https://von.ca/en/von-care/caregiver-supports
Online:
Alzheimer's Association
https://www.alz.org/help-support/resources/care-education-resources
Canadian Virtual Hospice
https://www.virtualhospice.ca/en_US/Main+Site+Navigation/Home.aspx
caregiver exchange.ca
https://www.caregiverexchange.ca/
iGeriCare
https://igericare.healthhq.ca/en
The Ontario Caregiver Organization
https://ontariocaregiver.ca/health/dementia-alzheimers/
Please Contact Us Here
with Your Questions:
Email: info@cultivatingcomfort.ca
Phone: 1 (866) 993-7059
**Please note that for privacy and confidentiality purposes, I do not communicate with clients using SMS (text messaging).