Career counselling at Amanda Tobe & Associates is provided by regulated health care professionals such as psychologists, psychotherapists, and social workers. Unlike career coaching, which is often unregulated, career counselling combines psychological expertise with career development tools. This means we can address not only practical career decisions but also the emotional barriers and mental health conditions that may stand in the way, such as low self-confidence, public speaking anxiety, workplace stress, or workplace bullying.

We also follow strict rules of confidentiality. Many of our clients — from seasoned executives to students and entrepreneurs in the Toronto and GTA area — appreciate having a safe, professional space to share sensitive information. Unlike some coaching programs, we don’t sell packages up front. Instead, we focus on individualized, ethical, and flexible care.

For other FAQs on our practice, please refer to our FAQ section on our About page.

Our licensed professionals bring both therapeutic training and career expertise. Using approaches like narrative therapy, CBT, ACT, and DBT, we help clients identify patterns, overcome limiting beliefs, and build healthier coping strategies. This deeper work often leads to breakthroughs — for example, discovering how perfectionism, fear of failure, or workplace stress may be shaping career choices.

Because we take a holistic perspective, we can support you not only with career clarity or a job search but also with the underlying mental health challenges (like anxiety, depression, or low self-confidence) that may be affecting your work life.

We don’t directly bill to insurance, however, many of our clients do submit their session receipts. Individual insurance plans vary and it’s important to check in advance of your consultation if you have cove age for the specific provider you are scheduled with.

We see clients at all stages of career exploration. Some are looking for a complete career change, while others want support finding a role within their current field. To make this easier, we often describe three starting points:

• Lost in the fog → not sure where to start.

• Standing at the crossroads → torn between options.

• Ready to fine-tune → have a clear direction but need structure, tools, and accountability.

Wherever you are in the process, our career counsellors provide both psychological support and concrete strategies to help you move forward.

We are known for being solutions-focused. Alongside counselling, we introduce structured tools that clients can reflect on between sessions. These include our Ideal Career Checklist, values and Ikigai exercises, job search trackers, and curated resources such as podcasts, books, and LinkedIn tools. This blend of emotional insight and practical structure helps clients move from reflection to action.

We work with a diverse range of clients: students, young adults (17+), professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs ranging across industries from finance, consulting, law, healthcare and more. Many of our clients are navigating second careers, career pivots, or workplace challenges. We also welcome clients with English as a second language.

We don’t work with children, but we’re happy to provide referrals to practices that do.

We are also deeply committed to supporting racialized and underrepresented minorities. Part of our work is learning about you, including any systemic barriers or past traumas you may have experienced, so we can tailor our approach in a way that feels safe, respectful, and empowering.

Your first two sessions are 90 minutes each. We start with a detailed narrative interview to understand your career story, barriers, self-doubts, values, and motivations. We’ll also explore your current job search activities, mindset toward change, and the obstacles holding you back. This process helps us create a clear roadmap tailored to you.

We don’t require career assessments for clients to begin. Many well-known ones are available online for free, and we’d rather you invest your resources into sessions where we can debrief and make sense of the results together. Alongside optional online assessments, we’ve also developed our own practical tools, such as our Ideal Career Checklist, Career Comparison spreadsheet and other reflection exercises, that help clients gain clarity without unnecessary costs.

We do! While we’re not a resume writing service, we’re happy to provide a light review of resumes and LinkedIn profiles to make sure you’re presenting yourself clearly and effectively. We also spend time on interview preparation, which is often where confidence and communication matter most. Clients can practice through mock interviews, and for those who want extra support, our speech-language pathologist helps with clarity, accent modification, stuttering, and other communication skills that can make a big difference in how you come across.

Absolutely. Many clients come to us because they’re experiencing burnout, imposter syndrome, or low self-confidence that impacts their career or job search. Our intake process helps us identify these issues early, so they can be addressed alongside your career goals.

We also run a dedicated Imposter Syndrome Group, and our one-on-one sessions often focus on building confidence, reducing avoidance and procrastination, and developing healthier ways of managing stress.

You can imagine we get asked this question all of the time. Sometimes it takes months, and in some cases, clients are able to secure employment in under a month. It highly depends at the stage that someone is entering into the process and the extent to which they are considering a career overhaul. Some individuals want help with phase 1 only and others only require support with phase 3. We generally work with clients at a minimum of 6 sessions.

We understand its common to feel anxiety and feel in need of immediate answers. We don’t provide a list of careers you would be good at because jobs titles and options are multiplying each day. We take a guided research model where we provide exercises and tools to help with brainstorming career options (for example, using AI, LinkedIN searches and strategic networking).

We ask in one of your first sessions how much time outside of your session you have to devote to this work. Ideally, we would like to see 2-3 hours between each session, but this includes networking, listening to podcasts an exercises assigned during your session.

At this time, all of our sessions are virtual. It allows us to support clients across the province of Ontario as well as other provinces where our practitioners are located.