Meet Suzanne McDermid
Sue is now accepting NEW CLIENTS for services starting in January.
IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL SESSIONS AVAILABLE
I am also a registered secondary school teacher with the Ontario College of Teachers. I have been working with children, teens and their families for close to three decades. Although saying that out loud makes me feel old!
Victim Services
Victim Services ICE Program
Victim Services Nipissing District
Metis Nation of Ontario
NIHB
Medavie Blue Cross
Suzanne (or Sue) McDermid
Hons B.A., B.Ed., MSW, RSW
Teacher/Social Worker/Psychotherapist
Riverway Therapy was a happy accident that launched during covid in response to local community need, and it has continued to grow each year since then. It is my hope that Riverway offers a space for individuals of all ages and abilities to feel welcome, just as they are. It is important to me that everyone, particularly students and individuals with a disability, know that they are brilliant and do not need to change to fit in or to belong.
At Riverway I am able to merge my two worlds – teaching and social work – and I believe that students will learn best when this feeling is a part of their day to day and they feel like they are a part of a community and that they belong. Imagine what would happen if we all walked into a room and the faces of our family or peers or teachers lit up with joy that we are there?
My clinical practice at Riverway Therapy is built upon these beliefs, as well as a combination of clinical and educational experience.
Professionally I have worked as a lifeguard, swimming instructor, child and youth worker, rehabilitation support worker, teacher and social worker. Personally, I was a treatment foster parent for over 30 children (all in their twenties now) and this lived experience taught me even more than all my years in education ever did.
I learned what it feels like to parent a child that lives with or has experienced a variety of challenges or traumas. I learned humility when I did my best and knew that it wasn’t enough. I learned that no matter what, the ties to family are strong and cannot be broken, and that instead of separating families we need to support them. And it also opened my eyes to what it must feel like for parents that are doing their best and live with the fear that it isn’t ‘good enough’ or that someone may take their child away.
I no longer foster children but what I learned from my ‘kids’ and their families informs what I hope to build with Riverway every day.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, High Honours
Carleton University
Law and Sociology: Criminology and Criminal Justice
Bachelor of Education
University of Calgary
Secondary Social Studies
Master of Social Work
Wilfrid Laurier University
Clinical and Research
Additional Training, Certifications and/or Workshops
- RFoundations of Play Therapy
- RAdvanced Theories and Techniques
- RDialectical Behaviour Therapy, DBT-A
- RStructured Sensory Interventions
- RDisordered Eating
- RTAPP-C
- RTCI-F
- RUnderstanding and Managing Aggressive Behaviour
- RPEERS
- RHuman Trafficking
- RCanine-Assisted Interventions
- RApplied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
- RNeurorehabilitation, Level One
- RChildren and Youth with Acquired Brain Injury
- RATTCH Conference