Chaos to Connection

Meet Suzy Pollard, the Registered Psychotherapist Behind Chaos to Connection

When you book a session with Chaos to Connection, the person on the other side of the screen is Suzy Pollard, a Registered Psychotherapist with two master's degrees and two decades of experience helping people through anxiety, addiction, grief, trauma, and the relationships that shape all of it.

Suzy is from Norfolk, England. She came to Canada to work at Windigo Lake Expeditions, known as Project DARE, a wilderness facility in South River for wilderness instructors and adjudicated youth. That job brought her to this part of Ontario, and she stayed. She lives in Powassan now, and she will tell you plainly: "We are in the best place ever."

Online Therapy From North Bay, Across Canada

Suzy works entirely online, one to one, over video. From her home in Powassan she sees clients in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. No commute, no parking, no waiting room. All you need is a private space and a good internet connection.

Her path here ran through the field. She worked as a wilderness therapist, then at Ontario Works, before building her own practice. Today she sees clients first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and on weekends.

Where the Name Chaos to Connection Comes From

Suzy trained under the Satir family therapy umbrella, a school that talks a lot about chaos and connection. When she opened her own practice, the name was already sitting there. It describes the move she helps people make.

A Direct Therapist in North Bay, Showing Up Congruently

Her website describes her style as warm, direct, and grounded. Ask her whether direct is the word her clients would pick and she does not hesitate: "A hundred percent. When I show up, I show up congruently."

That comes from where she started. Her early work was with young people in custody, and in that room you learn to say things plainly. Today much of her work is with women going through a transition who feel they have lost their voice, and with people carrying attachment wounds. She describes her job as giving them a safe place to land while keeping a steady container and restorative attachment around the work.

EMDR, IFS, and Brainspotting: Therapy That Works With the Body

Ask Suzy which of her credentials changed how she works and she names EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, first. Her reason is simple. You can talk yourself one way or the other, but the body can stay stuck in the old reaction. If a raised voice still sets off the same visceral fear years later, talking about it may not move it. EMDR works on that reaction and the belief tied to it, so your brain and body come back into alignment and the old response stops running the show.

She is a body based, or somatic, therapist rather than a traditional talk therapist. Alongside EMDR she uses Internal Family Systems (IFS, Levels 1 and 2) and Brainspotting (Levels 1 and 2), which she calls the three top trauma modalities. Her training also includes CBT, DBT, exposure and response prevention for OCD, narrative therapy, and Satir family therapy.

What Attachment Based Therapy Means

Much of Suzy's practice is attachment based, and many of her clients stay with her for years. She explains it this way. We learn how to feel safe in the world between birth and age six. If a parent drank, or a raised voice filled the house, the body learns to stay on high alert. Therapy becomes a new experience of being with someone whose nervous system stays level and does not rise or fall with yours.

"There's nothing magical about what I do," she says. "It's just being solid."

Grief Therapy and Induced After Death Communication

Suzy is a Certified Grief Educator through David Kessler, and she offers something few therapists do: Induced After Death Communication, or IADC, which she trained in through the IADC Institute. It uses EMDR for grief after a traumatic death. Her example is a parent lost to cancer, where the mind keeps replaying the illness and loses sight of the connection that came before it. By lowering the level of disturbance held in the body, the relationship itself can come back into view. She is clear that it is not psychic work. She calls it a new area in the world of grief. She has also taken extra training with David Kessler around suicide loss, for people who have lost someone to suicide.

What to Know Before You Book a Therapist

If you tried talk therapy and it did not stick, Suzy's advice is short. Trust that your body knows what it needs. "If my voice and my vibe doesn't fit you, trust that. And if it does, gravitate towards it." Her free consultation is there so you can find out.

On timing, she suggests evening sessions for somatic work. EMDR can feel like an emotional marathon and can wipe you out, so an evening session keeps it from taking over your day.

Therapy Sessions, Fees, and Who Suzy Works With

A standard session is 55 minutes for $150, with 90 and 120 minute sessions available. IADC is offered as a two session intensive for $600. Suzy also works with victim services, much of it with men and women on the receiving end of domestic violence, and with WSIB, an employee assistance program, first responders, and military members, where the cost is covered for the client. She takes some clients pro bono and offers affordable therapy too, because she wants to meet you where you are.

Outside the Session: Hiking, Paddling, and North Bay

Suzy's first career was outdoors. She holds a master's in outdoor education from Aurora University, and she says none of it is lost; she brings all of it into her work. She hikes, swims, and travels. This year she is taking up skiing and wants more time on the water with a paddle. After six years of a consistently full practice, she says the next one is about giving a little back to herself.

Book a Free Consultation With Chaos to Connection

Reach Suzy through the contact form at chaostoconnection.ca or by email at chaostoconnection@gmail.com, and book your free consultation. Then trust your gut on whether she is the right fit. She would want you to.