Viriditas Counselling
Counselling for people who want to understand themselves and go beyond coping.
A trauma‑ and attachment‑informed approach to understanding what brings people to counselling, and to supporting meaningful change.
This is not a scripted kind of therapy. What happens here depends on you — what you bring, what you're ready for, what actually helps.
I'm Magda Hayton, a Canadian Certified Counsellor offering online therapy for adults across Canada.
My approach to mental health draws on neuroscience, parts-based approaches, and attachment-informed counselling. But more than any specific method, I'm guided by what's actually happening in the work — what a particular person needs, in a particular moment, to move forward.
Before I trained as a counsellor I spent years as an academic — a medievalist — researching, teaching, and publishing across disciplines at universities in Canada and the United States. I’ve had the opportunity to explore different times and cultures and to connect with people past and present.
My background continues to shape my appreciation for meaning-making, self-understanding, and the complexity of human experience. It has also given me a deep respect for people’s resiliency and capacity for change—even when facing the most difficult times.
More detailed information about my training and credentials is available here.
Magda Hayton, MS, CCC, BC-TMH
Canadian Certified Counsellor · Board Certified-TeleMental Health Provider · Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Level II · National Certified Counselor · EMDR-Trained
AREAS OF FOCUS
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Trauma & Complex PTSD
Childhood experiences that shaped you in ways you're still untangling. Attachment wounds, religious trauma, abuse, complicated family relationships — including the ongoing question of how much contact to have, and what that means. Sometimes it shows up as not quite being present: floating, zoning out, watching your life from a distance.
And sometimes trauma is recent and specific — a car accident, a medical experience, something that changed everything. You were fine before. You want to be fine again.
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Anxiety, Relationships & Chronic Stress
Anxiety that has been with you so long it feels like part of who you are — sometimes since childhood, without a clear reason you can point to. And anxiety that is new — that arrived after something changed, or something happened, and hasn't left. Panic that arrives without warning. A marriage or relationship that has reached a breaking point, or that has surfaced things you didn't expect. Life transitions that have opened older, harder questions.
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Career & Academic Stress
For professionals, academics, business owners, and creatives who want to work with someone who understands their world. Burnout that goes deeper than needing a vacation. Transitions and identity questions that come with demanding work. Imposter syndrome. The particular pressures of intellectual and creative life. You don't want to spend your sessions explaining your context — you want to get to work.
viriditas is a Latin word meaning greenness — the innate capacity to grow and heal that we see in nature, and in ourselves.
It is the reason this practice has the name it does. And it is what I believe brings people to therapy — not just brokenness, but the part of them that never stopped growing.
Taking the Next Step
If you are interested in working with me or learning more about what I offer, I’d be happy to talk. You can book a free 15-minute consultation by clicking on the “Book a Free Consultation” button or emailing me at the address below.
You don't need to have it figured out before you reach out. The consultation is a chance for both of us to see if we're a good fit and for you to get a sense of what working with me might be like.
If you're not sure about virtual counselling, the free video consultation can be a chance to see what it might be like—and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
You can learn more about session options, services, & fees, here.