Kelsey MacDonald, M.A.

Psychological Associate, Supervised Practice

Populations seen: Adults

Kelsey is a client-centered, compassionate therapist who brings warmth, collaboration, and clinical insight to her work with adults. She offers psychodiagnostic assessments tosupport clients in developing a deeper understanding of themselves and to better inform the therapeutic process. Kelsey practices in the area of counselling psychology with adults. She is in the final stages of completing her registration with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario and is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Valerie Vorstenbosch.

During the initial consultation, Kelsey focuses on understanding your background, identifying priorities, and building a treatment plan together. She encourages clients to reflect on what they hope to gain from therapy and approaches every session with warmth, flexibility, and respect. Kelsey’s approach is collaborative and trauma-informed, meaning she works alongside clients to develop therapy goals that are both realistic and meaningful. She believes the therapeutic relationship is the foundation of successful work and values regular check-ins to ensure treatment remains aligned with each client’s evolving needs.

Kelsey adapts her therapeutic approach based on each client’s presenting needs, blending evidence-based tools with genuine connection, creating space for both emotional processing and practical progress. Kelsey applies a number of different modalities based on client concerns and goals, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She provides assessment and counselling to adults for a variety of psychological concerns, including:

  • Anxiety (phobias, social, general)

  • OCD and related disorders (e.g., hair pulling and skin picking)

  • Low mood

  • Life transitions

  • Stress and burnout

  • Post-traumatic stress

  • Perinatal mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety and depression)

  • Interpersonal difficulties and emotion regulation

Prior to working with the Waterloo Psychology Group, Kelsey gained ten years of post-masters experience providing counselling and psychotherapy to young adults and adults in private practice, and also at a number of post-secondary institutions in the Waterloo Region (including the University of Waterloo, Conestoga College, and Wilfrid Laurier University). In addition to her work with Waterloo Psychology Group, Kelsey is also a Psychological Consultant at the Upper Grand District School Board, providing assessment, consultation, and intervention to youth.