Britney Victor-Augustell, MSW, RSW

My journey to becoming a therapist was far from linear. I completed my undergraduate degree in Law and Society with the intention of becoming a lawyer. After completing an internship with a lawyer however, I knew that law was not the path that I wanted to take for my life. I knew that I wanted to help people in a different capacity. I also had completed my undergraduate degree in Sociology. Throughout my time in University, I had felt more drawn to the sociological courses and education about anti-oppressive elements, systemic disadvantages, and ways to address inequality in society. I decided to complete my graduate degree in Social Work, as I felt that social work was a way to address systemic disadvantages on a personal, micro level, through working with at-risk, vulnerable individuals. I completed an internship with the Children’s Aid Society of Peel, Durham Psychotherapy © 2024 12 and then I accepted a role as a Child Protection Worker with them. Throughout my nine years as a child protection worker, I was able to work with vulnerable, at-risk children and families, and address how systemic oppression was presenting itself in the personal lives of my clients, using an anti-oppressive framework approach. Due to the nature of the role however, I was not able to assist families long term, which I found to be problematic, and not in line with the type of compassionate social work that I was seeking to provide. As a result, I decided to work in private practice, as this role enables me to work with individuals, children, teens and families, in a more long term capacity with longer engagement.