About Us


Hi, my name is Gilles Brideau, I am a psychotherapist, hypnotist and coach that lives and works in Sudbury Ontario, Canada.

I thank you for joining me today on my website. I hope that your experience has been a positive one, perusing all the different videos and information that I have on this site.

With this particular little video, I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself. I’ve been a psychotherapist for 23 years. Most of my specializations has been in addictions and mental health. My background is that I have a Master’s Degree in Human Development from Laurentian University here in Sudbury. My main focus in my studies was in addictive behavior. I’ve been really, really fortunate because I’ve been really doing addictions and mental health work for my entire career. I started my career here, in Sudbury, working in a recovery home, which was an extremely rewarding experience. I got to really take my theory and knowledge from books and learn the people concepts, because my background had more to do with research than technique. During my time at Rockhaven, I was able to work with the people, which was invaluable to my understanding of addiction. It’s great to have a basis of knowledge in theory, but the application aspect of it, with real people, made it just come to life. I always believe that my clients are, and have been, my greatest teachers.

I started here at Rockhaven, and then I moved to Sarnia, where I worked 8 years in a hospital, Lambton County Addiction Services, where I worked primarily in addictions again. There, my focus was to do work with adults, youth, couples, white, Native, Hispanic, French, English, rural and also urban settings. I’ve got a broad background in working specifically with clients with addictions and mental health issues. One of the greatest takeaways too, was in my work there at the hospital, I started really delving into my work with youth. I would say probably for a good two-thirds of my career, my time has been spent working with clients that are age 24 and younger. If you have a teen that’s struggling, that’s actually my wheelhouse. It’s what I’ve enjoyed the most doing.

After that I got a job as a consultant where I was doing primarily education with professionals. How to train professionals in dealing with clients with mental health and addictions issues. You’ll see that a little bit in my education and training section of this website. After that, I left there (Sarnia) to come back home, to my hometown. Then, shortly after I got a job working for our local college, Cambrian College, where I worked helping students dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, so mental health and addictions concern.

Hopefully with this, what you can really see, that the entirety of my career has been spent working in the field of mental health and addictions and helping people move from a position of pain, to a position of wellness.

With regards to my hypnosis and coaching practices, I’ve been a hypnotist for 14 years, and I’ve really enjoyed the work, because it comes from a different platform. It helps people realize that the answers have always been within them. The coaching skills that I’ve developed over the years has actually enhanced my therapeutic practice.

Lastly, I’ve recently been certified as a coach, and the coaching practice, we’re going to look at those difference if you kind of scan on over to hypnosis and coaching section, there’s a difference between coaching and psychotherapy, that you may find interesting. What I need you to know is that I will work to the best of my ability, in a collaborative way, to help you move from a place of pain or confusion to a place of happiness and joy.

Thanks for joining me today. I hope that this has been helpful. I hope that enjoy your perusal of my website. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks so much for joining me today and have a great day!

First Therapy Session…What to Expect

Hey, guys, and welcome to today’s session. My name is Gilles Brideau, and I’m a psychotherapist coach and hypnotist that lives and works in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Today’s session is around what happens in your first therapy session with me. I get a lot of clients and people that I’ve talked to that are fearful about what happens in a therapy session, so I thought I’d just do a quick video today to cover the fundamentals of what happens when you want to book an appointment with a professional or more specifically with me. Let’s get it going. Usually, the first thing, the first step is to place a call. When a call is made to my office or my phone, usually you’ll get, unfortunately, a voice mail because I’m usually working with clients. Please don’t hesitate to leave a message. I usually contact people within 24 hours.

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Top 5 Reasons I Love my Job as a Therapist and Coach

Hi guys, and welcome to today’s session. My name is Gilles Brideau, and I’m a psychotherapist, coach and hypnotherapist that works and lives in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Today is Thursday, so it’s typically gratitude day. I thought I’d change things up a little bit and do more of a focus on the top five reasons I love my job as a therapist, coach, and hypnotist.

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I Need Help…Where Do I Start?

Hi guys and welcome to today’s session. I’m Gilles Brideau, I am a psychotherapist, coach, counselor in Sudbury in North Ontario Canada.

I thought I’d do a quick video today about when you are going for help. Kind of some key differences psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, coaches, it can get really confusing when you’re already looking for help and you’re wondering which is which, and what do they do. I just kind of put together something simple today that I hope you find beneficial and informative. What is really the difference between, like I said, a psychiatrist, and all these other designations?

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How to Pick the Right Therapist: Top 3 Things to Look For

Hi and welcome to your session. I’m Gilles Brideau and welcome to my thank you challenge or to this video about that top three strategies in picking a therapist or psychotherapist. Now, when I skim the internet for the different resources that people typically look for, are things like qualifications, locations, personality. I think all those things are valuable. But what I’m going to try to transmit today is kind of my top three things to look for when looking for a therapist.

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