MEET DAVE KYDD

ABOUT ME

Therapist. Husband. Dad. Musician. Lifelong learner.

And, after 25+ years of doing this work, still learning from the people who sit across from me.

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THE BEGINNING

WHERE IT STARTED

I'm a pretty easygoing guy who's seen a lot of life. The hairs I have left are mostly grey. But they weren't always. Even therapists have an origin story.

If you're interested in hearing how this old chunk of coal — comedian Norm

MacDonald's phrase, not mine — became the therapist you may decide to sit across from, read on.

My older brother Ian had an intellectual disability. Growing up, I felt responsible for him — looking out for him and caring for him.

That reality played a huge role in shaping who I became.

It made me sensitive to people's needs early on. And it launched me onto a path of wanting to help people.

I didn't know it then, but Ian was the nudge that set my life as a therapist in motion.

HOW I GOT HERE

THE LONG ROAD

My path into therapy wasn't exactly a straight line.

It involved music, group homes, psychology, hospitals, universities, private practice — and a few unexpected turns along the way.

First, There Was Music

I started violin at four and piano around ten.

Eventually, I earned a degree in piano and spent a couple of years playing in a band in Toronto with friends.

I loved that time of my life.

At the same time, I was paying the bills by working in group homes with people who had intellectual disabilities.

That's when a question started forming:

Could I use music to help people?

Music Therapy —

and Paulette

That question led me to music therapy at Wilfrid Laurier University.

And that's where I met my lovely wife, Paulette.

Spoiler alert: these days, she co-owns The Living Project with me and keeps the place running like a well-oiled machine.

I did well in the program and — somewhat surprisingly — finally had the marks to pursue something I'd wanted to study since high school:

Psychology.

Then Came Teaching

Eventually, I was given the opportunity to teach in colleges and universities. And suddenly I felt pulled in two directions.

On one side was academia:

Teaching future counsellors. Leading study-abroad trips. Travelling the world with students.

On the other was the work I'd always loved:

Sitting across from people and doing therapy.

For seven years, I was Assistant Program Head at the University of Guelph Humber's Family Community Social Services program, teaching counselling skills and clinical courses.

I loved it.

And throughout those years, I continued seeing private-practice clients in the evenings.

I loved that too.

2021

Choosing Therapy

In 2021, I stepped away from university life and returned to private practice full-time.

I still miss the academic world sometimes. But I know I made the right choice.

Every day in my therapy office, I meet amazing people — smart, funny, talented, kind people whose difficulties can sometimes make it hard for them to see their own value.

It's usually much easier for me to see it.

My clients teach me constantly. Does that sound a little over the top?

Maybe. But it's true.

And if they could, my clients would probably tell you that I say it directly to them all the time.

Psychology + Counselling

I earned my undergraduate degree in psychology, followed by a master's degree in counselling psychology from the University of Toronto.

Then I got to work.

Children's Aid Society

My first professional role. Challenging and, at times, traumatic — but I learned an incredible amount in that one year.

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Private Practice

Two years working alongside a senior therapist.

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Outpatient Mental Health

Working as a psychotherapist in outpatient mental health clinics.

↓

William Osler Health Center

Coordinator of outpatient mental health programs across Brampton Civic Hospital and Etobicoke General Hospital for two and a half years.

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Oxford Elgin Child and Youth Center

Clinical Director.

BEYOND THE OFFICE

WHAT LIFE HAS TAUGHT ME

My training taught me how to be a therapist.

Life taught me a lot about being a person.

Marriage

I've been married for thirty years to a woman I love like crazy.

And you don't get to thirty years without being stretched to your limits.

Marriage has challenged me, humbled me, changed me and taught me lessons no textbook ever could.

Loss

We've also lived through devastating loss.

In 2002, we lost twins shortly after they were born.

Last summer, my older brother Ian passed away suddenly.

I know what grief feels like.

But I've also known those amazingly precious moments — the ones that stop you in your tracks and make you deeply grateful to be alive.

Parenthood

I have two daughters, now twenty-two and eighteen — both amazing in their own wonderfully unique ways.

I've been a parent to:

Infants → Toddlers → Little Kids → Pre-Teens → Teenagers → Young Adults

Parenting is hard. I've made so many mistakes.

It's hard to believe kids who had a dad making it up as he went along could actually turn out so well.

Like marriage, parenting has without question made me a better person.

I've learned a lot. And I've changed in ways I didn't think possible.

WHEN I’M NOT WORKING

A FEW OTHER

THINGS ABOUT ME

I love golf.

I love sports.

And most evenings, you'll find me winding down at a piano or with a guitar in my hands.

I even have a solo piano album of original music on Spotify — guaranteed to put you to sleep in five minutes or less.

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Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

So if music matters to you too, don't be surprised if it occasionally finds its way into our work together.

MY APPROACH

WHAT I BRING TO THE WORK

So, a few words about how I actually do therapy.

My practice is grounded in established, well-studied therapeutic approaches that I've spent more than twenty-five years learning from and using.

Training Matters. So Does Life.

Real life has taught me things textbooks couldn't

.

My marriage.

My parenting.

My losses.

My mistakes.

My own growth.

All of it comes into the room with me.

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Working With Young People

Over twenty-five years of working with young people, I've leaned on my experience as a parent as much as — and sometimes more than — my formal training.

Working with young people keeps me young.

It keeps me connected to their world, their culture, their challenges and the enormous amount of potential they often have trouble seeing in themselves.

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