Ancrage Counselling & Psychotherapy

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About Ancrage

Finding your anchor

Ancrage Counselling & Psychotherapy is a bilingual practice built on more than 50 years of combined clinical experience — offering therapy that meets you exactly where you are, in English or French, virtually across Ontario or in person in Toronto.

  • Bilingual · EN / FR
  • Virtual · Ontario-wide
  • In-person · Toronto
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A warm, welcoming counselling space representing the grounded, human care Ancrage provides
About Us — Ancrage | Section 2: Mission & Values

Our mission

To provide grounded, direct, and compassionate therapy that helps clients find their anchor — offering care that is rooted in each person's lived reality.

We provide accessible, bilingual therapy — virtual across Ontario, in-person in Toronto — informed by deep experience inside Ontario's youth justice, child welfare, health, education, and employment systems. We meet every client without judgment, and we are direct when direct is what's needed.

Our core values

Every session, every client, every decision — guided by the same six commitments.

Accessibility

Virtual-first, bilingual, and sliding scale — because geography, language, and finances should never be barriers to care.

Confidentiality

PHIPA and PIPEDA compliant. What you share stays between us — from your very first call.

Inclusion

We affirm every person — regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or family structure. You belong here.

Directness

We are honest with you. Therapy at Ancrage is grounded, practical, and rooted in your actual circumstances — not a script.

Meeting you where you are

We adapt to your reality — your schedule, your language, your pace. There is no expectation to be ready in a particular way.

Accountability

We hold ourselves accountable to our clients, to our profession, and to ongoing learning — including on issues of anti-oppression and systemic harm.

About Us — Ancrage | Section 3: Meet the Team

Meet the team

Two Registered Social Workers. 50+ years of combined experience. One shared commitment: to meet you exactly where you are.

Brigitte Barikage, MSW RSW — Co-Founder, Ancrage Counselling
Co-Founder · Registered Social Worker

Brigitte
Barikage

MSW, RSW · She/Her · EN & FR

Brigitte is a bilingual clinician with 20 years of experience spanning clinical social work, systems navigation, and nonprofit leadership. She specializes in partner violence — supporting both survivors and those seeking to take accountability — alongside individual counselling, addiction, and life transitions.

Her practice is direct, compassionate, and rooted in the belief that people are the experts on their own lives. Brigitte works in both English and French and welcomes Francophone clients across Ontario.

Areas of focus
Partner Violence Survivor Support Addiction Life Transitions Systems Navigation EN & FR
Email Brigitte
Co-Founder · Registered Social Worker · Certified Mediator

Ali
Lienaux

MEd, RSW · He/Him · EN

Ali brings 30+ years of clinical experience as a Registered Social Worker and certified mediator. He specializes in individual counselling, mental health, addiction, family therapy, and mediation — with deep roots in Ontario's youth justice and child welfare systems.

Ali's approach is collaborative and strengths-based — meeting people where they are and building toward what they want. As a certified mediator, he offers structured, neutral support for families and couples navigating conflict and transition.

Areas of focus
Individual Counselling Mediation Family Therapy Addiction Youth Justice Child Welfare
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Ali Lienaux, MEd RSW — Co-Founder, Ancrage Counselling
About Us — Ancrage | Section 4: Why Choose Ancrage
A diverse group of people in a warm, collaborative counselling environment

"Finding your anchor. Grounded in care, rooted in you."

Ancrage — Our guiding tagline

Why choose Ancrage

50+ Years Combined Experience

Not years of reading about systems — years of working inside them. Youth justice, child welfare, health, education, employment. We know these worlds, and we bring that knowledge directly to your care.

Fully Bilingual — English & French

All services are available in English and French — not just navigable, but genuinely fluent. Francophone clients across Ontario can access care entirely in their language.

Specialist in Partner Violence

We are one of few Ontario practices working on both sides of partner violence — supporting survivors with trauma-informed care, and working with those who have caused harm toward genuine accountability.

Virtual-First, Truly Accessible

Secure virtual sessions across all of Ontario, with in-person available in Toronto. Sliding scale fees, free 15-minute consultations, and scheduling designed to work around your life.

Inclusive of All Identities

We are 2SLGBTQ+ affirming and actively inclusive — welcoming clients of all races, ethnicities, ages, family structures, abilities, and backgrounds. You belong here, exactly as you are.

Regulated By OCSWSSW — Ontario College of Social Workers
Privacy Compliance PHIPA & PIPEDA — Full confidentiality protection
Insurance Coverage RSW receipts — accepted by most Ontario benefit plans
Begin Your Journey

You don't have to find
your anchor alone

Whether you're ready to begin or simply curious about what therapy could look like for you — a free, no-pressure 15-minute conversation is always where it starts.

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PHIPA Compliant
OCSWSSW Registered
Sliding Scale Available
Free 15-Min Consult