About Bayridge
Founded in 2000 by Kim Christink, RP. Today, our team of 60+ registered therapists works from six offices in Ontario and online across Ontario and Alberta. Covered by most extended benefit plans.
If you're reading this, something has probably been weighing on you for a while. A marriage that feels further apart every month. A child who isn't coping. Grief that hasn't softened. Anxiety that keeps you up at night. Or just the quiet sense that something has to change.
We believe in the therapeutic process because we've been helped by it ourselves. That belief, and not a business plan, is what Bayridge was built on.
Bayridge began in September 2000, in Burlington's Tyandaga neighbourhood, at the crossroads of two landmarks our founder couldn't see past: the Niagara Escarpment to the north, and Burlington Bay to the south. We took our name from that view. But the work itself began earlier, on a much harder day.
Kim Christink didn't set out to build a counselling practice. Years before Bayridge existed, he was a husband and a father of four young children. Then his wife was tragically killed in a car accident, and the life he'd planned ended in a single moment.
"I was exhausted from tending to my daughter at Sick Kids Hospital while trying to plan a funeral. With my hands trembling with raw nerves, I fumbled to try and clip a bow into my three-year-old's hair, and to adjust my son's tie. Turning my gaze to the lonely backyard, I felt an overwhelming sense of loss and powerlessness. How could I hold onto four pairs of little hands when I had only one pair? I needed just a few moments alone in the house before facing the darkest day of our lives: burying their mother after that horrific car accident. Only the walls bore witness to the wailing of my shattered heart."
What carried Kim through wasn't time or willpower. It was the gentle anchoring of strong therapeutic relationships at the right moments, with people who had done their own work first. That experience became a conviction: "hope and light can be mined from the deepest darkness, as black as coal." And from that conviction came a question Kim still asks every new hire: have you done your own work with the pain life has given you, before sitting across from someone in theirs?
In 2000, Kim opened Bayridge with six therapists and two medical doctors. The intent from day one was a multidisciplinary team (mental, relational, emotional, physical, and spiritual practitioners under one roof), because real people don't experience pain in just one domain. 26 years later, that same model has grown into a clinical team of 60+ professionals serving clients across Ontario in person, and virtually across Ontario and Alberta.
The mission has not shifted. Each year we hire practitioners who possess not only professional degrees, but the personal insight gained from overcoming their own circumstances. We commit to do our own work with life's pain while leaning into the difficult.
We must never waste the pain that life gifts us. For without pain, most of us do not change.
Founder & Executive Director
Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO) · CRPO-Registered Supervisor · Marriage & Family Therapist
Kim has led Bayridge's multidisciplinary team since the day he opened it in September 2000. His dual training (a BSc from the University of Toronto, an M.Div. from the Toronto School of Theology, and a D.Min. from Eastern University in Philadelphia) sits behind the integrative model that makes Bayridge different.
His clinical focus spans individual, couples, and family therapy, with specialist training in EMDR, CBT, EFT, Havening, and Marriage & Family Systems. Kim served for more than seven years as a co-host on the national call-in talk show Night Lite, and is the writer and creator of three Bayridge curricula: the Mood Disorders Program delivered for many years, the Anger Management Program still running today, and the twelve-week I'm Not OK series for men's mental health.
"There is a difference between being 'nice' and being wise. The therapists who help you most are the ones who've sat in the chair themselves."
To be a leading counselling facility that promotes interpersonal growth through the holistic integration of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual development.
Our founder trained in both clinical psychotherapy and theology, and quite a few of our clinicians are comfortable including faith in the work. Our team is multi-faith and multicultural. If you would like faith to play a role in your therapeutic journey, including our dedicated Christian Perspective service, please let us know when selecting your therapist. This lets our Intake Specialist help you find the best fit.
Behind our leadership is a deep bench of disciplines under one roof: psychologists, registered psychotherapists, registered social workers, marriage & family therapists, addiction and mood-disorder specialists, child & youth counsellors, and faith-based, multicultural clinicians. That breadth is what lets us match you to the right specialist, not just the next available one. Meet the full team.
RP · Founder & Executive Director
Individual, couples and family therapy. EMDR, marriage & family systems, Havening.
Director & COO
Operations, and the business that supports our clinicians.
Senior Manager
Senior management oversight across the Bayridge team.
RSSW · Clinical Manager
Clinical intake, free consultations, and therapist matching.
RP · Manager of Clinical Technology & Compliance
Technology that supports client care, and college-regulation compliance.
A few of the practitioners clients meet most often, alongside a deep bench of specialists across the team.
PhD · C.Psych.
Trauma, EMDR, clinical supervision, counsellor education and training.
PhD · C.Psych.
Child, adolescent, and family psychology. Assessment and treatment.
PhD · C.Psych.
Child, adolescent, and family psychology, and psycho-educational assessments.
Director of Bayridge Kids
Children, adolescents, and families. Neural Pathway Integration Program.
Our first office opened in Burlington, where our founder built the team around the conviction that grew out of his own loss. It remains our corporate headquarters today.
Our first satellite office was opened at a therapist's request to serve her own local community. It set the pattern for how we'd grow: led by clinicians who knew their neighbourhoods.
A new office extended care further across the region.
Growth continued into the Niagara Region.
Rising demand brought Bayridge into Peel.
Opened in response to community feedback, to better serve local residents.
When our founder relocated to Muskoka, a new office followed, bringing care to cottage country.
One of our psychologists opened a Bayridge office in her hometown, in a lovingly restored historic building. Brampton followed the same year, extending our reach across Peel.
The pandemic moved our work online almost overnight. We expanded nationally and discovered how well virtual therapy served clients who couldn't easily reach an office.
As more clients chose virtual care for its accessibility and convenience, we consolidated several offices, including Grimsby, Mississauga, Oakville, and Brampton, to focus our in-person footprint where it was needed most.
Our newest office opened to improve access to psychological assessments for clients in northern and remote communities.
Bayridge began with in-person offices across the Golden Horseshoe and beyond. Today we meet most clients online, with in-person care still available at our staffed offices. Wherever you are in Ontario and Alberta, there is a registered Bayridge therapist who can see you.
Head office 
Map thumbnails © OpenStreetMap contributors
Our job is not only the one-on-one session. It's the ongoing work of helping you maintain wellness between appointments, and providing the tools to help you keep growing once therapy ends. So alongside our clinical practice, Bayridge offers free courses, live workshops, and a growing library of mental wellness content, all built by our own clinicians.
Core Service
One-on-one, couples, family, and group therapy delivered by 60+ registered therapists, in person across Ontario or online across Ontario and Alberta.
Free for Everyone
A growing library of free self-led courses and live workshops on resilience, anxiety, parenting, and relationships, open to the public, not just our clients.
Free Resources
Therapeutic video series created by our clinicians, including the I'm Not OK series for men's mental health and our grief and loss curriculum.
A mental health business that only shows up for billable hours isn't a community asset. Over 26 years, we've built a layer of free and funded work that sits alongside our paid practice. Some of it is public, some is quiet, all of it matters.
Overseen by Clinical Manager Nicole Callander (RSSW).
Free guidance, every month
CBT for Anxiety, open across Canada, running since 2022.
Helping participants since 2022
No cost, no gatekeeping, no requirement to be a client.
Free self-led courses
A recognized clinical training site for graduate-level clinicians since 2000.
Training future clinicians
WSIB / CMHP and POC programs supporting clients who could not otherwise access care.
Funded client support
Clinical Manager Nicole Callander is a recurring guest on Lite 92.1 FM.
Ongoing radio presence
Kim Christink and our senior clinicians have spent two decades taking the therapy conversation outside the consulting room. The work below is a snapshot of what's been public, on air, and in front of cameras.
Kim Christink served for more than seven years as a co-host on Night Lite, a national call-in talk show where therapists answered real-time mental health questions from Canadian viewers.
National TV · 7+ years
Clinical Manager Nicole Callander is a recurring radio guest discussing everyday mental health topics for a regional Ontario audience.
Radio · Ongoing
Kim's twelve-week video series for men, created in partnership with public figures speaking openly about mental health. Free on YouTube.
Men's Mental Health · 12 weeks
Written and created by Kim Christink and led today by Clinical Manager Nicole Callander; runs in clinical practice and through our free courses.
Clinical Curriculum · Current
Kim's grief curriculum, developed for individuals, churches, and support groups walking through loss. Free on YouTube.
Grief & Loss Curriculum
A twelve-week curriculum written and created by Kim, delivered through Bayridge for many years and foundational to how our clinicians approach mood disorders today.
Clinical Curriculum · Legacy
Sessions with our registered therapists are covered by most extended health and workplace benefit plans. Not sure what yours includes? We're happy to help you check before you book.
Two things. First, our founding: Bayridge was started in 2000 by a therapist who built it out of his own grief, which shaped a hiring philosophy we still hold. We look for clinicians who have done their own work with life's pain, not just earned a degree. Second, our breadth: 60+ registered therapists across nearly every modality and specialty, so we can match you to the right person rather than fitting you to whomever is available.
You don't have to do this on your own. Our Intake Specialist will listen to what you need and the kind of therapist you're looking for, then put together a small selection of clinicians for you to consider. If you're still uncertain, our Clinical Manager, Nicole Callander (RSSW), offers a free 20-minute consultation. She'll listen, ask a few practical questions, and match you with a therapist whose training and style are a good fit. If the first match isn't right, we'll make sure to find someone who is.
Yes. Every Bayridge therapist holds current registration with their regulatory college: the CRPO, OCSWSSW, or the CPBAO. Our founder is a CRPO-Registered Supervisor and an Approved Supervisor with the Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and we are a recognized clinical training site for several universities, which keeps our standards of supervision and practice high.
Whichever one you'll actually show up for. Research shows online and in-person therapy produce similar outcomes for most concerns. In-person helps when relational presence matters most, such as couples work and complex trauma. Online works well for busy schedules and rural clients. Phone is a quiet lifesaver for clients who can't do video. You can mix formats across sessions, and many clients do.
The first session is mostly about getting to know you. Your therapist will ask what brought you in, what you're hoping for, and a bit of background, then talk through how you might work together. You set the pace. There's no expectation to share more than you're ready to, and your therapist will explain confidentiality and how PHIPA protects what you discuss.
Not at all. We offer a dedicated Christian Perspective service for clients who want faith included, but most of our work is secular and evidence-based. Our team is multi-faith and multicultural. Let your Intake Specialist know during your intake if you'd like faith included in your therapy. We will follow your lead. Clients of all backgrounds, beliefs, and orientations are welcome.
Tell us what you're facing and we'll match you with the right therapist. No forms, no referral needed.
