The North Star
The North Star is a constant, guiding star that for centuries, has provided travelers direction during dark nights, providing a safe arrival to their destination.
"If you are lost in a forest at night you can follow the North Star to find your way out. You follow the North Star, but your goal is to get back home."
Thich Nhat Hanh
North Star Counselling and Wellness Services
North Star Counselling and Wellness uses a virtual platform for Ontario residents.
I provide individual counselling for men, trans men, male youth ages 14 and up, family counselling and group work.
Areas of intervention include working with men who want to focus on:
- Trauma and abuse
- Emotional wellness
- Dealing with adverse childhood experiences
- Enhanced communication skills and improved self-expression
- Relationship issues
- Setting healthy boundaries
- Parenting issues
- Work-life stress
- Grief and loss
- Mental health
- Healthy expressions of masculinity
- Navigating life change
- Finding meaning in your life journey
- Developing self-regulation skills
- Practicing mindfulness
- Developing compassion for self and others
I have over 30 years experience providing family counselling.
Areas of intervention:
- Helping families develop healthy communication patterns
- Supporting families with loss and change
- Assisting families in developing more empathy for each other
- Supporting families whose chidren have school related issues
- Assisting blended families
- Teaching zones of being for better self -awareness
I do not provide assessments or reports. On some occasions I provide letters summarizing my clinical involvement.
If you are in an immediate mental health crises please reach out to:
Telehealth Ontario: 1-866-797-0000
Ottawa Crisis Line: 613-238-3311 or 613-722-6914
Mental Health Crises Line::
1-866-996-0991
Youth Services Bureau: 1-613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775
Starting counselling
Free 15 minute consultation
Free 15 minute consultation
Free 15 minute consultation
I offer free 15 minute consultations by phone to ensure there is a good fit and give you basic information about my counselling.
Please leave your phone number and best times to reach you in your message. Please advise me if I can leave a voice mail on your phone.
Do not put any personal or detailed information in the email. No counselling occurs during the consultation.
You can contact me at:
I look forward to hearing from you.
Larry Gauthier MSW RSW
Free 15 minute consultation
Free 15 minute consultation
In the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, I would like to acknowledge that I work and live on ancestral and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. I am grateful to the Algonquin ancestors who cared for and continue to care for the land and water.
My work is:
- Trauma informed
- Attachment based
- Confidential
- Acceptance and commitment therapy based (ACT)
- Compassion based
- Culturally sensitive
- Mindfulness based therapy (MBT)
- Embodiment based
- Anti-oppressive and structural framework
- LGBTTQIA allied
- Anti-racist
- Pro feminist
- Intersectionality aware
- Holistic
- Nature based
- Online/virtual
Previous Employment:
School Board Social Worker
Provided mental health/well-being counselling and supported students and families. I received a Directors Citation Award and a Diversity Award.
Co-founder of The Men's Project
I offered individual and family counselling services to men who experienced trauma and abuse and facilitated group work. I received a Governor Generals Meritious medal for this pioneering work.
Men and Healing
I provided virtual individual and family counselling, facilitated recurring men's groups focused on emotional wholeness and healthy expressions of the emotional self. I also worked with an agency who support men on parole.
Your Healing Journey
Free 15 minute consultation
Individual Counselling
" Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it." Tori Amos
"Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen. " Brene Brown
"Our wounds are often openings into the best and most beautiful part of us."
David Richo
Individual Counselling
Individual Counselling
Individual Counselling
For men/trans men and male youth who want a safe, non judgmental place to talk, reach out: Larryg.northstar@gmail.com
Group work
Individual Counselling
Family Counselling
Online groups for men focusing on emotional wholeness and compassion. Groups run for two hours, once a week for 8 weeks. Please contact me to be added to the waitlist.
Family Counselling
Individual Counselling
Family Counselling
Is your family going through stress or change? Is it difficult to maintain healthy communication patterns? Are you concerned about your family? Reach out.
North Star Values
Acknowledging Intersectionality
Acknowledging Intersectionality
Acknowledging Intersectionality
Intersectionality is the unfairly oppressive and unrelenting weight of discrimination lived by people who are part of two or more marginalized groups. Intersectionality relates to systems of power and include race, class, gender and orientation.
LGBTTQIA Allied
Acknowledging Intersectionality
Acknowledging Intersectionality
"We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are."
Marsha P Johnson
Every Child Matters
Acknowledging Intersectionality
Every Child Matters
"Reconciliation is not a one-time event- it is an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and commitment."
Murray Sinclair
BIPOC
About Class
Every Child Matters
The systemic injustices that Black, Indigenous and People of Color experience.
"It is within collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism."
Angela Y Davis
"White fragility should never be held in higher regard than black lives."
Rachel Cargal
Abelism
About Class
About Class
Abelism is oppression. It can be institutional, interpersonal and internalized.
Inclusion is intentional. It's about identifying and removing barriers so that everyone can participate to the best of their ability. Not all disabilities are visible.
About Class
About Class
About Class
"There's shame about being poor or working class. Nobody wants to admit the difficulties that come with being of a lower class income."
Deborah Dundas
"Shame is the most persistent attribute of contemporary poverty."
Jeremy Seabrook
Intimate Partner Violence (I.P.V.)
Intimate Partner Violence (I.P.V.)
Intimate Partner Violence (I.P.V.)
The Renfrew County council passed a motion on March 31st 2023, stating that I.P.V. and violence against women is an epidemic. They also mention, that 52 women in Ontario have been killed by their partner in the past year.
While there is no denying the scope of this problem, there is another narrative that is going on as well.
- 20 % of all I.P.V. cases reported in Canada were against men (Conroy 2021)
- In the last few years I.P.V. cases against men are increasing by 10% (Conroy 2021)
- 44% of women reported psychological abuse in their relationship with men, while 35% of men reported psychological abuse in their relationship with women. (StatsCan 2021)
While men need to be accountable for their behavior, relational abuse is not exclusively a women's issue. My counselling practice acknowledges this.