A S S O C I A T E T H E R A P I S T
Understanding yourself can change the way you move through your life.
Therapy that makes room for your mental health, relationships, culture, and the realities of the life you’re navigating.
Daniella Morga
Registered Social Worker
A L I T T L E A B O U T M E
Before becoming a Registered Social Worker in Ontario, Daniella trained and worked as a psychologist in the Philippines. Today, she also works within an Ontario Family Health Team, bringing together experience in psychology, psychotherapy, and interdisciplinary healthcare.
Working across cultures and healthcare systems has shaped how she sees mental health: within the context of personal experiences, relationships, health, work, family, culture, and the experiences that shape us collectively, such as environmental events, war or political unrest, racism, oppression, systemic violence, colonization, displacement and migration.
At Growth Psychotherapy, Daniella endeavors to understand the full picture with you. Not just what’s heavy and painful, but also what has shaped the way you’ve learned to respond to it.
W H A T I T ’ S L I K E T O W O R K W I T H M E
Relational
I believe healing happens in relationships where you can feel safe, respected, and increasingly able to be yourself, even if getting there feels nakakailang at first.
Contextual
We’ll understand what you’re experiencing within the bigger picture, including family, culture, relationships, migration, identity, and the systems and experiences that have shaped your life.
Liberating
Therapy isn’t about telling you who you should be; it’s about understanding what has shaped you, reconnecting with your own wisdom, and creating more room to choose what feels right for you.
Therapy isn’t about giving you a formula to follow. Together, we’ll understand what has shaped you while creating more room to choose what feels right for you now.
M A K I N G H O M E W H I L E B E C O M I N G
I was born, raised, and became an adult in the Philippines before making a new home in Canada. I understand how values like pakikisama, hiya, utang na loob, respect for elders, and responsibility to family can shape the way we relate to others, make decisions, and understand our place within the family.
Moving between cultures can bring new questions: How do I set boundaries without feeling guilty? How do I make choices for myself while honouring the people who matter to me? Which parts of what I grew up with still feel like mine, and which am I ready to understand differently?
Therapy can make room for your Filipino-ness, your family, your values, and the person you're still becoming, without asking you to choose between them.
Therapy in English, Tagalog, or Taglish.
A R E A S I W O R K I N
Caregiving and Helper Roles Chronic Illnesses
Filipino-Canadians
Cultural and Family Expectations Identity and Self-Worth
Work Stress and Burnout
Immigration and Adjustment Stress and Overwhelm
Grief and Loss
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Master of Social Work - University of Western Ontario
Certificate in Psychodynamic Therapy - National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (New York, USA)
Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies - Trauma Research Foundation
EMDR Basics - Niagara Stress and Trauma Clinic
Working with Parts: An Introduction to Internal Family Systems Therapy - Emmaus Center
Emotion Focused Individual Therapy - ICEEFT
B E Y O N D T H E T H E R A P Y R O O M
Always in motion
Movement and adventure have always been part of my life. I've played basketball, ultimate frisbee, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I'm a member of a mountaineering club in the Philippines. I even had a short stint as a volunteer mountain guide.
Chasing summits
I've climbed mountains across the Philippines, including Mount Apo and the Batad Rice Terraces, but Mount Purgatory in Benguet remains my favourite. There's something about being outdoors, moving toward a summit, and sharing the experience with others that keeps calling me back.
Some things are non-negotiable
Kare-kare needs bagoong. Kangkong belongs in sinigang. And Filipino highland coffee from Cordillera, Benguet, and Bukidnon is still hard to beat. Moving to Canada hasn't changed my mind about any of these.
Funnier in Filipino
I was born, raised, and became an adult in Metro Manila, so most of my pop-culture references are still very Pinoy. I've also discovered that I'm much funnier in Filipino, or at least I'd like to think so.
Always room for pets
I've had many pets over the years, including two aspins, five puspins, and even an itik. Animals have been such a constant part of my life that a home with them around has always felt a little more like home.
Still becoming
Moving to Canada has meant getting to know a new version of myself while staying connected to the person and places that shaped me. I'm learning that we're never really finished becoming, and that there can be something exciting about not having it all figured out yet.