Will Tanner, MSW, RSW (he/they)

My Approach

I’m a Registered Social Worker offering integrative therapy for adolescents and adults. Drawing on both depth-oriented and skills-based approaches, I help clients work through anxiety, depression, addiction, and life transitions while exploring the deeper patterns that shape emotion, identity, and connection. My work is grounded in warmth, curiosity, and a belief in each person’s capacity for growth and wholeness.

From the start of my career, I’ve been drawn to the ways people find strength, meaning, and connection in the face of hardship. Working in shelters, day programs, and addiction treatment settings, I witnessed moments of profound resilience—small sparks of hope in situations that seemed overwhelming. Those early experiences, along with my own process of growth and self-discovery, deepened my belief that healing happens in the presence of genuine connection and understanding. Over time, my work led me into community mental health, clinical inpatient counselling, and psychotherapy, each shaping how I approach walking alongside someone on their journey toward transformation. Today, this translates into an integrative depth orientation: tending to immediate concerns while also exploring the patterns, stories, and protective strategies that lie beneath symptoms.

My Experience

I hold a Master’s of Social Work from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, where I specialised in mental health practice. I also hold an Advanced Diploma in Child and Youth Work and a Bachelor of Child and Youth Care with Honours from Humber College. I am a registered member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW) and a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW). I have completed practicums at Toronto Western Hospital and St. Joseph’s Health Centre. Alongside my psychotherapeutic practice, I work on an Assertive Community Treatment Team at University Health Network—experience that keeps my work grounded, collaborative, and whole-person.

My clinical training includes education in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), addictions counselling, anti-racism, and neurocognitive modalities (CBT/DBT). I am also completing a 30-week certificate program at the Toronto Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. In practice, I integrate stabilising, skills-based tools with depth work that attends to formative experiences, attachment, identity, and unconscious dynamics. My approach is eclectic and client-centred, grounded in anti-oppressive practice, trauma-informed care, existential exploration, and self-discovery. At the heart of the work is a highly relational style—building a strong, authentic therapeutic relationship where clients feel truly seen, heard, and respected.

Whether supporting someone through a crisis or working together over the long term, my goal is to bring warmth, compassion, and curiosity to help people uncover and strengthen their own capacity for change—so that relief in the present is paired with lasting, meaningful growth.