Helping children and teens feel understood, connected and confident as they grow.
Willow Tree Mind & Wellness is a child and family wellness clinic in East Toronto. We provide individual, group and family support to help children and youth strengthen emotional wellness, social connection, executive functioning, confidence and the practical skills they need for everyday life.
Our relationship-first, strengths-based approach is designed to support the whole child, including children and teens with autism, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental differences.
Support That Begins With Understanding The Whole Child
Children’s needs do not always fit neatly into one category.
Worries may affect school participation.
Executive functioning challenges may look like a lack of motivation.
Social difficulties may affect confidence, emotional regulation or a child’s sense of belonging.
At Willow Tree, we look beyond a single behaviour, diagnosis or difficult moment.
We take the time to understand your child’s strengths, needs, relationships and everyday experiences so that support can be practical, meaningful and built around who they are.
Helping children, teens and families across the moments that matter!
How We Help Children and Families Thrive
Children’s needs are often interconnected. We offer support across emotional wellness, relationships, executive functioning, neurodivergent development, confidence and family life.
Emotional Wellness
Support with anxiety, big feelings, coping, confidence and emotional regulation.
Friendships and Connection
Building social understanding, authentic connection and a greater sense of belonging.
Confidence and Identity
Helping children understand themselves, recognize their strengths and develop self-advocacy.
Executive Functioning and ADHD
Support with attention, organization, flexibility, routines and school success.
Parent and Family Support
Practical guidance that helps families understand needs and support progress beyond sessions.
Neurodivergent Support
Affirming support for autistic children, teens and youth with different ways of thinking and learning.
Support Built Around the Whole Child
We believe meaningful growth begins when children feel safe, understood and accepted for who they are. Our approach looks beyond a diagnosis, behaviour or difficult moment to understand the whole child and provide support that connects to everyday life.
THE WILLOW TREE DIFFERENCE
OUR APPROACH
Thoughtful Support, Grounded in What Children Need
Our approach brings together evidence-informed practice with a deep respect for each child’s individuality. Support is thoughtfully adapted to the child, family and goals, rather than expecting every child to learn, communicate or participate in the same way.
Relationship-First
We begin by creating safety, building trust and developing a genuine connection with each learner.
Strengths-Based
We recognize what is already working and use each child’s interests, abilities and strengths to support meaningful growth.
Trauma-Informed
We approach behaviour with curiosity and compassion, prioritize emotional and physical safety and avoid shame-based or coercive practices.
Neurodiversity-Affirming
We support Neurodivergent children and youth in understanding themselves, communicating their needs and building skills without asking them to hide or change who they are.
Evidence-Informed
Our team utilizes current research from Positive Psychology, Child Development, Social Work and Behavioural Sciences and applies these strategies individually to the clients we support.
Family-Centred
We value caregivers as essential partners and consider what is realistic, meaningful and sustainable within everyday family life.
SUPPORT AT EVERY STAGE
Children Should Not Have to Reach a Crisis Before Receiving Support
Some families reach out when challenges are already affecting everyday life. Others notice early signs that their child may benefit from additional support, or simply want to strengthen skills, confidence and connection as their child grows.
At Willow Tree, we believe support can be meaningful at any stage. We help children and families build practical skills early, while also meeting them with compassion when challenges have become more difficult to manage.
Wherever your family is beginning, our focus is not only on what feels hard right now. We want to help your child develop the confidence, relationships and skills they can continue using as they grow.
You do not need to wait until things feel unmanageable to ask for support.
OUR STORY
How Willow Tree Began
Willow Tree began with a shared belief that children and families deserved support that felt both clinically meaningful and genuinely welcoming.
The Birch Cliff Village born and raised sisters Kristin and Andrea Bain, brought that vision to life in 2023 through their first group therapy program Mindful Insights for Kids, originally running out of Variety Village. What began as a small community program has since grown into a child and family wellness clinic offering individual services, group programs, parent support and community education!
The sisters’ personal understanding of ADHD also helped shape Willow Tree’s commitment to supporting different ways of thinking, learning and experiencing the world with empathy and respect.
As a Registered Behaviour Analyst with a Master’s Degree in Disability Studies, and a background in mental health and child development, Kristin brought a unique perspective to the creation of Willow Tree. She wanted to create proactive mental wellness programs that helped children build practical skills from a young age, including the kinds of support she wishes had been available to her growing up.
She also believed that meaningful skill development should be fun, engaging and built around activities children genuinely enjoy. Most importantly, support should never exist only within the walls of a clinic. Skills become truly meaningful when children can use them to feel more confident, connected and capable at home, at school and in their everyday lives.
Willow Tree is where fun and connection meet meaningful growth!
Willow Tree has grown significantly since that first group, but its purpose has remained the same: to create meaningful opportunities for children to build confidence, connection and the skills they need to thrive as they grow.
WHAT GUIDES OUR WORK
Our Mission
To help children, youth and families build confidence, connection and practical skills through engaging, evidence-informed support that respects each child’s strengths, needs and way of experiencing the world.
Our Vision
To transform how we understand and support children’s mental wellness, creating a future where every family can access proactive, preventative support and every child has the skills, confidence and connection they need to thrive in everyday life.
Our Team
Our team brings experience across children’s mental health, social work, child development, education, developmental psychology, and behavioural sciences.
We work collaboratively while ensuring each service is thoughtfully shaped around the individual child, their family and the goals that matter most in everyday life.
✓ Individual, group and family support
Multiple ways to support children and families based on their needs.
✓ Specialized experience supporting autistic and ADHD youth
Affirming support informed by neurodivergence, development and mental wellness.
✓ Two East Toronto Locations
Woodbine and Danforth (East York)
Main and Gerrard (Upper Beaches)
A welcoming clinic serving children, teens and families across East Toronto.
GETTING STARTED
A Clear and Supportive Place to Begin
You do not need to know exactly what kind of support your child needs before reaching out. Our Client and Family Services Team will take the time to understand what you are looking for, answer your questions and help you explore the most appropriate next step.
Not sure where to begin? Try our Family Service Navigator Quiz