You're here because something needs to change, and you're done pretending it doesn't.

Maybe you've been in therapy before and it helped - to a point. Maybe you meditate, journal, read all the books, and still find yourself stuck in the same patterns. Maybe desire feels mismatched, intimacy feels out of reach, or shame keeps showing up in places you thought you'd healed. Maybe you and your partner feel more like roommates than lovers, or the same fights keep looping without resolution. Maybe you're carrying more than you know how to hold and you need someone who can be with you in that without trying to rush you out of it.

I'm Billey Albina, a sex- and body-positive clinical social worker. I work with individuals and couples - across all relationship structures and identities - who are ready to do the deeper work of actually changing, not just understanding why things are hard.

I came to this work through my own years of sitting, practicing, and learning what it actually takes to metabolize pain instead of bypassing it. I trained in Buddhist psychology because I kept seeing the gap between people's spiritual practice and their lived experience - the way we can know something intellectually or even spiritually and still be caught in old survival patterns. I studied trauma-informed and somatic approaches because the body holds what the mind can't yet process, and real healing requires both.

This isn't work I do from a distance. I know what it's like to navigate systems that weren't built for you. To carry shame about your body, your desire, your way of being in the world. To feel like you're doing everything "right" and still struggling. To want desperately to change and also be terrified of what that means.

My approach

I work slowly, with warmth and curiosity. Not because I don't think you can handle more, but because rushing is how we learned to abandon ourselves in the first place. We stay with what's actually happening in your body, in the room, in the moment. We notice the ways your nervous system is still responding to old threats. We make space for whatever needs to surface - anger, grief, fear, numbness, desire, shame - without pathologizing any of it.

I draw from Buddhist psychology, Emotions Focused Therapy, somatics and attachment theory. But more than any particular method, I'm interested in helping you develop a different relationship with your own experience. One where you don't have to fix, transcend, or spiritually bypass what you're feeling. One where you can trust yourself again.

In our work together, you'll learn practical tools for communication, boundary-setting, and staying grounded in your body, while also exploring the deeper emotional patterns that shape intimacy, trust, and desire. We'll look at what's getting in the way of closeness - whether that's anxiety, shame, performance pressure, or long-standing patterns that no longer serve you.

Training & Credentials

I hold a Master of Social Work and am a Registered Social Worker in the Province of Ontario. I've completed additional training in:

• Emotions Focused Therapy
• Buddhist psychology and meditation instruction
• Trauma-informed care
• Somatic practices
• Couples Therapy
• Erectile Dysfunction
• Sex-positive and LGBTQ+-affirming practice

I maintain a regular meditation practice and continue my own therapy and supervision, because this work asks me to stay awake to my own patterns and edges.

Who I work with

I work with individuals and couples across all relationship structures - monogamous, polyamorous, open, and everything in between. I work with queer folks, trans folks, people exploring their gender identity or expression (including through drag), and anyone navigating what it means to show up authentically in a world that often asks you to shrink. Your unique dynamics and connections are welcomed and respected here.

I work best with people who:

• Have done some inner work already and are ready to go deeper
• Can tolerate discomfort without needing immediate relief
• Are willing to slow down and stay curious
• Want honesty over reassurance
• Are committed to their own healing, even when it's hard

I'm not a good fit if you're looking for quick fixes, symptom management without deeper inquiry, or someone who will tell you what to do.

A note on approach

I come to this work with a lived understanding of what it means to navigate systems that weren't built for you. I work from an anti-oppressive, justice-oriented framework that recognizes how much of our individual pain is tied to collective trauma and structural harm.

Your pain is real and it's also not just about you. Both things are true.

Practical details

I see individuals and couples via secure telehealth. Sessions are 50 minutes for individuals, 75 minutes for couples. I work with adults 18+.

Sessions are currently offered via online video platform. I do not take insurance nor can I provide Superbill or other receipts for insurance. I do not take Medicaid/Medicare, OHIP, UHIP or any state/provincial insurance.

If you're interested in working together, email billeyalbina@proton.me and we'll schedule a brief consultation call to see if it's a good fit.