About Us
Our Approach
Courageous Families was created from decades of clinical work with adolescents, young adults, parents, and families navigating complex mental health, substance use, relational, and developmental challenges.
Our team brings together family systems thinking, experiential therapy, clinical education, coaching, and a deep respect for the strengths already present within every family.
What We Believe
Therapy is more than what happens in a therapy room
Meaningful change happens through relationship, experience, education, and a belief in what is possible.
3. Therapy is Experience + Education
Insight alone is rarely enough. We combine meaningful therapeutic experiences with clear teaching, practical tools, and opportunities to practice new ways of relating. You will understand what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how to continue using it outside therapy.
5. You Won't Be Left in the Dark
Families should not feel lost in treatment. We provide a clear assessment, share our understanding of what is happening, develop a treatment plan with you, and continually help you understand the direction of the work. Our goal is to make ourselves increasingly unnecessary as your family becomes more capable, confident, and connected.
Our work is grounded in five core beliefs.
Meet the Founder & Clinical Director
Dr. Victoria L. Creighton, PsyD, CPsych
Victoria is a registered clinical psychologist, educator, clinical supervisor, and family therapist with more than 30 years of experience working with adolescents, young adults, parents, and families.
She served as Director of Clinical Training and Family Services at Pine River Institute, focusing on clinical practice, family programming, parent education, and the integration of families throughout treatment. Prior to this role, she spent 14 years as Pine River’s Clinical Director, helping to develop and lead its developmental and family-systems approach to adolescent treatment.
Victoria’s clinical approach was shaped by her early work and training in a therapeutic school for adolescents and further strengthened through 10 years of training with Dr. Maria Gomori in the Satir Model of Family Therapy. She also teaches and supervises emerging clinicians at Adler Graduate Professional School in Toronto, with a focus on family therapy and adolescent development, and has worked internationally in clinical leadership, family therapy, and program development with Echo Springs Portugal.
After decades of working alongside families through crisis, conflict, addiction, mental health challenges, and profound change, Victoria believes that good therapy is not about creating dependence on a therapist. It is about helping people understand themselves and one another, reconnect with their strengths and values, and develop the confidence and capacity to navigate life increasingly well on their own.
That belief is at the heart of Courageous Families. For Victoria, courage is more than bravery. It is the capacity to find our way back to our centre... To remain connected to the truth of who we are particularly when life becomes difficult.
Her hope for Courageous Families is simple: to help individuals and families connect, heal, and transform, leaving them stronger, more confident, and better able to find their own way.
Meet the Founder & Clinical Director
Dr. Victoria L. Creighton, PsyD, CPsych
Dr. Victoria Creighton is a registered clinical psychologist, family therapist, educator, and clinical supervisor with more than 30 years of experience working with adolescents, young adults, parents, and families.
At the heart of Victoria’s work is the belief that meaningful change rarely happens by focusing on one person in isolation. Young people grow within families and relationships, and lasting change often requires the people around them to grow as well. Her work helps families look beneath behaviour, understand the patterns shaping their relationships, and have the courageous conversations that make deeper connection possible.
Victoria spent 14 years as Clinical Director of Pine River Institute and later served as Director of Clinical Training and Family Services, helping develop and lead its developmental and family-systems approach to adolescent treatment. Her clinical foundation was shaped by early work in a therapeutic school for adolescents and 10 years of training with Dr. Maria Gomori in the Satir Model of Family Therapy. She is also a Professor at Adler Graduate Professional School in Toronto and has worked internationally with Echo Springs Portugal.
After decades of working alongside families through conflict, addiction, mental health challenges, and profound change, Victoria has learned that lasting change is rarely about fixing one person. She believes the best therapy builds capacity rather than dependence, helping people understand themselves and one another, reconnect with their strengths and values, and navigate difficult moments with greater clarity, courage, and connection.
This belief is at the heart of Courageous Families. For Victoria, courage is the willingness to stay present when things are hard, have the conversations we would rather avoid, and find our way back to ourselves and one another. Her hope is that families leave the work not only feeling better, but knowing themselves better, stronger, more connected, and more confident in their own capacity.
Meet our Team
Erin is a Registered Psychotherapist with over 7 years of experience working with adolescents, young adults, adults, and families across private practice, inpatient treatment, and therapeutic programming.
Her approach is relational, trauma-informed, and experiential, drawing from Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR, DBT, attachment and family therapy, and somatic practices. She is also trained in EAGALA equine-assisted learning and therapy and is a Registered Yoga Teacher, incorporating experiential and mind-body approaches when they support a client’s goals.
At the heart of Erin’s work is a belief that understanding creates compassion—and compassion creates room for responsibility. She believes therapy can offer a place to tell the truth about the parts of ourselves we may feel ashamed of, without those parts becoming the definition of who we are.
For Erin, there is an important distinction between what we do and who we are. Compassion does not mean excusing harmful behaviour or removing responsibility. Instead, it creates enough safety to understand what shaped us, take ownership of what is ours, and choose what we want to do differently
Tamara came to psychotherapy as a second career. After working in branding and marketing, she chose to pursue what had long felt like her true calling: supporting people through life's challenges and helping them create more connected, fulfilling relationships.
Her approach is grounded in relational and family therapy, with particular experience working with parents and adolescents. As the mother of two adolescent daughters, she also brings a personal appreciation for the joys, complexities, and constant evolution of family life.
Central to Tamara's approach is the belief that the quality of our relationships with others is closely connected to the relationship we have with ourselves. Our challenges do not occur in isolation; we are shaped by our relationships, family histories, environments, and the stories we carry about ourselves.
Liz is a Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Couple and Family Therapist with more than 30 years of experience working with children, adolescents, adults, parents, and families.
For 15 years, Liz worked in publicly funded community mental health services in Guelph and Wellington County in clinical, supervisory, and leadership roles across child, youth, and family services.
In 2012, Liz joined Pine River Institute, initially working directly with youth as a therapist and later serving as Director of the Family Program, where she supported parents and families navigating adolescent mental health, substance use, relationships, and change.
Throughout her career, Liz has had a particular passion for strengthening the role of families within mental health treatment. She has extensive experience providing training and consultation to clinicians and organizations on parenting, family work, and the development of meaningful family supports within mental health programs.
Liz brings a depth of clinical experience, a strong family-systems perspective, and a practical understanding of what families need when life becomes complicated. She helps people understand patterns, strengthen relationships, and develop the confidence and capacity to move forward.
In addition to her work with Courageous Families, Liz provides therapy, clinical consultation, and training through her private practice, Creekside Therapy.