Get to know us
Thanara Rajakulendran, M.Sc
Psychological Associate (Supervised Practice)
she/her
Thanara Rajakulendran is a Psychological Associate, in Supervised Practice, registered with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO). She currently provides therapy to adults, under the supervision of Dr. Natalie Michel.
Training & Experience
Thanara is a Psychological Associate (Supervised Practice) currently completing her doctoral training in Counselling Psychology at the University of Toronto. Additionally, she possesses an academic background in biology and genetics which she brings to her clinical practice. Her passion in understanding how hormones, neurochemistry, and genetic makeup influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviours guides her therapeutic approach into a biopsychosocial framework. Her clinical and research experience spans several prominent institutions, including Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, Surrey Place, the Peel District School Board, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), equipping her with a broad and nuanced understanding of mental health from both scientific and applied perspectives, enhancing her ability to tailor interventions to individual client needs.
Her research interests are deeply rooted in the neurobiological underpinnings of empathy and how cultivating empathy can be a powerful catalyst for healing. Drawing from a diverse professional background across multiple fields, Thanara has co-authored seven publications that reflect the unique perspectives and interdisciplinary insights gained throughout her varied career journey. This rich experience informs both her research and clinical work.
Beyond her clinical and research work, Thanara serves on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Psychological Association and is actively engaged in advocacy for the field of psychology. She is committed to creating safe, collaborative, and affirming spaces where clients feel seen and supported. Her goal is to empower clients to deepen self-understanding, process difficult emotions, and foster healing, resilience, and personal growth.
Approach to Care
“My clients find our sessions are effective in gently challenging them to deepen their self-awareness, and supporting them in building the courage within to bring about meaningful changes.” – Thanara
Thanara brings a neurobiologically informed lens to her work, recognizing that healing is rooted in the regulation of the nervous system as much as in the mind. From the very first session, she pays close attention to how a client’s body shows up, their breathing, posture, and subtle shifts in energy, as windows into their autonomic state. By helping clients track these signals, she guides them in shifting out of fight-flight-freeze patterns and into states of safety and social engagement, where true growth can occur.
At the same time, Thanara believes that our earliest attachment experiences shape the interpersonal patterns we carry into adulthood. In therapy, she works with clients to map out the relational scripts, how they learned to connect, protect themselves, and get their needs met, that may keep them stuck in old loops of anxiety, withdrawal, or conflict. Through compassionate curiosity and secure attunement, she aims to offer a corrective relational experience: one that shows clients what it feels like to be met, understood, and co-regulated, so they can gradually bring that capacity into their most important relationships.
Whether using structured exercises to practice new ways of relating and regulating, or diving more deeply into the stories and emotions that underlie habitual patterns, Thanara’s goal is always the same: to stitch together mind, brain, body, and heart into an integrated sense of safety, connection, and agency. In this co-creative process, clients gain insight into the neurobiological roots of their struggles, learn concrete tools to reshape those patterns, and cultivate the relational resilience that allows them to step more fully into a life marked by presence, authenticity, and ease.
Client Goals & Concerns
Thanara works with clients navigating a wide range of goals and concerns, including:
- Self-exploration and personal growth
- Emotion awareness and regulation
- Anxiety Disorders
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Depression and low mood
- Relationship challenges and attachment concerns
- Communication and boundary-setting
- Perfectionism and self-criticism
- Self-esteem and identity
- Stress, burnout, and life transitions
- Parenting stress and adjusting to a child’s diagnosis (medical or mental health)
- Navigating cultural identity or intergenerational differences
- Adjustment to health-related or psychological diagnoses
- Interpersonal sensitivity or conflict
- Feeling emotionally overwhelmed or disconnected
Thanara also has a special interest in working with young adults and caregivers, and in helping clients who are exploring how their biology, environment, and lived experiences intersect to shape their mental health and well-being.
Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Mindfulness Based Therapy (MBCT)
- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
- Emotional-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-based interventions