About Ron
Ron Fast
About my work:
Therapy begins with a genuine, caring relationship where you feel understood, accepted, and supported. Using a relational and experiential approach grounded in Emotion-Focused Therapy, I help clients better understand their emotions, develop greater self-compassion, and create meaningful, lasting change that aligns with their values.
For me, therapy begins with a genuine, caring relationship. I aim to create a space in which you feel understood, accepted, and supported, especially during times when it may be difficult to offer yourself that same understanding.
My approach is relational and experiential. Together, we will explore not only what has happened in your life, but also what you are feeling and experiencing in the present moment. I believe emotions carry important information about our needs, values, relationships, and patterns. Rather than trying to change who you are, therapy offers an opportunity to understand yourself more fully, develop greater self-compassion, and live in ways that feel more authentic and aligned with your values.
My primary approach is Emotion-Focused Therapy, and I also draw from family-systems, psychodynamic, mindfulness-based, and attachment-informed perspectives. Where appropriate, I may integrate EMDR-informed work. Rather than relying on one specific model, I consider what is most responsive to each individual, their goals, culture, and way of making sense of their experiences.
Before becoming a therapist, I worked as a classroom teacher, where I discovered that the conversations I found most meaningful were the quieter, one-to-one moments supporting people as they made sense of difficult experiences. That ultimately led me toward psychotherapy.
Having lived and worked across several countries, including maintaining a private practice in Japan, I have developed a deep appreciation for the ways culture, language, identity, migration, and belonging shape emotional life. I remain curious about how each person’s background influences both the challenges they face and the strengths they bring.
One of the greatest privileges of this work is witnessing people develop a more compassionate and honest relationship with themselves. I see my role not as directing change, but as helping create the conditions in which greater self-understanding, authenticity, and emotional growth can emerge.
Ron has more than 25 years of experience working with adolescents, adults, couples, and families. He earned a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2002 and practised for most of his career as a psychologist licensed in Australia before becoming a Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario.
Ron has lived and worked in South Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Myanmar, and Switzerland. His work with expatriate and local communities has given him extensive experience supporting clients from varied cultural backgrounds. He draws from Emotion-Focused Therapy, EMDR, psychodynamic therapy, family systems, and mindfulness-based approaches.
Modalities I use:
- Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Family Systems Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Mindfulness-Based Therapy
- Attachment-Informed Therapy
- EMDR-informed Therapy
Experience:
Ron has more than 25 years of experience working with adolescents, adults, couples, and families. He earned a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2002 and practised for most of his career as a psychologist licensed in Australia before becoming a Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario.
Ron has lived and worked in South Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Myanmar, and Switzerland. His work with expatriate and local communities has given him extensive experience supporting clients from varied cultural backgrounds. He draws from Emotion-Focused Therapy, EMDR, psychodynamic therapy, family systems, and mindfulness-based approaches.
What it's like to work with me:
- A warm, collaborative space
- An engaged therapeutic style
- Curiosity over judgement
- Room for warmth and humour
Life outside work:
Ron has lived in numerous countries including Australia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, Philippines, India, Myanmar, and Switzerland. He values the perspective that comes from becoming part of unfamiliar cultures, roles, and communities. These experiences have given him a personal appreciation for the uncertainty of transition and the importance of relationships in which people can be vulnerable and increasingly themselves.
Ron also practises yoga and has participated in Vipassana meditation retreats. Both help him slow down, become more present, and make time to process experience without distraction.
Our Mission
We support courageous humans in reconnecting with their inner wisdom and restoring a sense of wholeness -- through transformational therapy that honours the connections between body, mind, spirit, and energy. Our relational, intuitive approach helps people come home to themselves, so they can love deeply and live with self-worth, truth, purpose, and freedom.