From Curiosity to Care: Meet Our Practicum Student

I didn’t grow up in a home where feelings were talked about, so choosing this path might seem a little ironic. But I’ve always been drawn to people and the emotions under the surface. That curiosity led me to study psychology at McMaster, and eventually into community work in Hamilton, where I learned just how powerful empathy and support can be. From a women’s shelter to crisis work (and even stepping into a team lead role), I kept coming back to the same thing: I wanted to help people beyond the “quick fix.” Now I’m completing my Master of Counselling Psychology at Yorkville, and I’m excited to be joining Serebro Health for my placement.

Melanie Renshaw

January 9, 2026

Coming from a Home Where Feelings Were Unsaid

Coming from a family dynamic where feelings were left undiscussed and emotions were locked away, it seems contradictory for me to enter a field like psychotherapy where emotional intelligence and empathy are key. But as I grew up and made connections outside of my family dynamic, it was hard to ignore the emotions, and I found myself getting curious and gravitating toward people and experiences that evoked emotion.

Becoming the Friend People Trust

For my friends and peers, I have been someone they can trust with their deepest emotions. I never asked for this responsibility, but perhaps it is the calm and mellow demeanour so many of my friends and peers have told me I have that has allowed them to feel comfortable to open up and share their inner world with me.

What a lot of these individuals don’t realize is that my inner world looks very similar to theirs, even though it may not show on the outside. I have racing thoughts that I attempt to organize with lists. I worry if what I have done is good enough and if others will approve. All these things within my inner world bring me discomfort, and because of the sharing of my friends and peers, I am well aware that everyone has inner experiences that make them uncomfortable.

Because I know this discomfort all too well, I knew I wanted to help others with similar discomforts to feel better.

Discovering Psychology

So, in high school, I started to think about how I could help others in a widespread way and what career would allow me to do this. Initially, I focused on maths and sciences to enter the healthcare field as a nurse or surgeon, but then, in Grade 11, I took SPA.

SPA stood for sociology, psychology, and anthropology, and just as I gravitated to people and experiences that evoked emotion, I gravitated toward psychology as it allowed me to further understand the inner experiences of those around me.

University: Building the Foundation

I continued this exploration on to university by enrolling in the psychology, neuroscience and behaviour program at McMaster; the neuroscience piece gave me a hint of science I thought I craved in high school. I was obsessed with my psychology courses, learning all the foundational theories of human behaviour from the originals like Pavlov, Freud, and Maslow.

Putting Knowledge Into Action

After university, I knew it was time to put my knowledge into action and accomplish what I had set out to do: help others. In addition to my undergraduate degree at McMaster, I took a Concurrent Disorders certificate that included an intensive placement at the end of the program; this was my way into the helping profession.

Learning in a Place That Needed It Most

I completed my placement at Mary’s Place, a women’s shelter in downtown Hamilton, Ontario that served the community’s most vulnerable and resilient women. Although the environment was chaotic at times, it was the greatest learning experience and introduction into the field I could have asked for. It taught me how important community and empathy are to building a foundation of support.

From Structure, to Crisis, to Leadership

As someone who likes order to balance her chaotic inner world, the chaos of the shelter eventually got the best of me and before burnout ensued, I moved into a more structured role providing support to housed members of the community with mental health and addiction concerns.

Funny enough, this role had too much repetition and I decided to make my final move to Hamilton’s crisis centre, the Barrett Centre. This role gave me a taste of the counselling experience I knew I would fall in love with.

I was able to provide immediate support to individuals of all identities and cultures dealing with possibly the most difficult challenges they may ever face. Not only did I support members of the community, but I also supported my peers by moving into a Team Lead role.

My experience at Barrett Centre was the perfect combination of challenge, responsibility, and reward, and it fed my passion for helping others.

Wanting to Support People Beyond “Five Days”

There was just one snag: my clients and I could only make so much progress in 5 days, which is the length of the program. Just as a connection was being made and a positive shift began to occur, the individual was back into the community.

So, I knew my next move was to find a way to support individuals in an ongoing manner, which led me to Yorkville University’s Master of Counselling Psychology to become a psychotherapist.

Joining Serebro Health

I’m so excited to be doing my placement with Serebro Health as it allows me to continue to pursue my passion to understand and help others with whatever challenges they may be facing. I really can’t see myself in any other role.

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