Jessica Batres
Couples Therapy, GBV/IPV Support, and Culturally Grounded Care in Ontario
Seasoned Therapist
Registered Social Worker, she/her
OCSWSSW #840982
Soft, Grounding, Anti-Oppressive Care
Jessica Batres is a compassionate, grounding therapist whose work focuses on helping clients navigate culture, family, and trauma. A proud Latine and second-generation Canadian, she understands what it feels like to live between worlds — balancing cultural identities, navigating systemic barriers, and carrying the hopes and sacrifices of those who came before you. Her lived experience, combined with professional expertise, informs the empathy, insight, and practical guidance she brings to therapy.
Her practice supports individuals and couples experiencing gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, family-of-origin struggles, and cultural pressures. Jessica also specializes in working with newcomers and immigrant clients, helping them untangle bicultural stress, navigate relational challenges, and rebuild self-trust. She believes therapy is a partnership: your voice leads, and she provides support, guidance, and encouragement as you work toward a life that feels authentic, safe, and self-directed.
Professional Background
Jessica combines hands-on clinical experience with system-level understanding. She has supported clients through community mental health programs, gender-based violence, and newcomer settlement initiatives, while also contributing to policy work related to immigrant housing and settlement pathways. This combination of clinical and systemic knowledge gives her a nuanced perspective on the challenges clients face — both personally and structurally.
Specializations Include:
⚡ Couples, Connection & Communication
Jessica helps couples rebuild trust, strengthen bonds, and navigate conflicts with care and clarity. She supports partners in creating safe, honest, and emotionally attuned relationships, using strategies from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Gottman-informed approaches.
🏃 Gender-Based & Intimate Partner Violence Support
For survivors of abuse, emotional manipulation, or controlling relationships, Jessica provides a safe, nonjudgmental space to process experiences, plan for safety, and rebuild identity and self-trust after trauma.
💥 Family & Cultural Dynamics
Navigating expectations from family or culture can be overwhelming. Jessica guides clients in unpacking intergenerational patterns, cultural pressures, and family-of-origin struggles, helping them claim their own values and identity.
🌀 Religious & Cultural Trauma
Whether deconstructing harmful belief systems or reconciling identity with cultural traditions, Jessica supports clients in exploring faith, spirituality, and culture in ways that feel authentic and self-compassionate.
🎓 Newcomer & Immigrant Mental Health
Jessica works with first- and second-generation immigrants to navigate bicultural stress, identity challenges, and systemic barriers, fostering resilience, self-confidence, and belonging in a new environment.
💔 Identity, Self-Compassion & Emotional Wellbeing
Jessica helps clients manage anxiety, grief, or self-doubt, and build lives rooted in authenticity, self-compassion, and personal agency — whether in individual therapy or within the context of their relationships.
Education and Trainings
University of Windsor
2017-2021
Master’s of Social Work
University of Montreal
2010-2014
Bachelor’s of Science
Social Work & Addictions
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
Internal Family Systems
Self-Compassion Therapy
Mindfulness Based Therapy
Feminist Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Motivational Interviewing
Outside the Therapy Room
When she’s not holding space for clients, Jessica is knee-deep in whatever book has her hooked that week, being a gym-rat and sweating out the stress of the day, or hanging out with her kids—because that’s the kind of love that keeps her grounded when life gets loud.
Ready to take the next step?
If you’re looking for a therapist who’s grounded, compassionate, and really gets the complexities of relationships, gender-based violence, or the newcomer experience, reach out to Jessica today. Whether you’re navigating couple challenges, healing from trauma, or adjusting to life in Canada as a first- or second-generation newcomer, she’s here to help you make sense of it—all one step at a time.