About Naomi Ball
Self-Esteem & OCD Therapist in Toronto
Where it all Started
From early in my career, I was drawn to understanding the patterns that drive our suffering: overthinking, catastrophizing, seeing things in binaries (“If I’m not perfect, I’m a failure”), trying to read other’s minds. I recognized these patterns first in my own experience, long before I began working with them clinically, and that early insight has shaped how I understand my clients ever since. Many of the people I work with are highly capable and high-functioning, and quietly carrying far more than they let on.
When I began training as a Psychotherapist, I learned the language and structure of something I already understood intuitively: that self-esteem, anxiety, and the stories we tell ourselves are deeply connected, and that real change is possible with the right support.
Finding my Way Into This Work
What drew me to self-esteem and anxiety work specifically was my own experience of being high-functioning on the outside while struggling underneath, the exact thing I see in so many of my clients now.
OCD has always fascinated me. There is a paradox at its core: OCD takes the things a person values most - caring about and not hurting others, being responsible, protecting the vulnerable - and makes them terrifying and distressing, becoming weaponized against the person when the brain's threat-response system misfires. I also grew up sensing there was undiagnosed OCD somewhere in my family history, and a fair amount of intergenerational anxiety that likely shaped more than one of us. I came to OCD work with some existing expertise in impulse control and Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs).
What almost 15 years of this work has taught me is that change rarely happens all at once. People contemplate it, prepare for it, sit with wanting it for a while, until the conditions are finally right and it happens. My job is to help build those conditions, and to be steady company while people do the hardest parts themselves.
More About Naomi
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In plain language: I draw a lot on CBT to understand the patterns of thought that keep people stuck, but I don't think CBT alone is enough to heal old relational wounds, so I also bring in EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) and psychodynamic approaches, along with self-compassion and mindfulness-based practices, to help you build a kinder relationship with yourself. For OCD, I use ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention), which is a form of CBT and the most evidence-based approach we have for treating it effectively.
Some of the thinkers who've shaped how I practice: Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield's work on mindfulness and radical acceptance, Irvin Yalom's writing on what makes therapy meaningful, and Kristin Neff's research on self-compassion. Their ideas, along with the both/and thinking central to dialectical approaches - multiple truths existing at once, acceptance alongside suffering - show up in how I think about this work every day.
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Earlier in my career, I worked with an incredibly diverse group of young adults, and that experience still shapes how I show up with clients today. I try never to assume I know where someone is coming from. I want every client, regardless of background, identity, or life experience, to feel like this is a genuinely safe space to be fully themselves. Some of the relationships I built with students years ago are still ones I think about today, people who came from very different backgrounds than my own, and who trusted me enough to find me again, years later, in private practice.
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Outside the therapy room, travel is where I feel most alive. I love art, photography, architecture, design, anything that puts me in the middle of something beautiful. When I'm not travelling, you'll find me on walks, at Pilates, playing mah jong with friends, thrifting, or out at a comedy show.
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I'm a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) with the College of Registered Psychotherapist of Ontario (CRPO).
I am also a member of the Ontario Association of Mental Health Professionals (OAMPH) and the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF).
I engage in regular professional development and training, peer supervision and individual consultation to ensure my skills are always evolving and sharp.
Let’s see if We’re a Good fit
I'd love the chance to get to know you and see if we're a good fit. Book a free 30-minute video consultation, and let's start there.