Marlin Pearl
Couples and Individual Therapy
Marlin Pearl is a Registered Psychotherapist and holds a Master’s in Counselling Psychology (M.A.C.P.) from Yorkville University.
She is one of the relationship therapists at the Ottawa Centre for Relationship & Sex Therapy, working with adults and teenagers individually and with couples.
Marlin brings specific training in both couples therapy and sex therapy to her work, and is currently accepting new clients in Ottawa and virtually across Ontario.
Marlin Pearl
Couples and Individual Therapy
Marlin Pearl is a Registered Psychotherapist and holds a Master’s in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University.
She provides individual, couples and sex therapy. Marlin works with adults and teenagers, individually and with couples.
Marlin brings specific training in both couples therapy and sex therapy to her work, and is currently accepting new clients in Ottawa and virtually across Ontario.
Background
Marlin has practiced in private practice settings in Centretown Ottawa, and brings additional professional depth from her ongoing role as a case manager at Jewish Family Services, where she provides trauma-informed care to individuals and families navigating complex challenges. This dual experience — in private practice and in community mental health — has given her a broad foundation for working with people whose lives and presenting concerns don’t fit neatly into a single category.
Marlin brings a strong commitment to social justice to her clinical work. She is attuned to the ways in which systemic stressors — financial strain, discrimination, intergenerational trauma, precarious housing, and others — intersect with and compound the relational and psychological concerns that bring people to therapy. She works with clients from a wide range of backgrounds and circumstances, and holds that context with care.
Approach
Marlin’s approach to couples therapy and individual work is integrative, drawing from Relational Life Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and humanistic modalities. She does not apply a single fixed framework across all clients; instead, she tailors the work to the person or couple in front of her, guided by their particular situation, goals, and pace.
She aims to create a space that is safe, non-judgmental, and practically useful. She is direct but warm, and committed to helping clients move — not just to understand, but to change. She is an active participant in ongoing professional development and continues to deepen her training in the areas she works in.
Specializations
As one of the relationship therapists at this practice, Marlin works with couples and individuals on a range of concerns. Her areas of focus include anxiety and chronic stress, significant life transitions, relationship difficulties, sex therapy, and the ways in which personal history and attachment patterns show up in adult relationships. She has specific training in both sex therapy and couples therapy, which she brings to clients who are navigating intimacy concerns, communication breakdowns, desire discrepancies, and relational conflict.
Marlin’s couples therapy work in Ottawa and Ontario covers the full range of concerns that bring partners to therapy — from early-stage conflict and communication difficulties to trust repair following rupture, to navigating transitions and the particular dynamics of non-monogamous relationships. She works with couples of all configurations, including same-sex and LGBTQ2S+ couples, and with people in polyamorous and ethically non-monogamous partnerships.
In individual therapy, Marlin works with clients on anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions, and the relationship with oneself — including how early wounding and relational patterns continue to shape how we show up with others. She is interested in the intersection of personal history and present-day relational difficulty, and in helping clients develop a clearer, more grounded sense of who they are.
Availability and fees
Marlin sees clients in person in Centretown Ottawa and virtually across Ontario. Clients seeking relationship therapists or couples therapy in Ottawa or Ontario can book with Marlin directly. Individual and couples sessions: $170/hour. She is currently accepting new clients.
Ready to take the next step?
Connect with Marlin to explore support for sex therapy, relationship concerns, and couples therapy in Ottawa.