About Me

You wake up tired — even after a full night’s sleep. You lie there for a moment, already running through the list. Everything you didn’t finish. Everything you need to do today. Everything you’re probably going to fall short on.

You get up anyway. You show up. You smile. You say yes when someone asks for your help, even though every part of you wanted to say no. You do good work — really good work — and then you brush it off, because somewhere in the back of your mind you’re waiting for everyone to figure out you’ve been faking it this whole time.

By the end of the day, you’re exhausted — but your brain won’t stop. It replays the list. It replays the conversation you had at work. It asks if you did enough, said the right thing, were enough. And underneath all of it is this quiet, nagging feeling you can’t quite name: like you’re living your life for everyone else’s approval, and you don’t even remember when that started.
If you just thought “this is me” — hi. I’m Jessica, and this is exactly the work I do.

Who I Am

I’m Jessica Batres, a Registered Social Worker with a Master of Social Work from the University of Windsor. I help high-achievers, people-pleasers, and perfectionists break free from the exhausting cycle of anxiety, burnout, and never feeling like enough — so they can finally build a life that actually feels like theirs.

You don’t have to be an immigrant or second-generation to find yourself here. Impossible expectations don’t discriminate. But if you are also carrying the weight of cultural guilt, family sacrifice, or the pressure of living between two worlds and two identities — I understand that experience deeply and personally. As the daughter of immigrants and a member of the Latin American community, that layer of complexity is woven into who I am and how I show up in the therapy room. I’ve also walked through my own version of burnout, and it’s what brought me to this work.

How I Work

My approach is warm, collaborative, and grounded — no jargon, no judgment, no generic advice. I draw from Narrative Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), mindfulness, and self-compassion practices to help you untangle the patterns keeping you stuck. We’ll work at your pace. Your voice leads. My role is to walk alongside you.
I work with people navigating anxiety, burnout, people-pleasing, perfectionism, guilt, postpartum depression or anxiety, life transitions, identity questions, and the quiet exhaustion of living up to everyone else’s version of who you should be. Sessions are available in English, French, and Spanish, virtually or by phone across Ontario.

What’s Possible

Imagine waking up and not immediately feeling behind. Making a decision without spiraling. Saying no without a wave of guilt. Finishing something and actually letting yourself feel proud of it — not because it was perfect, but because it was yours.
That’s not a fantasy. That’s what this work is about.
You’ve spent a long time taking care of everyone else. This is the space to take care of you. When you’re ready, I’m here.