About
The person
behind
the work.
Built from lived experience — and shaped by years of sitting with others in theirs.
About Stef
Stef — founder
A peer. A fellow traveller.
Someone who has been there.
My name is Stef. I have lived with bipolar disorder since my twenties — not as a diagnosis on paper, but as something that has shaped the way I move through the world.
I spent three years as a certified senior peer mentor at the MUHC, sitting with people in their hardest moments. I attended DBT myself. I know what it feels like to find a skill that actually works — and what it feels like to reach for nothing when you need something most.
I am not a researcher or a clinician. I am someone who has walked the road and found tools that genuinely helped. That gap — between what exists and what people can actually access — is what Ups & Downs was built to close.
"Navigating your mental health should not feel like homework."
About Ups & Downs
Built for intensity.
Made for real life.
Ups & Downs is a space for practical mental health tools — workbooks, a beta app now live, and more to come — rooted in DBT and built from the inside out. Not from a textbook. From the road itself.
The belief at the centre of everything here is simple: you do not have to wait for a crisis to start preparing for one. The skills work. They just need to be practised before you need them most.
You do not need a diagnosis to benefit from these tools. You just need a willingness to show up for yourself before the storm arrives.
From colleagues at the MUHC
She has an almost instinctive understanding of the pillars of peer-mentoring. I am particularly impressed by her listening skills, her compassion, and her ability to be present with the person she's mentoring.
Bernard S. — Peer Mentor Co-Facilitator, MUHC
Stef demonstrates a strong capacity to listen with compassion and communicate her experience in recovery with honesty and insight. Her mentees greatly benefit from the time she spends with them.
Patricia L. — RTP Coordinator, MUHC
Partner with us
Help make these tools
more accessible.
Advertisers & sponsors
Ups & Downs reaches people actively navigating their mental health — a thoughtful, engaged audience. If your product or service genuinely supports that journey, we would love to hear from you. We are selective about what we align with.
Donors & supporters
This project is built on personal time and lived experience. Donations help keep the workbooks affordable, the app free to access, and new resources coming. Every contribution goes directly into the work.
This work can help anyone willing to show up for themselves
before the storm arrives.