Duane Wiafe is a Registered Social Worker and Psychotherapist, completing his Master of Social Work at Memorial University and his Bachelor of Social Work at York University. Duane also has a Correctional Worker Diploma from Loyalist College. Duane was born and raised in Ontario and has been a registered social worker since 2008. Duane is the owner & founder of FITT Social Work Services. As a Psychotherapist and certified Fitness Instructor Specialist, Duane enjoys taking an Afrocentric and innovative approach to practice, integrating Afrocentric theory, psychotherapy, and fitness to establish wellness and balance for his clients. 

Despite being born, raised, and educated in Canada, Duane is a proud African man raised in a household that held and maintained traditional African foods, language, spirituality, and overall ways of knowing. Duane’s parents emigrated to Canada from Ghana, West Africa, in the 1970s and ensured that traditional Ghanaian cultural values and beliefs influenced their children's development. Valuing the importance of his culture and appreciating it, Duane enjoys integrating African indigeneity as a primary source of information to manage life's challenges. 

Before the foundation of FITT Social Work Services, Duane dedicated his career to supporting individuals experiencing incarceration in the Canadian Correctional justice system, as a forensic social worker.  He recognizes how mental health, and the criminal justice system are unfortunately intertwined, and he acknowledges the roots this has to the lack of adequate, diverse and affordable treatment options. Throughout his time working with individuals who were incarcerated, Duane recognized that the disconnection from society and community led to isolation, anger, and hopelessness, specifically among African-Black and Caribbean individuals.

Duane understands the unique ways mental health issues present within diverse groups. During his MSW, he studied the importance of bringing culture into practice, explicitly exploring incorporating traditional ways of African knowing and Afrocentricity into practice. Duane takes a positive, interactive, personalized, and multi-dimensional approach to therapy, recognizing that every individual comes with their own experiences and needs. He appreciates the importance of a genuine therapeutic relationship and supportive environment as we navigate life and change.