Ontario Psychiatric Association

Ontario Psychiatric Association The Ontario Psychiatric Association is the provincial voice of Ontario's Psychiatrists.

The OPA serves to:

- Facilitate the exchange of scientific information
- Promote the optimal level of professional development and practice
- Advocate for the mentally ill and their families
- Represent members to governments, universities, and other medical associations
- Promote the prevention of mental disorders in the province of Ontario

Come learn more about experimental and emerging psychotherapy treatments for cPTSD at our OPA Psychotherapy Day on June ...
04/30/2026

Come learn more about experimental and emerging psychotherapy treatments for cPTSD at our OPA Psychotherapy Day on June 6th!

Early bird registration ends TODAY - sign up here: https://eopa.ca/events/opa-psychotherapy-2026/registration

Dr Ingrid Pacey MBBS, FRCP(C) is a retired psychiatrist whose work in private practice for nearly 50 years became focussed on working with women trauma survivors, PTSD and complex PTSD, most often from early sexual abuse. She has worked with many modalities of psychotherapy including long-term psychotherapy, EMDR, bioenergetics, art therapy, group therapy.

She began working with expanded states of consciousness after training with Dr Stan Grof and Christina Grof 1987-1990 in Holotropic Breathwork. She ran Holotropic Breathwork groups for the next 15 years and saw the benefits of adding this dimension to trauma therapy. Starting in 2009 she was instrumental in bringing the MAPS research trial into M**A assisted psychotherapy for PTSD to Vancouver. This phase 2 study ran from 2013-2016, showing positive outcomes.

She joined TheraPsil in 2021 as a trainer, first training therapists in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy and in 2024 started M**A-assisted psychotherapy training. She mentors and supervises therapists in this work. She is a member of Grof Legacy Training and teaches on the theory and practice of Holotropic Breathwork in her trainings with TheraPsil.

Learning Objectives:
1. Compare traditional and emerging approaches to treating CPTSD
2. Define components of Holotropic Breathwork
3. Evaluate the evidence-base for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy

We look forward to learning more about Integrated Su***de and Trauma Therapy at our upcoming OPA Psychotherapy Day!Our e...
04/12/2026

We look forward to learning more about Integrated Su***de and Trauma Therapy at our upcoming OPA Psychotherapy Day!

Our early bird deadline (April 30th) to register is fast approaching! Register here: https://eopa.ca/events/opa-psychotherapy-2026/registration

Dr. Sakina Rizvi is the Chair of the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg (ASR) Su***de and Depression Studies Program at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on understanding the neurobiology underlying su***de risk and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) through advanced neuroimaging techniques like fMRI and PET.

In addition to her neuroimaging work, Dr. Rizvi develops and evaluates novel psychotherapies for su***de prevention, depression, and trauma resilience with the aim of translating these therapies for use in hospital and community settings. She is also deeply engaged in participant-centered research, collaborating with persons with lived experience of su***de risk and national partners to develop effective su***de prevention strategies.

Her advocacy extends to mental health education, often using the creative arts to raise awareness. She led the Storybook Project, a lived experience short story collection on the impact of su***de published in September 2021 as “What it Takes to Make it Through: Stories of Su***de Loss and Resilience”.

Learning Objectives:
1. Evaluate the evidence of existing trauma therapies in the context of su***de risk
2. Recognize the factors at play when treating su***de risk in the context of trauma
3. Describe the core elements of ISTT and its theoretical rationale.
Interpret preliminary findings from quantitative and qualitative evaluation of ISTT.
4. Apply the ISTT framework to a sample clinical case.

The OPA is pleased to endorse the work of Unplugged Canada, a grassroots, parent-led organization raising awareness acro...
03/28/2026

The OPA is pleased to endorse the work of Unplugged Canada, a grassroots, parent-led organization raising awareness across the country about the impacts of smartphones and social media on children's mental health, social development, and education.

Given the growing body of research highlighting the concerning effects of early and excessive device use, Unplugged Canada has built a non-judgmental community that unites and empowers caregivers to prioritize youth wellbeing. They achieve this by inviting parents to pledge to delay smartphones until at least age 14. To date, more than 8,200 parents in over 1,100 schools across Canada have joined this collective movement, driving a meaningful shift in societal norms around children, smartphones, and social media.

To learn more or get involved, please visit the website for Unplugged Canada: https://www.unpluggedcanada.com/

We are excited to learn more about the intersection of AI and mental health care at our upcoming OPA Psychotherapy Day o...
03/24/2026

We are excited to learn more about the intersection of AI and mental health care at our upcoming OPA Psychotherapy Day on June 6th in Toronto!

Registration link below, and don't miss our early bird deadline April 30th!
https://eopa.ca/events/opa-psychotherapy-2026/registration

Dr. Şerife Tekin is Associate Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Her work examines the intersections of mental health, selfhood, and emerging technologies in clinical practice.

Her recent book, Reclaiming the Self in Psychiatry: Centering Personal Narratives for a Humanist Science (Routledge, 2025), develops the Multitudinous Self Model, a framework for integrating patient testimony with scientific and clinical reasoning. Tekin has published widely on AI and mental health, including “Beyond Doomsday Fears: Why We Need to Consider the Potential Harms of AI Psychotherapy” (American Journal of Bioethics, 2025), and “Unintended Harms of Novel Predictive Technologies in Mental Disorder Treatment” (AJOB Neuroscience, 2024). Her work has been featured in Wired, Salon, Prevention, The Guardian, and NPR.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the emerging role of artificial intelligence in mental healthcare and its potential to address (or exacerbate) disparities in access and quality of care.
2. Critically assess the self-awareness assumption underlying AI-powered psychotherapy and discuss how it affects the accuracy and therapeutic value of user self-reports.
3. Analyze how WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) cultural assumptions shape AI mental health tools and limit their global and cross-cultural applicability.
4. Evaluate the ethical and regulatory challenges surrounding the rapid integration of AI into mental healthcare, including issues of safety, bias, and the need for interdisciplinary oversight.

Hoping to recognize someone for their contributions to the field of mental health this year? Nominate them for an OPA aw...
03/21/2026

Hoping to recognize someone for their contributions to the field of mental health this year? Nominate them for an OPA award!

The OPA Mental Health Advocate of the Year Award is presented annually to a non-physician member of the public who has made a major contribution to the understanding of mental illness and its impact on individuals in society.

The OPA Breakout Community Psychiatry Advocacy Award recognizes contributions to the profession of psychiatry and to the public by a community psychiatrist engaging in grassroots advocacy in their local area. Nominees may be working in the community or affiliated with academic hospital sites, however, the advocacy must be community-facing.

Nominations are open until May 1, 2026. https://lnkd.in/eyjUTVUa

Awards will be presented on June 6 during the OPA Psychotherapy Conference.

Introducing our first session and presenter of our OPA Psychotherapy Day, taking place on Sat, June 6th in Toronto! Clar...
03/18/2026

Introducing our first session and presenter of our OPA Psychotherapy Day, taking place on Sat, June 6th in Toronto!

Clare Pain, MD, MSc, FRCPC, D.Sc (Hon) Addis Ababa University (AAU), is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a psychoanalyst. She is a staff psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, and with others provides mental health services to the Cree Nations of James Bay through the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority. She also works with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture and Wanasah, a Black youth and trauma agency in Regent Park.

Dr. Pain is co-founder and senior strategist of the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration (TAAAC), a partnership between AAU and UofT, supporting graduate educational capacity in Ethiopia since 2003. She received an honorary doctorate from AAU for her contributions to psychiatry in Ethiopia. Her clinical and academic focus is unresolved traumatic experience, refugee mental health, and global mental health, and she has published widely, including Ogden P, Minton K, & Pain C. Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy. New York, United States: W. W. Norton & Company.

Learning objectives of the session will include:
1. Identify the psychological and somatic effects of unresolved trauma and how they challenge conventional psychotherapeutic approaches.
2. Explain how trauma can disrupt symbolization, affect regulation, and reflective functioning within a psychodynamic framework.
3. Describe the role of implicit bodily processes and procedural memory in maintaining unmentalized traumatic experiences.
4. List three sensorimotor concepts and techniques applicable within a psychodynamic framework.

Register here by our early bird deadline, April 30th: https://eopa.ca/events/opa-psychotherapy-2026/registration

Registration for the 2026 OPA Psychotherapy Day is officially open!Join us to learn from 4 expert speakers on psychother...
02/09/2026

Registration for the 2026 OPA Psychotherapy Day is officially open!

Join us to learn from 4 expert speakers on psychotherapeutic strategies for people with complex trauma.

Link to register: https://eopa.ca/events/opa-psychotherapy-2026/registration

Early bird ends April 30, 2026!

We are delighted to highlight the achievements of two of our Board Directors, Dr. Renata Villela and Dr. Dilkhush Panjwa...
12/03/2025

We are delighted to highlight the achievements of two of our Board Directors, Dr. Renata Villela and Dr. Dilkhush Panjwani!

Dr. Villela was the recipient of the OMA Distinguished Service Award, which is awarded for exceptional service at the OMA. This includes membership in committees, task forces, working groups, constituency group executives, OMA Board, OMA’s subsidiary boards and the General Assembly.

Dr. Panjwani was the recipient of the prestigious OMA Presidential Award. This outstanding achievement recognizes exceptional and long-standing humanitarian service to the greater community in Ontario or elsewhere that brings honour to the medical profession.

Congratulations to Dr. Villela and Dr. Panjwani!

OPA is pleased to highlight our partnership with Caversham Booksellers, the official bookstore for the OPA-CAAP 2025 Inn...
11/22/2025

OPA is pleased to highlight our partnership with Caversham Booksellers, the official bookstore for the OPA-CAAP 2025 Innovation in Concurrent Disorders conference! Caversham Booksellers will be on site at the conference today so be sure to stop by.

Today's the day! See you soon at Vantage Venues in Toronto for a dynamic and enriching day of learning! Looking forward ...
11/22/2025

Today's the day! See you soon at Vantage Venues in Toronto for a dynamic and enriching day of learning! Looking forward to our featured sessions, including the CAAP President Plenary on the role of families in concurrent mental disorders.

Last chance to register for the Joint OPA x CAAP Addictions Conference happening this Saturday, Nov 22nd in Toronto!It'l...
11/18/2025

Last chance to register for the Joint OPA x CAAP Addictions Conference happening this Saturday, Nov 22nd in Toronto!

It'll be a fantastic learning opportunity for general practitioners, nurses, social workers, psychologists, pharmacists, allied health care workers, Indigenous health teams, and others who work with individuals affected by substance use disorders.

One of our featured sessions will focus on policy, innovation, and the future of addiction psychiatry, presented by concurrent disorders experts Drs. Leslie Buckley and Vijay Seethapathy, and moderated by Dr. Valerie Primeau.

Register here now: https://eopa.ca/e-registration/26/opa-caap-2025

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Dr. Leslie Buckley is the Chief of the Addictions Division at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. Dr. Buckley is an addiction psychiatrist and focuses on the outpatient treatment of substance use disorders with a special interest in concurrent disorders, working with women with substance use concerns and knowledge exchange related to cannabis use disorder. With an interest in improving health systems issues in addictions, Dr. Buckley has been an active advocate of the system as well as a contributor to policy issues related to substance use. Dr. Buckley is currently an assistant professor at the University of Toronto with longstanding involvement in addiction education for medical students, residents and practising physicians.

Dr. Vijay Seethapathy is a Clinical Associate Professor and Oversight Director for the Addiction Psychiatry Training Program at the University of British Columbia. As the Chief Medical Officer at BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS), Dr. Seethapathy provides strategic and operational oversight for Forensic Psychiatry Services, Complex Concurrent Disorder Services, Correctional Health Services, and provincial specialized mental health and substance use programs. Dr. Seethapathy holds a Membership with the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK), is a Psychiatry Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and is certified in Addiction Medicine by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He has extensive clinical expertise in the assessment and management of complex concurrent disorders, early psychosis intervention, and correctional psychiatry.
In addition to his medical qualifications, Dr. Seethapathy has completed advanced business and leadership training, including the Physician Leadership Program at the UBC Sauder School of Business and an Executive MBA in Healthcare from the UK. With over 20 years of senior leadership experience in healthcare across the UK and Canada, he has successfully led transformative service delivery and system innovations. Under his leadership, BCMHSUS was awarded “Accreditation with Exemplary Standing.”

Address

7145 West Credit Avenue
Mississauga, ON
L5N6J7

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19058130105

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