expertise & approach
In 1998 I completed my MEd in Counselling Psychology at OISE/University of Toronto. Since then have completed various trainings including:
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) Level I – for addressing the aftereffects of trauma
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) in the treatment of trauma
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Level I
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Levels I & II
Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO) Basic Training
Relational Clinical Supervision training
For the past 25+ years I’ve worked as a therapist with individuals, couples and groups in hospitals, community mental health agencies, and addiction treatment programs in both urban and rural Ontario. From 2003-2013 I was an individual, couple & group therapist, and clinical supervisor in the Trauma Therapy Program at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. Providing trauma-focused therapy, clinical consultation and supervision was my primary focus, and remains a large part of my current practice. I have also held clinical positions at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, focusing on group therapy treatment for trauma and addiction, as well as providing therapy in the Problem Gambling Program (CAMH). Throughout the years I’ve worked as a consultant and clinician in various community-based mental health and addiction programs in and around South Eastern Ontario.
My therapeutic approach is based on Psychodynamic, Relational, and Interpersonal Psychotherapy which believes that the therapeutic relationship between therapist and client is the central and vital engine of change. My work is informed by trauma therapy theories and approaches, developmental psychology, attachment theory, somatic and emotionally focused therapy, Internal Family Systems, neurobiological research as well as CBT, harm-reduction strategies and mindfulness. All these modalities provide me with many different ways to understand and work with the particular needs of each client.
Continuing to learn and being challenged personally, professionally and creatively is essential to an alive and engaged practice of psychotherapy. With this intention, I attend a biweekly peer consultation group that has informed and enriched my practice for over two decades. I maintain ongoing studies, and regularly attend trainings to maintain and upgrade my skills.
I have presented workshops in Canada and across the US on the treatment of trauma, and have contributed to the field through presentations, writing and publishing. I am involved in professional networks and associations such as the Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists (OSRP), and am registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) which regulates my practice.
presentations & pursuits
Self-Care & Safer Spaces Community 101 Workshop. Green Wood Coalition. Port Hope, ON.
Effects of Trauma Roundtable – panel participant. Sponsored by Northumberland Domestic Abuse Monitoring Committee and Green Wood Coalition. Port Hope, ON.
The Treatment of Trauma – guest lecturer. Sushma Persaud & Felisa Shizgal, PhD Practicum Class, OISE/University of Toronto. Toronto ON.
Compassion Fatigue, Transference, Counter-Transference & Self-Care Trauma Therapy Program, Student Seminars, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto ON.
A Stage II Trauma Group Working with Perpetrator Reenactments
Catherine Classen & Felisa Shizgal.
• American Group Psychotherapy Association, Boston MA.
• American Group Psychotherapy Association, New Orleans LA.
• American Group Psychotherapy Association, New York NY.
• International Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation, Montreal QC.
• International Conference on Violence and Abuse, San Diego CA.
WRAPback: A Thinking Clinician’s Play with Group Psychotherapy & Dissociation Judy Langmuir, Felisa Shizgal, & Eva-Marie Stern. International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, Philadelphia PA.
Women Recovering from Abuse Program: An Innovative Day Treatment Program for Childhood Trauma Recovery Catherine Classen & Felisa Shizgal. Psychology Grand Rounds, North York General Hospital, North York ON.
WRAPback: The Drama of Trauma Group Therapy Judy Langmuir, Felisa Shizgal, & Eva-Marie Stern.
• Canadian Group Psychotherapy AGM, Toronto ON.
• Ontario Society of Psychotherapists, Toronto ON.
• Eating Disorders Program, Credit Valley Hospital, Mississauga ON.
• Ontario Society of Psychotherapists, Toronto ON.
• Mental Health Rounds, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto ON.
Description of a Multi-Modal Group Therapy Treatment for Chronic Interpersonal Trauma: Women Recovering from Abuse Program International Society for the Study of Dissociation, Los Angeles CA.
A Day in the Life of WRAP Marlene Duarte-Giles, Judy Langmuir & Felisa Shizgal. International Society for the Study of Dissociation, Toronto ON.
Re-Inhabiting The Body: Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for Trauma Recovery Judy Langmuir & Felisa Shizgal.
• Sunnybrook and Women’s Health Sciences Centre, Dept. of Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Toronto ON.
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Women’s Mental Health Research Group, Toronto ON.
There She Goes Again: Dissociation and Association within the WRAP Team Marlene Duarte-Giles, Anne Fourt, Shari Kirsh, Judy Langmuir, Felisa Shizgal, Eva-Marie Stern & Patricia Woods. Dept. of Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto ON.
Treatment Approaches for Problem Gambling Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Problem Gambling Service, Ontario-wide workshop presentations.
publications
“OSP Souper East East East of Toronto,” Felisa Shizgal. PrOSPect, Ontario Society of Psychotherapy Newsletter, vol. 20, no. 3.
“A Multi-Modal Treatment Program for Childhood Trauma Recovery: Women Recovering from Abuse Program (WRAP),” Marlene Duarte Giles, Andrea Nelson, Felisa Shizgal, Eva-Marie Stern, Anne Fourt, Patricia Woods, Judy Langmuir, & Catherine Classen, Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, vol. 8, no. 4.
“My Mother’s Dreams,” The Current, CBC Radio 1, first broadcast on April 16, 2006, participated as subject.