Experience

Olivia is a warm and caring clinician who supports children, adolescents and their caregivers in navigating various challenges. Olivia has experience providing comprehensive psychological assessments and evidence-based interventions for children and youth. She has worked with youth with a wide range of presentations including anxiety, depression, attention challenges, emotion dysregulation, and behavioural concerns.

Olivia has significant experience working with youth with neurodevelopmental differences and their families (e.g., autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, FASD). Additionally, she is familiar with supporting youth who have co-occurring mental and physical health challenges, such as anxiety and gastrointestinal disorders.

Clinical Approach

Olivia’s approach to clinical work is client-centered and evidence-based. She considers her client’s strengths and needs to individualize treatment to their unique situation. Olivia has training in several therapeutic modalities including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and client-centered play therapy. She also has expertise in helping families use behavioural strategies, such as routines, reinforcement, breaks, and behaviour modelling.

Overall, Olivia aims to foster an environment where her clients feel safe to share and explore their thoughts and feelings and develop skills to support their growth.

Background & Training

Olivia is originally from Nova Scotia, where she completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology. She went on to earn her Master’s degree at the University of Guelph, where she is currently a PhD Candidate in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Her doctoral research focuses on supporting autistic youth in coping with needle procedures.

Olivia has received extensive training at the Maplewoods Centre for Family Therapy and Child Psychology as well as through the Halton Catholic District School Board and Surrey Place (a non-profit organization in Toronto). In these settings, she provided psychoeducational assessments and interventions for youth with a variety of mental health, learning, medical, and developmental concerns.