Sara Azarshahi, EdD

My practice provides evidence-based psychotherapy for adults with OCD. More than half of my caseload is focused on OCD and related conditions. I also support individuals navigating low mood, anxiety, emotion dysregulation, life transitions, grief, and work/school stress. To date, I have treated many individuals presenting with diverse OCD themes across hospital and private practice settings, using primarily ERP, CBT, ACT, and DBT-informed interventions, with measurement-based care (e.g., Y-BOCS/OCI-R) to monitor progress.

I ensure that our session time is used to deliver evidence-based treatment for co-occurring mental health concerns. For example, for depression, we would work on behavioural activation and cognitive restructuring, as well as exposure and response prevention (ERP) and CBT to target OCD symptoms. We would also explore the ways in which depression might manifest and interact with OCD.

For the past five years, I have worked at a hospital specializing in inpatient treatment for severe OCD. I continue to provide psychotherapy there and co-facilitate and develop an aftercare program to support clients following discharge. During this time, I have also worked in private practice and community settings, supporting individuals diagnosed with OCD. I have received specific supervision for OCD at the hospital and at various private practice sites. In terms of my education, I graduated with a master’s degree in counselling psychology at the University of Toronto, where I also completed my doctoral degree.

My doctoral dissertation focused on how to enhance care for racialized individuals diagnosed with severe OCD. The hospital where I work at has provided specific trainings to help the clinicians best serve the clients that attend our program. This has included in person and virtual training modules. I also took two critical multicultrual courses during my master’s degree and doctoral degree.

– Training at the hospital (in person, virtual)
– Ex: Addressing anti-black racism
– APHD 1214: Critical Multicultural Practice: Diversity Issues in Counselling and Psychotherapy
– APD3163H: Advanced Multicultural Counselling and Psychotherapy
– APD1290H: Indigenous Studies in Mental Health & Disability Justice
– San’yas Anti-Racism Indigenous Cultural Safety Training Program
– Etc.