Sara Azarshahi, Doctorate in Counselling Psychology

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 has provided targeted training to support clinicians in delivering culturally responsive and effective care to the clients in our program. This has included both in-person and virtual training modules. In addition, I completed two critical multicultural courses during my master’s and doctoral training.

– 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.

ERP Kickstart Program
Join our intensive Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Kickstart Program to build momentum and make ERP a sustainable part of your day-to-day life. This virtual program is facilitated over a weekend, followed by weekly support meetings for one month. Alongside ERP, we integrate skills and strategies from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and self-compassion–based approaches to support long-term progress.
We will meet over Zoom, and a link will provided closer to the date.