Our Team
Our team is made up of professionals with a wide range of specializations. These include:
anxiety and stress disorders;
depression;
learning disorders;
sexual disorders;
bereavement;
chronic pain and chronic illness;
problems in adolescence;
family discord;
life transitions (young adulthood, middle age, retirement, aging);
panic disorder;
burnout;
relationship difficulties;
problems of the elderly
A variety of therapeutic approaches are employed by our team, including Cognitive, Cognitive-Behavioral (CBT), Humanistic, Existential, Systems-oriented, Psychodynamically-oriented, and others. We select the approach or combination of approaches that is best suited to the individual person’s needs.
Here are the members of our team:
Dr. Ann Gamsa
Dr. Ann Gamsa has worked in private psychotherapy for 30 years with individuals, couples, and groups, treating clients who suffer from a variety of problems, including depression, anxiety, stress, relationship problems, adjustment disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and chronic pain. For two decades she was Director of Psychological Services and Psychology Internship training with the multidisciplinary Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of the McGill University Health Centre. She continues to serve as the psychologist for the Peri-Operative program (POP) at McGill University. She supervises psychology interns, as well as licensed psychologists. She also organizes the co-development program for the Westmount Psychology Centre team.
Dr. Gamsa’s professional activities include academic presentations and public talks on the subjects of psychedelic pharmaceuticals, on pain, and on its treatments. She has authored or co-authored many published articles and book chapters on the subject. Her “Jingle Bells, Pain Version,” written for patients in her pain management groups, can be found online. She has been involved in research on fibromyalgia, use of cannabis for chronic pain, pre-habilitation prior to cancer surgery (POP), and psychological factors in chronic pain. Dr. Gamsa gives courses in “Notions of Happiness” and “Emotional Health” to small groups.
In her psychotherapy practice, Dr. Gamsa uses an eclectic blend of psychological approaches (cognitive-behavioural, mindfulness, humanist-existential, and integrative), to create the treatment that will best serve the needs of specific individuals, couples, or groups. Relaxation training and visualization techniques may be included as part of the therapy process. Dr. Gamsa believes that effective psychotherapy is as much an “art” as it is the set of techniques and theories forming the core of scientific teachings in psychology. She is currently working on a book entitled “The Art of Psychotherapy”. She can be reached at 514-935-6268, ext. 3 or psy.health [at] bell.net.
Dr. Leonard Shenker
Dr. Leonard Shenker has been treating adults, adolescents and their families for over 30 years. In addition to private practice, he was Clinical Director of the Taylor Adolescent Program – a program for adolescents with learning disorders and associated psychological, behavioural and family problems – and Adjunct Professor at McGill University’s Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology. He was responsible for creating and supervising clinical programs, training students and young professionals, conducting workshops for psychologists and educators in Canada and the U.S., and presenting his work at professional conferences. Dr. Shenker was also Professor of Psychology at Marianopolis College for 34 years, and is co-author of the text, To Succeed in High School: a Multidimensional Program for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities.
Dr. Shenker’s orientation is eclectic, drawing from a variety of psychotherapy systems. He incorporates elements of Cognitive-Behavioural (CBT), Humanistic-Existential, Psychodynamic and Systemic perspectives according to each client’s individual needs and objectives.
Dr. Shenker’s primary areas of expertise are: Life transitions – adolescence, young adulthood, late middle age, retirement and aging; Adolescent learning disorders and associated behavioural, emotional, social and family disturbances; Depression; Anxiety and stress management; and troubled interpersonal relationships.
Dr. Shenker is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist, and a member of the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec. Dr. Shenker can be reached at (514) 935-6268 ext. 1 or by email at len.shenker [at] gmail.com.
Michael Climan
Michael Climan has been a member of the Ordre des Psychologues du Quebec since 1975 and maintains a private practice comprised mostly of individual therapy with both adults and adolescents. His main focus in therapy stems from an Existential-Humanistic framework with a focus on the existential concerns of freedom, responsibility, feelings of isolation and the finding of meaning in our lives. For over forty years, Michael Climan taught psychology at Marianopolis College where he developed courses on Adolescence, General Psychology and The Psychology of Art. In particular, the development of the Psychology of Art course provides a framework in his therapy for a focus on problem solving strategies and the creative processes that help guide us towards a more meaningful life. In addition to his teaching at Marianopolis College, Michael Climan was an adjunct professor at McGill University in the Faculty of Dentistry where he participated in the development and teaching of a seminar course on ethical concerns. He can be reached at (514) 935-6268 ext. 2 or by email at m.climan [at] sympatico.ca.
Dr. Carole Gendron
Dr. Gendron, a member of the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec since 1979, graduated from McGill and Université de Montréal. She worked at the Douglas Psychiatric Institute as a clinician specializing in aging and mood disorders, a researcher on interventions for caregivers of family members suffering from degenerative diseases, and supervisor of graduate students and young professionals in the field of Psychology.
She presently works in private practice with adults and elderly. She does individual psychotherapy, couple and family interventions, using cognitive-behavioural and systemic models of therapy. Her areas of expertise are depression, stress management, interpersonal and work-related issues, as well as aging, bereavement and coping with degenerative diseases and chronic pain. Dr. Gendron can be reached at (514) 935-6268 ext. 4 or by email at gencar [at] videotron.ca.