Dr. Valérie D’Amour-Horvat

Valérie is a licensed clinical psychologist with the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec (OPQ). She obtained her PhD in Clinical Psychology at McGill University in 2021, where she conducted neuroimaging research on the neurobiology of cocaine use and addiction in humans. Initially trained in cognitive-behavioural therapy and dialectical-behaviour therapy, Valérie discovered the humanistic-existential and emotion-focused approaches later in her training. These latter approaches have broadened her ability to skillfully treat a variety of issues, which include different forms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, relational problems, low self-esteem, perfectionism, and impulse-control problems. She also offers trauma-informed therapy for acute and chronic trauma, including childhood trauma. With a strong therapeutic alliance as the foundation to explore the origins of her client’s difficulties, Valérie accompanies her clients into their emotional world and provides a safe space for empathically exploring its influence on present functioning. Through a schema therapy framework, she helps her clients revisit meaningful events from their past and understand how those events shaped their current repertoire of behavioural responses and emotional experiences. She integrates the above-mentioned approaches to best address her clients’ specific needs. Valérie works with individual clients and practices both in English and in French.