Special events
3rd Annual Frederick W. Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre Conference
Other upcoming events
Enhancing Outcomes in Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Related Disorders
Friday, March 6, 2015
Hyatt Regency Toronto
370 King Street, Toronto, Ontario (view location in Google Maps)
M5V 1J9, Canada
NEW THIS YEAR: Partnering with the 15th Annual Toronto Psychopharmacology Update Day and offering options of intensive experiential workshop streams for motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mindfulness-based approaches
Registration site: http://psychconference.eventbrite.ca
The Frederick W. Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre’s Annual Conference is the only Canadian educational event focused on Obsessive-Compulsive & Related Disorders and Anxiety Disorders. The Conference previously won the Ivan L. Silver Award for Excellence in Continuing Mental Health Education. This year we are proud to bring you an exciting and expanded program, including partnering with the highly successful15th Annual Toronto Psychopharmacology Update Day! Our conference focuses on what clinicians need to know to improve treatment outcomes in these populations. The day kicks off with an internationally-recognized trainer in motivational interviewing, Dr. Karen Ingersoll, co-author of the book “Motivational Interviewing in Groups”. Dr. Jim Kennedy, world-renowned expert and author of over 600 scientific articles on psychiatric genetics, will speak on how our genes influence response to treatment. This day offers attendees a choice of workshops to meet a range of learner goals, with topics including: management of anxiety and OC & Related Disorders; on-line therapy; engaging families in recovery; alternative treatment options; and what to do when anxiety and addictions are comorbid.
We are also offering intensive experiential workshop streams with the opportunity to develop and deepen skill sets in motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy or mindfulness-based approaches by participating in up to 3 related workshops across both conference days. Registrants have the option of attending both conferences at a discount, for more in-depth learning opportunities.
By attending this conference, participants will learn to:
- Identify and apply a broad variety of approaches that can complement current treatments for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, and improve outcomes.
- Utilize basic cognitive-behavioral, mindfulness and motivational interviewing techniques when working with this population.
- Explain the potential role of genetic testing in treatment planning for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
- Apply advanced treatment principles to Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, drawing from psychopharmacology, CBT and “Third Wave” approaches (e.g. mindfulness and ACT).
Each presentation will include time for questions from the audience.
Friday March 6, 2015 | ||
---|---|---|
Time |
Title |
Speakers |
A.M. |
||
8:00-8:45 |
Registration & Breakfast |
|
8:45-8:55 |
Welcome & Introduction |
Dr. Peggy Richter, MD, FRCPC, Head, Frederick W Thompson Anxiety Disorder Centre, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto |
8:55-9:15 |
An Illustrated Tale of Recovery from OCD: An Artist’s Story, Q&A |
Lisa Walter, Visual Artist, Educator, Advocate, Frederick W. Thompson Centre for Anxiety Disorders Patient and Family Centered Care Council member |
9:15-10:10 10:10-10:30 |
Plenary: Can we do better with anxiety disorders? Integrating Motivational Interviewing to Enhance Outcomes Q&A |
Dr. Karen Ingersoll, PhD Clinical Health Psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine |
10:30-10:45 |
Break & Refreshments |
|
10:45-12:15 |
Workshops: |
|
Basic CBT Skills for Novices - Part 1 |
Dr. Judith Laposa, PhD, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and University of Toronto with Family Practice Discussant Dr. Peter Sakuls, MD, CCFP Rick Silver, Thompson Centre Ambassador and Patient Discussant |
|
Mindfulness for Beginners – Part 1 |
Dr. Steven Selchen, MD, MSt., FRCPC, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre |
|
Is there a role for alternative medicine in the treatment of anxiety? |
Dr. Martin Katzman, MD, FRCPC, BSc, Clinic Director, START Clinic for the Mood and Anxiety Disordersand Staff Psychiatrist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health |
|
What busy doctors need to know about drug interactions when treating anxiety |
Dr. Nathan Herrmann, MD,FRCPC, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre |
|
Management of OCD Spectrum Disorders: Hair pulling, skin picking. hoarding and BDD |
Dr. Mark Sinyor, MD, FRCPC, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Eliza Burroughs, MA, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre with Family Practice Discussant Dr. Purti Papneja, MD, CCFP, Site Program Co-director, Sunnybrook Academic Family Health Team |
|
e-Therapy for Anxiety: What’s Out There? |
Dr. Vytas Velyvis, PhD University Health Network and Adler International Learning |
|
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Fostering Valued ACT-ions with Anxiety |
Dr. Kenneth Fung, MD,FRCPC, Associate Professor, University of Toronto Lisa Walter, Thompson Centre Ambassador and Patient Discussant |
|
P.M. |
||
12:15-1:15 |
Lunch |
|
1:15-2:45 |
Workshops: |
|
Practical Motivational Interviewing Skills |
Dr. Karen Ingersoll, PhD, Clinical Health Psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine Dr. Tim Guimond, MD,FRCPC, Clinician-Researcher, Staff Psychiatrist, St. Michael's Hospital and Lecturer, University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry Lisa Walter, Thompson Centre Ambassador and Patient Discussant |
|
Basic CBT Skills for Novices – Part 2 |
Dr. Judith Laposa, PhD, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and University of Toronto with Family Practice Discussant Dr. Peter Sakuls, MD, CCFP Rick Silver, Thompson Centre Ambassador and Patient Discussant |
|
Mindfulness for Beginners – Part 2 |
Dr. Steven Selchen, MD, MSt., FRCPC, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre |
|
Psychopharmacology for OCD |
Dr. Nikola Grujich, MD, FRCPC, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre |
|
The Brain-Body Connection: Using Exercise to Enhance CBT Outcomes |
Dr. Neil Rector, PhD, C.Psych, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Mike Crum, Thompson Centre Ambassador and Patient Discussant |
|
Engaging Families in Recovery |
Kate Kitchen, MSW, RSW, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Eliza Burroughs, MA, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre with family member representation Linda |
|
Managing Addiction in The Anxious Patient: What Do you Do First? |
Dr. Jan Malat, MD, FRCPC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health with Family Practice Discussant Dr. Purti Papneja (FP Discussant), MD, CCFP, Site Program Co-director, Sunnybrook Academic Family Health Team |
|
2:45-3:00 |
Break & Refreshments |
|
3:00-3:45 3:45-4:00 |
Plenary: How our Genes Influence Response to Psychological and Drug Treatment of Anxiety Q&A |
Dr. Jim Kennedy, MD,FRCPC, Head, Tanenbaum Centre for Pharmacogenetics at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Professor and Co-Director of the Brain and Therapeutics Division, Psychiatry, University of Toronto |
4:00-4:10 |
Closing Remarks, Evaluations & Prize Draw |
Dr. Peggy Richter, MD,FRCPC, Head, Frederick W Thompson Anxiety Disorder Centre, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto |
The following workshops are the continued intensive experiential workshop streams. For a complete program view the event flyer (PDF).
Saturday March 7, 2015 | ||
---|---|---|
Time |
Title |
Speakers |
8:30 |
Plenary: Enhancing Medication Compliance: Applications of Motivational Interviewing to Foster Engagement and Adherence |
Dr. Karen Ingersoll, PhD, Clinical Health Psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine |
10:45 |
Workshop: Advance CBT: Building on Basic CBT Skills: Applications in Mood and Anxiety |
Dr. Neil Rector Ph.D., C.Psych,Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Dr. Peter Sakuls (FP Discussant), MD, CCFP |
3:00 |
Workshop: Advanced Mindfulness: How to Adapt Mindfulness to the Treatment of Active Mood & Anxiety Disorders |
Dr. Steven Selchen, MD, MSt., FRCPC, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre |
Includes breakfast, lunch, and refreshments
- For Health Professionals: One Day Only: $275.00
- For Health Professionals: Both Days: $425.00
- For Fellows, Residents and Students: Each Day: $95.00
- Receipts will be issued via email, if required.
Workshop Registration
To ensure optimal education the workshops are limited in the number of participants they can accommodate. Enrolment is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Online Registration
To register online and pay by VISA, MasterCard or American Express, please visit our Eventbrite Page: http://psychconference.eventbrite.ca
Dr. Karen Ingersoll, Visiting Professor, PhD, Clinical Health Psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine
Dr. Karen Ingersoll is a clinical health psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. She has nearly 2 decades of experience in HIV behavioral health and women’s health, and was an early adopter of Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a psychotherapy intervention. She has been a leader in adapting MI for multiple target behaviors and for groups. She provides training in Motivational Interviewing, the CHOICES intervention, and other empirically-supported treatments nationally and internationally. She is an experienced public speaker and trainer. She has served as a lead trainer for the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers for 5 different international training of new MI trainers events. Her consulting practice focuses on adapting empirically-supported treatments for real-world communities.
As a faculty member in academic medicine, the goal of her research, teaching, and clinical work is to improve health among patients with medical conditions complicated by poor habits, including nonadherence and addictive behaviors. Her intervention studies target the intersection of addiction and health. Her current funded studies test variations of Motivational Interviewing, and the utility of delivering interventions via mHealth (mobile phones) and eHealth (Internet) tools. She mentors U.S. and international students to conduct clinical research in global health contexts. Currently, she is leading a project to implement Motivational Interviewing into existing community health services in Limpopo, South Africa.
She is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, numerous book chapters, and the coauthor of two books, including:
Velasquez, M.M., Ingersoll, K.S., Sobell, M.B., & Sobell, L.C. (in press). Women and Drinking: Preventing Alcohol-exposed Pregnancies. Hogrefe Press.
Wagner, C.C. and Ingersoll, K.S. (2013). Motivational Interviewing in Groups. New York: Guilford Press.
Dr. James L. Kennedy, MD, FRCPC, Head, Tanenbaum Centre for Pharmacogenetics at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Professor and Co-Director of the Brain and Therapeutics Division, Psychiatry, University of Toronto
James Kennedy, MD is Section Head of the Psychiatric Neurogenetics lab and Head of the Tanenbaum Centre for Pharmacogenetics at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Dr. Kennedy is Professor and Co-Director of the Brain and Therapeutics Division in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, and the Institute of Medical Science at the University.
Dr. Kennedy sits on several neuroscience-related Advisory Boards including the Scientific Council of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD), the OPTiMiSE schizophrenia trial and CRESTAR clozapine research group in Europe; International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG), 2014-2016 Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) Program Committee, Assurex Scientific Advisory Board and Organizing Committee for Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatry.
Over his 25 year career, Dr. Kennedy has published over 600 papers to date and is an active lecturer at numerous international conferences.
Research Interests
Dr. Kennedy has training in three major areas: neuroscience, clinical psychiatry, and molecular genetics. My main research interest over the past 25 years has been the identification of susceptibility genes for psychiatric disorders.
Lisa Walter, Visual Artist, Educator, Advocate, Frederick W. Thompson Centre for Anxiety Disorders Patient and Family Centered Care Council member

Lisa Walter is an artist, educator, and writer who lives and works in Toronto. Following a decade of work as a theatre artist in various disciplines, her full-length play, Difference of Latitude, was published by Canadian Playwrights’ Press in 2005.
A self-taught visual artist, she has exhibited her artwork professionally since 2010, and was the Visual Artist-in-Residence at Workman Arts from 2011 to 2014. Her work has been seen at Workman Arts’ annual juried exhibition, Being Scene, for the last four years, as well as at Propeller Gallery, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, and Nuit Blanche. In 2013, an exhibition of her work was featured as part of Necessary Angel’s production of 4.48 Psychosis. She has participated in the Rendezvous With Madness film festival as a media artist and visual artist. Lisa designed the signature collection of Workman Arts’ Mad Couture Catwalk, which has been produced to acclaim at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Art Fashion Week, and at Rideau Hall for the Governor-General of Canada. The Globe and Mail has described her work as "delicate and unsparing."
Lisa is also a passionate and candid public speaker. She has presented artist talks at several art galleries and universities in Southern Ontario, and participated in many panel talks and conferences about creativity and mental illness. Lisa is a proud advocate for people with mental illness, and has provided training presentations for organizations such as the Barrie police service and the University of Toronto. She is currently working on a graphic memoir, Dinosaur, and provides peer support to people who struggle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Continuing and Professional Development (CPD), Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, is fully accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME), a subcommittee of the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS). This standard allows CEPD to assign credits for educational activities based on the criteria established by The College of Family Physicians of Canada, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Planning Committee
- Peggy Richter, MD, FRCPC (Chair), Head, Frederick W Thompson Anxiety Disorder Centre, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
- Steven Selchen, MD, FRCPC (Co-Chair), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Karen Wang, MD, Med, Psychiatric Resident, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Neil Rector, PhD, C. Psych, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Sagar Parikh, MD, FRCPC, University Health Network
- Purti Papneja, MD, CCFP, Site Program Co-director, Sunnybrook Academic Family Health Team
- Kate Kitchen, MSW, RSW, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Lorraine Fairbloom, MA, BScOT, BSc, OT Reg (Ont), , Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Amanda Calzolaio, MMI, BSc, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
For more information please contact Amanda Calzolaio, Program Manager, Frederick W. Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre at amanda.calzolaio@sunnybrook.ca
Please visit the Hyatt Regency Toronto: http://torontoregency.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html
Refunds will not be issued for cancellations received after February 23, 2015. A processing fee of $75.00 will be retained on all cancellations. Requests for cancellation must be made in writing to sia.maro@uhn.ca. Registrations are not transferable.
Speakers will be requested to disclose to the audience any real or apparent conflict(s) of interest that may have a direct bearing on the subject matter of this program.