Dr. Paula Ravitz

MD, FRCPC

Clinician Scientist

Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Hospital

Our research and creative professional activities focus on making mental health care more accessible and effective—both in Canada and around the world. We do this by training providers, sharing knowledge, and task sharing, using proven therapies that help people manage mental health challenges. One of our key tools is an interactive, case-based curriculum called Psychotherapy Essentials to Go, which teaches evidence-based therapies in an engaging and practical way.

We have worked in underserved communities, including health agencies in Northern Ontario and in collaboration with Ethiopian psychiatrists to extend mental health screening and treatment in primary care clinics, through the Biaber Project and the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration. We are currently investigating how well online training works for teaching of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for depression, using an open-access course. We are also contributing to a national research network study (Psychotherapy Practice Research Network) funded by CIHR, working with community mental health providers to improve therapy outcomes by addressing culture, unconscious bias, attachment, and trauma.

With a strong focus on perinatal mental health, we have helped train therapists for the SUMMIT Trial, which showed that Behavioral Activation therapy can be delivered effectively by both specialists and trained non-specialists, either in person or online. These findings have the potential to expand access to mental health care with task sharing for postpartum individuals. We also contributed to the Mothering Transitions national study, training nurses to deliver telephone-IPT for treatment of post-partum depression.