Dr. Cathryn Harris
PhD, CPsych
RELATIONSHIPS, INTEGRATION, WHOLENESS, JOY
​
ABOUT Dr. CATHRYN
​
Cathryn Harris, Ph.D. C.Psych. is a Registered Psychologist (CPO) with competencies in both Clinical and Counselling Psychology, a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist, and Approved Supervisor in Marriage and Family Therapy (CAMFT), and a Certified EMDR Therapist and Approved EMDR Consultant. She also teaches part time as an Affiliate Assistant Professor at McMaster Divinity College. For over 40 years, she has provided psychotherapy and psychological assessments to individuals, couples, families, children and adolescents in outpatient private practice. She has also worked in inpatient and day treatment programs, and provided consultation to pastors, teachers, and business professionals on individual and organizational issues. Dr. Harris has been married for over 30 years to another psychologist, and has one adult daughter who has managed to survive that experience.
Relationships At The Heart
I believe deeply that all human change happens in the context of relationships – whether psychological, interpersonal, or spiritual. Therefore, creating a safe therapeutic relationship is my first priority. Within that space, many kinds of processes and interventions can be brought to bear on the goals you want to achieve and need to be tailored to where you are in your growth or healing journey
​
-
Holistic focus on the physiological, experiential, interpersonal, situational, and cognitive factors contributing to your distress
​
-
Individual educational, insight-oriented and cognitive-behavioral approaches to managing arousal and trauma triggers and emotional dysregulation
​
-
Couples therapy focussing on the systemic “dance” you do together, and building missing communication and conflict resolution interpersonal skills to allow healing in attachment and bonding
​
-
Family therapy also focussing on the systemic “dance” of repeated patterns, increasing communication, empathy and shared perspectives, emotional and behavioral regulation, and managing competing needs and values involving attachment vs, autonomy
​
-
Play therapy for school-aged children and younger adolescents to help master emotional and behavioral regulation and process trauma
​
-
EMDR for children, adults and teens to process traumatic experiences that are causing stuck emotions, thoughts, triggers, behaviors, and interpersonal patterns
​
​
​
​
​
​
Clinical Approach
Dr. Cathryn combines a number of approaches in her holistic view of the human soul. Viewing relationship as the center of human development and change, she can individualize treatment plans using her training in family systems and couples relationships, psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral (CBT) and dialectical-behavioral(DBT) techniques, trauma response, the physiological and neurological processes underlying psychological symptoms (body and brain connections) and the Adaptive Information Processing model which includes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
​
Who I Work With
I see children, adolescents and adults in individual, relational, and family outpatient psychotherapy.
​​​
-
outpatient psychotherapy
-
couple and family focussed interventions
-
behavioral and play therapy for children
-
psychodynamic-oriented or EMDR treatment for all ages
-
trauma
-
anxiety
-
depression
​
-
Clinical Supervision and Consultation services to registered mental health professionals and those in training
-
EMDR consultation leading to EMDR certification
-
CACFT-approved supervision required for registration as a Marriage and Family Therapist (RMFT)
