FARAH DOBANI-BUDHANI, Ph.D., C.Psych

Dr. Farah Dobani-Budhani received her doctorate from York University in the Clinical-Developmental Psychology program upon completion of her research at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney Australia. Farah has been involved in the study and practice of mental health for over a decade. She has worked diligently with children and families to help resolve challenges as they present by promoting the strengths of each client, family, and system. She has refined a variety of intervention techniques including both structured and semi-structured behavioural methods as well as play-based psychotherapy. Her training and experience includes psycho-educational, neuropsycho- logical, and social-emotional assessments.

Farah emphasizes the importance of a healthy attachment relationship and actively involves parent and child in both assessment and treatment. She has worked in a number of mental health settings offering child and parent-child psychotherapy from birth to adolescence, including Sick Kids Hospital, The Center for Addiction and Mental Health (camh), and the Hincks-Dellcrest Center. Farah has been trained in the Watch, Wait, and Wonder parent-infant/toddler treatment for children displaying mood, anxiety, and disruptive behaviours, as well as children with parents with challenges of their own (for example, post-partum disorders, mood and anxiety, anger). Her interests and passion include treatment of children and adolescents presenting with oppositional behaviours, gender identity, school refusal, and mood and anxiety. She has vast experience in parent counselling which is often paired with the treatment of school-aged children.

Farah has worked with the Ministry of Children and Youth providing comprehensive psycho-educational assessments to children with a range of backgrounds including trauma histories, autism spectrum disorders, gifted screenings, and behavioural challenges. She has worked closely with school boards to communicate assessment results and help clients achieve personal success. Through her varied geographic, cultural, and socio-economic experience, Farah has learned the importance of early intervention and the resolution of early life events and upholds this lesson in practice.