Find balance in your life and restore your inner peace
Toronto and Online Psychology Clinic
Dr Mariana Wainer
Dr. Mariana Wainer is a Clinical Psychologist in Toronto and registered member with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario. She has over 25 years of experience providing mental health services to adults, families, parents, youth and teens. With an interactive style, Dr. Wainer engages clients with openness, warmth and a dose of humour to better understand what stories and patterns hold them back in their life. As a clinician, Dr. Wainer considers it an honour to being able to walk by her client’s side. She helps them search for meaningful answers and solutions, supporting them to increase their sense of ease and resulting in their ability to make better life choices.
Dr. Wainer holds memberships with the Ontario Psychological Association, the International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Postpartum International (PSI), American Association of Reproductive Medicine and the Menopause Society . Dr. Wainer completed her post-doctoral fellowship training and residency at the Columbia University Hospital System (APA accredited).
Psychological Services
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Evidenced based approaches for adults that struggle with a range of concerns:
Mood concerns, loss, grief and bereavement, including the loss of a loved one to suicide.
Anxiety and worry concerns (generalized anxiety and health worries; panic attacks; social anxiety)
Struggling with feelings of shame and guilt
Complex trauma, particularly related to childhood trauma; children of alcoholics
Overachievers and professionals (health professinals; academics; lawyers; tech industry)feeling the need to keep a front while feeling stuck in set behavioural patterns on the inside; feeling pressured and with a sense of self-doubt; difficulty to strike a work-life balance; grappling with workplace stress and taking on too much; perfectionism and procrastination issues; problems multitasking with ADHD
High functioning Autism Spectrum disorder and relationship issues
2SLGBTQ inclusive - diversity concerns
Stress management
Life transitions such as separation, divorce, retirement
Relationship difficulties, including communication challenges, unfaithfulness. Open relatioships.
Supporting partners with complex psychological/health concerns. Struggling to feel connected, feeling resentful towards others. Grappling with infidelity.
Women's issues and transitioning to perimenopause and menopause
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Evidenced based approacheds to support perinatal mental health.
Adjustment to pregnancy and post-partum concerns for moms and dads
Difficulties around fertility, primary and secondary intertility, including the psychological distress when accessing treatment, impacting previous hopes around pregnancy, and on the sense of self and interpersonal dynamics alike
Anxiety concerns
Mood difficulties
Struggles with shifts in sense of self and identify
Adjustment issues for career-oriented and entrepreneur parents.
2SLGBTQ clients facing reproductive and parenting dilemmas
Reproductive trauma and loss
Mixed emotions when having to return to work.
Grappling with childlessness, and moving forward after treatment without children
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Individuals in their adolescent and university years may want to seek treatment when they’re experiencing:
Anxiety
Mood disturbance
Relationship issues with friends, partners and/or family
Adjustment difficulties to university, college
International students
Going back home between terms and after graduation issues
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Using a blend of treatment approaches (attachment and emotion focused, mentalization based approaches primarily), family therapy aims to help members of a family:
Understand each other better
Increase communication skills
Deepen connectedness (whenever possible)
Learning to problem solve in more productive ways when conflicts arise.
Adult children or other family members such as siblings, parents distancing from one another, estrangement and cutting ties from loved ones
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There are many reasons for parents wishing to see a psychologist. Below are listed some of the reasons a parent may be interested in seeking a consultation with Dr. Wainer:
Life changes
Attachment issues
Distancing, estrangemenent and cutting ties from adult children
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Support to mental health professionals is offered keeping in mind the clinical needs of the consultee, blending in a combination of developmental and reflective practices, along with competency based approaches. description
Treatment Approaches
Dr. Wainer uses an integrative approach to consultation and treatment, incorporating evidence-based, especially attachment/relational/psychodynamic, interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), mentalization-based treatment and emotion-focused therapy (EFT) treatment, Internal Family Systems (IFS) as well as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based approaches. As a way to optimize treatment, the practice strives to gather up client’s feedback about the treatment process; periodic check ins ensure that both client(s) and clinician are on the same wave length and moving towards the same goals. Additional ways the clinic monitors treatment progress consist of using various forms to look for benchmarks during the treatment.
With her perinatal mental health and clients, moms, dads and diverse family configurations, Dr. Wainer helps them navigate their concerns related to fertility issues, loss, grief, complicated pregnancies and birth and with their transition to parenting. Her integrative approach to perinatal concerns has evolved over her 25 + years of clinical experience, whereby she combines her expertise working with adults, as well as her background in infant/early childhood mental health and parent-infant attachment research. Offering a sense of gentle curiosity and a validating environment, Dr. Wainer supports her clients over the course of their reproductive journeys.
A safe space to process
For in person appointments, sessions will take place in our calming office environment where you’ll experience individualized care with Dr. Mariana Wainer. The practice continues to implement COVID-19 protocols (while masking is not required, we continue to use a survey prior to the visit, use of recommended ventilation system and sanitization procedures).
Can’t make it into the office? We offer video call therapy via a PHIPPA encrypted system.
Office Directions
Our office is located in Central Toronto, about a 15-minute walk from St. Clair West (St Clair Ave West and Bathurst) and St Clair (St. Clair Av West and Yonge) subway stations.
Streetcar 512 (Dunvegan stop)
The office is in Forest Hill, near Spadina Village, Hillcrest, Humewood - Cedarvale, Deer Park, Yonge - St. Clair Avenue, Oakwood Village, Rosedale - Moore Park, Summerhill, Oriole Park, Mt. Pleasant East and West, Casa Loma, Annex and Midtown neighbourhoods.
For drivers, you may choose street parking around the area .
Parents can bring their strollers.
Blog and News
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