“The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don’t wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.”
THICH NHAT HANH
ABOUT ME
MEET DR. SARA (she/her/hers)
I am a clinical and health psychologist with over 15 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and parents as well as training health care providers. I completed my PhD in Clinical Developmental Psychology at York University in Toronto with a focus on pediatric pain. I went on to complete my residency at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto with a focus on chronic disease. Throughout my career I have trained and worked in various settings including hospitals, schools, mental health centres, and private practice. Throughout these different contexts, my mindfulness and values-based approach to work and life has remained constant.
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As a psychologist, I have been working clinically primarily with the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Program at SickKids since 2014. I am also an Associate Scientist with the SickKids Research Institute and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto with appointments in the Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Medical Science. My research has allowed me to work with young people with a variety of chronic conditions. My program of research focuses on building resilience in young people with chronic disease via meaningful social supports and mindfulness based approaches to everyday life. This work as an academic clinician has allowed my
curiosity to lead to developing and testing novel mindfulness and ACT-based interventions adapted to chronic disease contexts as well as training peer mentors, graduate students, residents, fellows, and health care professionals.  
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As a human, I view mindfulness as a way of life and allow awareness to lead to values based living. I believe in coming up with the most workable solutions to problems, even if they aren't always ideal. I also think that overall health is about more than the absence of pathology or symptoms but also the presence of something we care about! To that end, I try my best to savour the good stuff and sometimes eat dessert first. Together with my family, we love to travel, hike, and explore new places....especially if we are off the beaten path.
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