Dr. Nick Ostapchuk is a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist in Supervised Practice, who is currently in the process of completing his registration with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario. His area of specialization is in adult mental health, and he is a strong believer in the idea that all humans are the experts on themselves. Therefore, Dr. Ostapchuk works in tandem with his clients to explore their blind spots and to develop a set of therapeutic goals to help meet his clients’ needs. At Laksman Doell, he works collaboratively with both adult individuals and couples who are experiencing struggles in a variety of areas.
Making room for the universality of experiential pain, Dr. Ostapchuk’s practice centres around taking a trauma-informed approach. To achieve this, he works from a non-judgemental, warm, and compassionate perspective and strives to foster safety in the therapeutic environment by working to reduce the power dynamic between therapist and client. Dr. Ostapchuk is also acutely aware of how intersecting identities shape every client’s experience and therefore deeply inform the collaborative treatment plan.
Dr. Ostapchuk has experience providing therapy to individuals with a wide range of presenting concerns across a variety of treatment settings. These presenting concerns include anxiety, complex trauma, self-criticism, depression, substance use issues, emotional dysregulation, problematic sexual behaviours and thoughts, attachment injuries, psychosis, and severe mental illness. With his clients, Dr. Ostapchuk incorporates the development of healthy coping skills with nurturing a healthy balance between the needs of one’s self-critic and an amplified compassionate, tender self. Dr. Ostapchuk integrates techniques from many evidence-based therapeutic modalities, including Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, mindfulness-based treatments, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, and humanistic-experiential therapy.
Dr. Ostapchuk completed his Master’s degree in experimental psychology (forensic stream) at Carleton University in Ottawa, and his Doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Toronto, around the corner from Laksman Doell. Dr. Ostapchuk completed his predoctoral residency at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and completed practica at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, CAMH, the OISE Psychology Clinic, and in a Toronto-based private-practice setting. Dr. Ostapchuk also currently works as a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist in Supervised Practice at the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby. At Ontario Shores, Dr. Ostapchuk provides assessment and treatment services to individuals with the Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD) designation.
Dr. Ostapchuk is passionate about how critical it is for science and practice to inform each other. As such, he has been involved in psychological research since 2012. After obtaining his undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montreal, Dr. Ostapchuk held a research assistant position at a medium-security provincial correctional and treatment centre. His Master’s thesis explored lay attitudes about psychopathy and confusion with psychosis. For his doctoral dissertation, he took a mixed-methods approach in examining the prevention of domestic homicide. Dr. Ostapchuk has presented his research at both national and international psychology conferences. He is a member of the Ontario Psychological Association.