Kristina Axenova, MA, Ph.D. (Candidate)

Clinical Therapist

Kristina Axenova is a PhD candidate in the Clinical Psychology (Adult Stream) program at York University. She holds a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from Western University and an Honours Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Guelph. Kristina is passionate about supporting individuals and their caregivers as they navigate the emotional and physical challenges associated with chronic illness, identity shifts, anxiety, grief, and life stressors.

She has received clinical training in both therapy and assessment across a range of hospital and interdisciplinary settings, including the Bariatric Surgery Program at Toronto Western Hospital, the Michael G. DeGroote Pain Clinic, and the Juravinski Cancer Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences. In these roles, Kristina has provided psychotherapy for a broad spectrum of mental and physical health concerns, such as chronic pain, adjustment to chronic illness, anxiety and panic, post-traumatic stress, body image and eating-related issues, fear of cancer recurrence, and end-of-life challenges.

Kristina’s therapeutic approach is integrative, evidence-based, trauma-informed, and feminist-informed. She draws from a range of modalities, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Narrative Therapy (NT). At the York University Psychology Clinic, she also provides psychotherapy to young adults using humanistic and emotion-focused approaches such as Process-Experiential Emotion-Focused Therapy (PE-EFT), particularly in the context of early childhood trauma, abuse, and neglect.
In addition to her clinical work, Kristina is involved in several research projects as a clinical assessor. These include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focused on improving treatments for social anxiety in queer men, cognitive difficulties in individuals with substance use disorders, and couples therapy for borderline personality disorder, emotion dysregulation, and self-harm.

Kristina believes that meaningful therapy is rooted in a strong therapeutic alliance that is empathic, compassionate, and collaborative. She gently challenges clients to work toward their goals and believes that lasting change occurs when clients feel safe, heard, and empowered to better understand themselves.
Outside of her professional work, Kristina enjoys traveling, hot yoga, and baking.