Michal Gilboa-Hermel, M.A.

Psychologist

Michal Gilboa-Hermel is a registered psychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario, and holds an M.A in clinical psychology from Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where she was also a registered clinical psychologist prior to her move to Toronto.

She works with all age groups, from adolescents to the elderly, facing various mental health challenges, including mood and anxiety disorders, prenatal and postpartum disorders, early attachment as well as later parental difficulties, relational and interpersonal difficulties, emotional dysregulation, personality disorders, post and complex trauma and other transitional life difficulties and challenges.

Michal is first and foremost a psycho-dynamic therapist, who believes in the healing power of an empathetic, non-judgmental, containing and beneficial therapeutic relationship, where there is room to pause, question and introspect. Her training focused on object-relations theories, as well as self-psychology and relational psychology, and she is fascinated by the vast effects of early attachment on the individual’s life. Over the years Michal was also trained (and later trained others) in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and she continues to add more evidence-based modalities to her “therapeutic tool box” in order to tailor the best approach to each client’s needs. Among those modalities are: Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Couples Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) and mindfulness-based approaches. She was trained as a parents’ group facilitator at the Adler Center in Vancouver.

Michal’s clinical and professional experience includes psychology positions in outpatient clinic, inpatient day hospital, private practice, non-profits and community settings, both in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and in Vancouver, Canada. Prior to her move to Toronto, she worked in her private practice in Tel-Aviv, and also provided CBT and mindfulness based group workshops and supervision through “Chosen” – a resiliency – building center in Israel. She spent the 4 years before that doing her internship at “Clalit” Health-Services, where she had the opportunity to work individually and in groups with diverse populations, from very young children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) through to elderly individuals facing a verity of mental health challenges and life difficulties. In Vancouver, Michal had the privilege of working, among other places, at the British Columbia Society for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse (BCSMSSA), where she specialized in working with men with sexual-related PTSD. She enjoys working with men and with women, in English or in Hebrew, and continues to be in awe of her clients’ strengths and fascinating journeys through life, which she is honored to take even a small part in.

Outside of work, Michal enjoys spending time with her boys, extended family and friends. She loves an early morning work-out, baking, interior décor and parenthood-related poetry.