Dr. Vanessa Illing

Clinical PSYCHOLOGIST

I will provide you with a genuine, nonjudgmental, and understanding space to share your concerns. My objective is to work together to help you achieve your goals.

My career has included assessing and treating a full range of mental health concerns common to adolescents and adults. I have many years of clinical experience conducting psychological assessments, individual therapy, and group therapy. My therapy experience has focused on clinical issues, health concerns, and rehabilitation. I am a registered provider with VAC/Blue Cross, the RCMP, and WSIB.

I will provide you with a genuine, nonjudgmental, and understanding space to share your concerns. My objective is to work together to help you achieve your goals.

I believe in providing evidence-based treatment, which means that the treatment has been scientifically evaluated and shown to provide good outcomes. Using my clinical judgment and experience, I will also customize psychotherapeutic interventions depending on your concerns, personality, and goals. Some of those interventions may include the following:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Attachment-based psychodynamic therapy
• Emotion-focused therapy
• Interpersonal therapy
• Mindfulness-based therapy
• Solution-focused therapy

Clinical Experience

I completed my Pre-Doctoral Residency in Clinical Psychology at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, working in the Anxiety Disorders, Operational Stress Injury Clinic and PTSD for Veterans, and Youth Psychiatry Partial Hospitalization programs.

After finishing my PhD, I gained specialized experience in the areas of health and rehabilitation, completing a research- and clinical-based Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Ottawa Hospital (Ottawa Hospital Research Institute).

Overall, I have worked for several years in psychiatric and general hospitals, as well as in a family health team prior to moving entirely into private practice in 2014. I am extremely passionate about providing services for first responders, active members of the military, and veterans.

Having worked in a primary care setting directly with 13 family doctors at a family health team, I am highly qualified to provide treatment for the type of psychological concerns that many people discuss with their family doctor. In addition, I am very experienced in working with family physicians and open to working collaboratively with yours to provide you the best care possible.

Providing community outreach in the form of teaching seminars, presentations, and collaborations is very important to me. I have provided community and workplace presentations on several topics, including stress, eating disorders, self-harm, suicide prevention, self-esteem, and PTSD.

During my research career, I received prominent grants and scholarships, published 9 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and presented at over 20 conferences.

I also mentor and teach students in psychology. I have several years of experience teaching and supervising research and PhD-level clinical psychology students. I also provide clinical supervision to psychologists registering with the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

I firmly believe in self-growth and staying up-to-date with the latest disciplinary advances, and continue my own professional development through lectures, workshops, conferences, and reading current scientific and clinical literature.

Services Offered

I am a passionate and experienced registered provider for Veterans Affairs Canada, the RCMP, first responders, and WSIB.

I provide individual therapy to adolescents (14 years and older) and adults for the following concerns:

• Grief

• Sexuality/Sexual identity

• Work difficulties

• Behavioural problems

• Self-esteem   

• Body image issues

• Life transitions