Dr. Dawn DeCunha

Founder & Psychologist

I am Dawn DeCunha, a seasoned Clinical and Educational Psychologist with a remarkable career spanning more than three decades. Graduating with a Doctorate in Psychology from the esteemed University of Toronto in 1991, I embarked on a journey that led to the establishment of Psychology Works, a well-known and established community-based practice.

My early professional years were dedicated to School Psychology, a domain that honed my expertise in cognition, brain function, attention, learning, and self-regulation. As my journey evolved, I directed my focus towards engaging with the multicultural community I both served and resided in. This endeavor enriched my understanding of how families from diverse backgrounds navigate through unexpected and life-altering changes. This phase marked a pivotal shift as I embraced a trauma-informed approach, enhancing my ability to provide meaningful assistance.

My training encompasses not only psychological assessment but also treatment, resulting in a very busy practice. With a background rooted in learning, I found myself uniquely equipped to guide young individuals referred for treatment and educational/life planning following acquired brain injuries. This expertise seamlessly extended to the legal sphere, where my expertise was sought in legal matters.

Some years ago, a transformative personal event acted as a catalyst for a sudden, and significant transformation in my journey. This event, while challenging, underscored the imperative for innovative healing modalities beyond conventional evidence-based approaches. Rigorous exploration revealed experimental evidence of neurogenesis facilitated by psychedelic substances. This revelation ignited a fervor for the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, propelling me into a profound study and later, practice.

The more I learned, the more I heard a persistent calling to learn from Plant Medicines, directly. I embarked on a transformative sojourn in Mexico, delving into non-ordinary reality and ancient healing methods. Subsequent endeavors formalized my training in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy and Research, culminating in a postgraduate Certification from the prestigious California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). A few years ago, I was deeply honored to be invited to become a mentor for CIIS, and currently, I serve as Lead Mentor for this remarkable program.

Additional training at Compass Pathways elevated me to the role of Lead Therapist in the Phase IIb Clinical Trials for the Health Canada approved study of Treatment Resistant Depression and Psilocybin at CAMH in Toronto.  Currently, Health Canada funded psychedelic studies are underway at CAMH, where I am an affiliate research scientist.  My role is co-therapist of the Psilocybin and TRD currently underway.

With extensive training, personal insights, lived experience and a wealth of passion for Psychedelic Psychotherapy, I aim to share my expertise by offering avant-garde Professional Training in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy techniques. We have been providing Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), for many years now.  I remain dedicated to guiding individuals through transformative healing journeys. This dedication is embodied in our City Retreat, Aspenwood, where profound personal transformations are catalyzed in ways I have never seen in my 30+ years of practice.

Simultaneously, our Psychology Works practice continues to flourish as a trauma-informed clinic, providing ongoing psychological assessment and treatment, as we have done since 1991.

Finally, I am deeply honoured to embrace advisory roles for public companies within the psychedelic domain, and to advance the field in safe and responsible ways.