DR. IRINA VALENTIN, Ph.D., C. Psych
Dr. Irina Valentin, Ph.D., is registered with the College of Psychologists of Ontario in the areas of clinical neuropsychology, clinical psychology and school psychology and provides services in these areas to children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. She has three Master’s degrees, including in computer science and psychology. She obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from York University. Dr. Valentin has a diverse practice that includes evaluation and treatment of neurocognitive and psychological problems that are related to brain trauma (e.g., concussion, stroke, car accidents, etc.). Her practice also includes assessing children and adolescents with learning disabilities and autism and treating patients with mood, anxiety, adjustment and somatoform disorders. She has many years of experience conducting disability and catastrophic impairment assessments. Dr. Valentin is also a designated capacity assessor. She is a co-director of our clinic.
PERSONAL MESSAGE
People often ask me why I took the entrepreneurial route and decided to start my own private clinic. Many years ago, when I was working as a school psychologist for a board of education as a school psychologist, I remember often having a thought in my mind during our team meetings: “There are limits on how many assessments and interventions we as school psychologists can do per school. Which child will be left without the psychological services they need at school this year or next year because of our limited government funds?” I felt deeply that parents should have options and shouldn’t have to wait for their child to receive an assessment and should be provided with not only assessment but treatment options. After running this internal monologue in my head for many years, I decided to make the change I wanted to see and provide psychoeducational and mental health services in a private clinic.
Building a private clinic required a lot of knowledge and skills. I constantly needed to challenge myself and look for new ways to identify and solve problems that our clients were bringing to our clinic. This is why in addition to my registration as a school psychologist, I decided to also get training and subsequent registration as both a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist. Having this expertise in many areas has allowed me to see deeper into complex issues and find the core of the problem.
Looking back and seeing my own children’s success, I still remember the struggle I went through as a first generation immigrant with finding time and money for their needs. But I knew from my heart that investing in my kids is the best thing I could do for them and for myself too. As a parent I knew that some things cannot wait, especially when it comes to children’s development.
My family, including my daughter who later joined the team, have helped every step of the way with fulfilling my dream of building this clinic. I appreciate family relationships as well as my relationships with members of our team – a group of professionals who have joined us on this journey and who were selected not only for their expertise, but also for their commitment to serve families. I believe that this family to family attitude that we have nurtured at our clinic over the years allows us to bring our very best to your family. Please allow us to help your child and your family to succeed by calling and booking an assessment or treatment.