Michelle Azzi

I am currently a PhD Candidate in Counselling Psychology at McGill University. At the Centre for Interpersonal Relationships (CFIR), I am completing my final internship under the supervision of Dr. Lila Hakim, C. Psych., and Dr. Karine Côté, C. Psych. I provide psychotherapy and assessment services to individuals and couples dealing with a range of difficulties including but not limited to low mood, anxiety, irritability, OCD, self-esteem, life transitions, and relationship struggles. I provide a warm, empathetic, and non-judgmental presence striving to make you feel understood and unconditionally accepted. My approach is tailored to your individual needs, often drawing strategies from cognitive-behavioral, emotion-focused, existential-humanistic, psychodynamic-attachment, acceptance and commitment, dialectical behavior, and systematic therapies. I adopt a multicultural approach in my practice, integrating an understanding and appreciation of your cultural background, identity, beliefs, and unique experiences into our work together. During our sessions together, we will begin by exploring your concerns and objectives for therapy. Together, we will work towards gaining a deep understanding of these concerns, uncovering underlying causes, and developing the skills, strategies, and insight needed to achieve your mental health goals. I look forward to helping you gain greater self-understanding, clarity, confidence, and meaning in your life. Throughout my graduate training, I have completed practica in a variety of settings, including hospitals, community clinics, and private practice. My Master’s practicum was completed at the McGill Psychoeducational & Counselling Clinic, where I provided psychotherapy to community members dealing with a variety of struggles including mood, anxiety, personality, and relationship difficulties. My first doctoral practicum was completed at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC)’s Anxiety Disorders Program, where I provided individual psychotherapy to adult outpatients in tertiary care presenting primarily with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive related disorders. My second doctoral practicum was completed at the MUHC’s Mood Disorders Program, where I provided individual and group psychotherapy services to adult outpatients in tertiary care presenting primarily with depressive and bipolar related disorders. My third doctoral practicum was completed at NeuroSolution, a private practice clinic where I administered a variety of psychodiagnostics and neuropsychological tests to individuals presenting with ADHD, learning disorders, and intellectual disabilities. In addition to my practicum experience, I am registered in the Order of Psychologists of Quebec (OPQ)’s student registry and have provided individual psychotherapy services in private practice in Montreal. I also have experience supervising a Master’s level practicum student at the McGill Psychoeducational & Counselling Clinic. I am deeply committed to continuing education and regularly attend trainings on evidence-based interventions. In my research endeavors, I have conducted supervised research in the fields of otolaryngology at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, eating disorders at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, and evidence-based practice in psychotherapy at the Science and Practice in Psychology research lab. I am actively involved in research projects that assess and evaluate the quality of clinical practice guidelines across Canada. I have also contributed to the development of a national web-portal in collaboration with the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) that acts as an online hub for EBP resources for mental health professionals. My current supervised doctoral research is focused on examining the application of evidence-based practice (EBP) in psychotherapy, studying psychotherapists’ in-vivo clinical decision-making process and their integration of client characteristics when designing a treatment plan. Below are some of my recent co-authored publications: Middleton, J. C., Azzi, M., Watkins-Martin, K., & Drapeau, M. (in press). A survey on differences in implementing evidence-based practice according to five psychotherapist variables. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Bergeron, C., Azzi, M., Coroiu, A., Loiselle, C., Drapeau, M., Körner, A. (2023). Finding a needle in a haystack: The identification of clinical practice guidelines for psychosocial oncology through an environmental scan of the academic and grey literature. Cancer Medicine. http://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.7039 Middleton, J. C., Azzi, M., & Drapeau, M. (2022). Implementation of evidence-based practice precepts in psychotherapy and recommendations for research and practice. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 55(4), 497–511. https://doi.org/10.47634/cjcp.v55i4.71195 Hébert, C., Watkins-Martin, K., Ciquier, G., Azzi, M., & Drapeau, M. (2021). The quality of six clinical practice guidelines in health and social sciences: Are we on the right track? Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 48(5), 821–829. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-021-01132-8 Ciquier, G., Azzi, M., Hébert, C., Watkins-Martin, K., Drapeau, M., (2020). Assessing the quality of seven clinical practice guidelines from four professional regulatory bodies in Quebec: What’s the verdict?. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. doi: 10.1111/jep.13374 Paquin Hodge, C., Gauvin, L., St-Hilaire, A., Israel, M., Azzi, M., Kahan, E., Thaler, L., Dansereau, E., Steiger, H. (2019). A naturalistic comparison of two inpatient treatment protocols for adults with Anorexia Nervosa: Does reducing duration of treatment and external controls compromise outcome?. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 1-9. doi: 10.1002/eat.23150 Drapeau, M., D’Iuso, D., Dunkley, D., Dobson, K.S., Azzi, M., Beaulieu, L. (2018). Cognitions matter: The role of cognitive mediators in improving interpersonal functioning and symptoms of depression. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, doi: 10.1037/int0000139