Board Nominations

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to submit my candidacy for the position of Director Representing Practice on the Board of Directors of the CPA.

I obtained my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2022 – a CPA‑accredited program - with concentrations in Child, Adolescent, and Family Services and Behavioural Neurosciences. I completed postdoctoral training primarily in the public sector, and I am currently licensed to practise in Ontario and Québec in Clinical Psychology, School Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology. I also hold the Québec certificate for the assessment of neuropsychological disorders, and I am a Doctoral‑level member of the Canadian Register of Health Service Psychologists.

I am the Founder and Director of a psychological private practice in Ottawa, where my clinical work focuses on neurodevelopmental, medical, and mental health services for children, adolescents, and families. As an actively practising psychologist, I am closely aware of the realities many of us face daily, including access to care, workforce pressures, technological change, evolving regulatory environments, training standards, and the need for thoughtful, evidence‑informed advocacy.

My involvement with the CPA has been both longstanding and service‑oriented. I currently serve as Chair of the Clinical Neuropsychology Section, a role I will conclude in June 2026. I am also a member of the Prescriptive Authority for Psychologists in Canada Working Group, the co‑chair of the national task force developing Canadian Clinical Neuropsychology training guidelines, and the co‑lead of the first bilingual national survey of clinical neuropsychology practice in Canada. This work reflects my commitment to grounding professional standards and policy in Canadian data and Canadian realities.

Although I am an early‑career psychologist, I see this as a strength rather than a limitation. I bring a practice that is informed and open perspective, grounded in collaboration with experienced colleagues, openness to learning, and a strong sense of professional accountability.

As psychologists, our primary accountability is always to our patients. Advocating for clear, transparent, and evidence‑based decision‑making is essential when considering changes to our profession's regulatory framework. As such, this requires maintaining respectful, open, and collegial dialogue, especially when there are differing perspectives, while also being willing to speak up when professional standards or public protection may be at risk.

As Director Representing Practice, I would aim to ensure that practitioners' voices inform national decision‑making. I am particularly motivated to support initiatives that promote public protection, professional sustainability, equitable access to services, and high standards of training and practice. Central to this role, in my view, is listening and meeting colleagues where they are, hearing concerns, and fostering a more bottom‑up approach to leadership and advocacy.

As a trilingual psychologist whose family came to Québec as refugees, I also bring lived experience that informs my commitment to inclusive leadership and to amplifying diverse practitioner perspectives within our profession.

I would be honoured to contribute my time and perspective to the future of psychological practice in Canada.

I am honored to put my name forward for the position of Director Representing Practice on the Board of the Canadian Psychological Association. I hold a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of New Brunswick (2011) and have been a licensed Clinical Psychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario since 2011. I was also previously registered with the Nova Scotia Board of Examiners in Psychology (2013–2019).

I currently serve as President and CEO of ThriveSpace Health and Wellness in Toronto, Ontario, a practice I founded in 2016. ThriveSpace provides specialized evidence-based psychological services to individuals, leaders, teams, and corporations. This dual focus on direct clinical service and systems-level consultation has given me a unique vantage point on the challenges and opportunities facing practitioners today.

My career reflects a deep commitment to both clinical excellence, innovation, and health systems leadership. As Clinical Director and Provincial Clinical Lead for the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program at the Canadian Mental Health Association–York South Simcoe (2019–2022), I oversaw clinical operations for provincial mental health resources including Bounce Back Ontario and Clinician Assisted Bibliotherapy. In this role, I communicated outcomes to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and the Mental Health Centre of Excellence, participated in the Governance Committee of the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program, and drove strategic initiatives alongside executive leadership.

Previously, I served as a Senior Clinical Health Psychologist at CBT Associates (2018–2021) and as a Clinical Psychologist at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax (2013–2018), where I contributed to the design and implement the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Specific Care Clinic for chronically suicidal, self-harming adolescents. Across two provinces, I have led and contributed to provincial and regional mental health program development and implementation efforts, with a strong focus on improving access, quality, and innovation in care delivery.

I bring meaningful experience with the CPA through my previous service as a Member of the CPA Professional Affairs Committee (2017-2020). This experience positions me well to serve as

an effective liaison between the committee and the Board. Prior to this role, I proudly served as a member, and ultimately a Chair of the Hospitals and Health Centres Section of the CPA. I have also valued my involvement as a member of the Black Psychology and Clinical Sections of the CPA, which have provided important opportunities for professional connection, advocacy and mentorship.

Beyond the CPA, I have extensive board and national leadership experience. I previously served as Director and Vice-Chair of Eli's Place, supporting the development of a rural residential treatment centre for young adults with serious mental illness. I currently serve on the Board of Look Good Feel Better Charity, a national charity providing psychosocial supports to Canadians undergoing cancer treatment. In addition, I have been a long-standing member of the EMental Health Collaborative with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, contributing to the development of the National E-Mental Health Strategy for Canada.

I am deeply committed to advancing the profession of psychology in Canada and supporting practitioners in an increasingly complex healthcare environment. I believe my combination of clinical expertise, systems leadership, governance experience, advocacy and longstanding CPA involvement would allow me to contribute meaningfully to the Board and to represent the interests of practitioners with integrity, collaboration, and vision. It would be a privilege to serve in this capacity.

Dr Deanne C. Simms, Ph.D., C. Psych.

Dear Members of the Nominations Committee,

I am writing to express my interest in serving as Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). As an experienced senior psychologist with a strong record of leadership and a deep commitment to advocacy for the profession, I believe I can contribute meaningfully to the CPA Board and to the advancement of psychology in Canada.

I am a Senior Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of experience across hospital and outpatient mental health services, academia, schools, military contexts, and private practice. This breadth of experience has given me deep insight into the delivery of psychological services across diverse populations and settings. I currently serve as a Clinical Psychologist with Mental Health Services at Canadian Forces Health Services in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I work with active-duty military members and previously served as Psychology Lead from 2018 to 2020. I am also a Clinical Associate with the Dalhousie University Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, where I have supervised practicum students and interns, and I maintain a small private practice. I hold a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Acadia University (2005).

In addition to my clinical work, I have over 15 years of leadership experience through board and committee service with APNS, CPAP, and CPA, which has allowed me to contribute to the advancement of psychology in Canada. I recently served as President of APNS and as the Nova Scotia representative to the Council of Professional Associations of Psychology (CPAP), and I have represented Canada at the American Psychological Association’s State Leadership Conferences. I was instrumental in forming and chairing the APNS Early Career Psychology Committee. Over the past two years, I have also served as a member of the CPA Professional Affairs Committee (PAC), which has provided valuable experience with CPA governance.

Over the course of my career, I have been honoured to receive several awards, including a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) graduate scholarship (2004–2005), the CPA Award for Academic Excellence (2006), the APNS Outstanding Early Career Psychologist Award (2015), and most recently, a Canadian Armed Forces Surgeon General’s Clinical Coin (2025) for program development and research.

My professional passion is advocacy for the discipline, particularly improving access to and the impact of psychological services. As a Board member, I would be particularly interested in advancing work on the future of psychology training and licensure in Canada, including the development of PsyD programs and progress toward national licensure. I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to the CPA’s ongoing work and strategic priorities.

Thank you for considering my application.

Sincerely,

Chimène Jewer, M.Sc., R Psych

I am a Clinical Psychologist (C.Psych, licensed in Ontario) who has always been drawn to complex issues throughout my professional life, whether enacted in clinical care, advocacy initiatives, policy creation, or business development.

I am the Clinic Director at WG Psychology, a private practice I founded in Toronto in 2020, where I lead a multidisciplinary team that provides clinical intervention and assessment for adults struggling with a variety of mental health issues, with particular focus on serious mental illness and men’s mental health. This work reflects my dedication to clinical and leadership practices that draw on complex case formulation, evidence-based clinical decision-making, and a deep commitment to high-quality client care.

I received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from York University, and I completed my predoctoral residency at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, where I later completed a postdoctoral fellowship and held a staff position. Across my roles at CAMH, I was involved in providing individual and group interventions, developing novel clinical programs, delivering numerous professional trainings for frontline staff, and supervising doctoral and postdoctoral psychology trainees. These experiences honed my skills and reinforced my interests in leadership, knowledge mobilization, and mentoring future generations of psychology and allied professionals.

I have demonstrated a commitment to the profession throughout my career and am eager to continue to do so at the national level. I have taken on leadership roles within multidisciplinary teams, on organizing committees, and for policy initiatives. Most recently, I was on the executive leadership team for the Psychology Advocacy Network (Ontario) where we advocated for thoughtful, evidence-based regulatory discussions and sought to raise public and professional awareness about issues at the intersection of clinical practice and regulatory policy.

I believe psychology is at an inflection point. The rise of AI is transforming how we teach students, conduct research, and deliver care to Canadians. Meanwhile, access to psychological services remains an unresolved issue across the country. Fragmented health systems, differing regulatory environments, and persistently underfunded public sectors mean that many Canadians, particularly those from historically marginalized groups, are unable to access the care they need. Additionally, significant regulatory changes are being proposed and enacted across the country that have considerable implications for the public and the profession.

These challenges and opportunities require steady national leadership driven by leaders who can navigate complexity through rigorous analysis, high integrity, respect for different perspectives and lived experiences, and skillful collaboration with diverse stakeholder groups. These are interests and skills that I have honed over my career and are what motivate me to stand in this election.

I am proud to be a psychologist and of the important clinical, scientific, and educational work that we do across the country. I would be honoured to continue to advocate for psychology and the application of psychological science for the benefit of all Canadians in the role of Director-at-Large on the CPA’s Board of Directors.

Vina Goghari is a professor of clinical psychology and cognitive psychology, and the Vice-Dean, Research and Program Innovation at the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto. Through this role she is well versed in research administration and advocacy across the disciplines.

She holds a PhD in clinical psychological science from the University of Minnesota. Trained as a clinical cognitive neuroscientist, she has expertise in multiple methodologies, including neuroimaging, behavioural genetics (i.e., family studies), cognitive and affective experimental psychology, and clinical assessment. She has completed research to advance scientific knowledge in the causes, course, outcome, and treatment of psychosis. Her current professional and research interests are in understanding campus mental health, particularly graduate student mental health. She also currently holds NSERC funding to study cognitive control. Her research transcends multiple domains of psychology.

Professor Goghari’s cutting-edge research program has received numerous accolades: (1) funding from all three Canadian Tri-Council agencies (NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR) covering health, social and natural sciences; (2) national and international awards (e.g., CIHR New Investigator Award, CPA President’s New Researcher Award, Lilly Young Investigator Fellowship, and Young Investigator Award from the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research Conference); (3) recognition as a Fellow of the CPA, APS, and APA for her sustained scholarly profile; and (4) College of Liberal Arts Alumni of Notable Achievement from the University of Minnesota.

She is the former Editor of Canadian Psychology and outgoing Associate Editor of Clinical Psychological Science and Schizophrenia Bulletin. As Editor of Canadian Psychology, she promoted a broad mandate of publishing all branches of psychological science and is very knowledgeable about various research methods and sub-disciplinary conceptualizations.

Finally, Professor Goghari has contributed to the development of psychology as an inclusive science. For example, she co-edited a special issue on Building a More Cumulative Psychological Science for Canadian Psychology, offering concrete suggestions on how we can do better science. Her co-edited special issue, Building a More Socially and Culturally Responsive Psychology, made work in diversity science accessible to a global audience.

Professor Goghari has had significant involvement with CPA through her role as an Editor, Fellow, and previous member of the accreditation panel. She would be honoured to promote all forms of psychological science in Canada, from academia to industry work to application. Concretely, she would love to strengthen how science can be used to solve the wicked problems of today, including health, belonging and loneliness, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.