Senior Scientist, Women's College Research Institute
Director, Women's Mental Health Research Program, Women's College Research Institute
Academic Lead, Trauma Therapy Program, Women's College Hospital 
Clinical Psychologist, Women's College Hospital
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto 
 

Dr. Catherine Classen is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and the director of the Women's Mental Health Research Program at Women's College Research Institute. She is the academic leader for the Trauma Therapy Program within the Women's Mental Health Program at Women's College Hospital where she serves as a research scientist and a clinical psychologist.

Dr. Classen's research examines effective psychotherapeutic interventions for women who have experienced stressful life events such as child abuse, violence or serious illness, with the aim of learning which interventions are most effective and better understanding how to personalize interventions for individual patients. To better reach underserved populations in need of effective psychosocial interventions, she leads knowledge exchange projects that harness the power of the Internet. Specifically, she and her colleagues develop online support group interventions for women living with such medical conditions as gynecologic cancer, type 2 diabetes and HIV infection. Their aim is to demonstrate the efficacy of these interventions and, if efficacious, to make these interventions available to women across Canada.

In addition, Dr. Classen develops educational tools to advance trauma-informed care within the health care system. She is currently collaborating with colleagues on a project to develop a  tool that enables health providers to self-assess their knowledge of psychological trauma and trauma-informed care.

Finally, Dr. Classen's conducts psychotherapy research on the intensive Women Recovering from Abuse Program (WRAP) and the Trauma and the Body Group, short-term group intervention that utilizes sensorimotor psychotherapy techniques for trauma survivors; both programs are offered at in the Trauma Therapy Program at Women’s College Hospital. She has published in the areas of psychotherapy outcome, child sexual abuse, sexual re-victimization and support groups for cancer patients, among others.