Dr. Mirella Pugliese, Ph.D., C.Psych., is a registered clinical psychologist who works with infants, children, adolescents, parents, and families. As a clinical psychologist, she is licensed to conduct assessments, diagnose mental health disorders, and provide psychological treatment. She received her Ph.D. in School and Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Toronto. Dr. Mirella’s extensive training and work experiences include a variety of community mental health settings, such as the Hincks-Dellcrest Centre (currently, the Sick Kids Centre for Community Mental Health), Child and Family Services at the Credit Valley Hospital, and Surrey Place Centre in Toronto, in addition to working in private practice. Within these settings, she provided therapy and assessment services to toddlers, preschoolers, school-age children, youth, and their families, with a wide range of presenting concerns.
Dr. Mirella has been at The Willow Centre since 2015. Here she provides dyadic parent-infant/child psychotherapy, play therapy with children, talk-therapy with older children and teens, and parent counselling. She has specialized training and a keen interest in working with young children and their parents using attachment-based therapy approaches to help enhance parental functioning, foster emotional growth and affect regulation in children, and help nurture, restore, or maintain secure attachments. As well, Dr. Mirella conducts comprehensive psychological assessments, including psychoeducational assessments and social emotional assessments with preschoolers, children, and adolescents. She provides psychological services to children, teens, and families with a diverse set of concerns, including attachment concerns, adoption issues, anger, anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, behavioural problems, depression, difficulties with emotional regulation, learning disabilities, neurodiversity, relational difficulties, sexuality and gender concerns, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences (e.g., parental divorce, major illness, loss, or death of a family member).
While rooted in psychodynamic principals, Dr. Mirella’s approach to therapy is integrative and individualized to meet the needs of the child or teen. Her approach draws from several therapeutic modalities including attachment-focused therapies, relational psychodynamic therapy, play-based therapy, family systems, and cognitive-behavioural therapy. Behavioural concerns or challenges are often symptomatic of something else. Dr. Mirella’s integrative approach goes beyond symptom relief to help identify what is beneath the concern by emphasizing a deeper understanding of affect and meaning. This contributes to an increased awareness of internal experiences and a decrease or resolve of both the behavioural symptoms and underlying issue. Fundamental to this process is Dr. Mirella’s emphasis on providing a safe therapeutic environment of acceptance and empathic understanding which fosters a trusting therapeutic relationship and ensures that every child, teen, and parent feels heard and understood.
Because learning is a lifelong journey, Dr. Mirella actively participates in continued learning opportunities through ongoing workshops, seminars, peer-consultation, and further training. Currently, she is actively engaged in a weekly advanced study group of international clinicians focusing on enhancing and redefining parent-child psychotherapy.
Outside of her clinical work, Dr. Mirella enjoys cross-country road trips with her family, capturing the beauty of nature behind a camera lens from unique perspectives, and long walks with her four-legged fur-baby. She also enjoys bike riding, tennis, audiobooks, and cheering our hometown Blue Jays and Maple Leafs.
Dr. Mirella provides in-person services at The Willow Centre on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Virtual therapeutic services for teens and parents are also available, when appropriate.
e-mail: mpugliese@thewillowcentre.com (preferred)
phone: 416-250-1540 x28