Carolina Pombo, Ph.D., M.Sc., RP

Hi! I'd like to share a few personal words before introducing my professional credentials.

When I was seven years old, I told my mom and my teachers that I was going to be a writer. I had just learned to read and couldn't stop reading! There were many artists and aspiring artists in my family entourage—a world where people connected beyond spoken words felt paradoxically vast and intimate. I loved writing little journal entries and inventing fantastic tales. And I loved to show them to my mom, my siblings and friends. By thirteen, the world seemed a little more intimidating, though, and I kept my personal and creative writings in my drawers, rarely allowing others to know my deepest, authentic self.

After going through tough times filled with family dramas, I announced that I actually wanted to be a psychologist. I wanted to do scientific research and help others the way I felt I needed to be helped. Ultimately, to become the professional I dreamed of, I learned that my creative expressions combined with my scientific curiosity made me a better and happier psychologist. I became a published author during my time as a Ph.D. candidate. Then I started spreading my writings in academic papers, a biographical essay, and online articles on different topics, including Feminism, parenting, mental health, and intersectional issues.

I still dwell on how much time and space to give my creativity these days - besides writing, I love to paint and sing. Still, I have to be reminded time to time that it is in this transitional space of our cultural/creative experiences that we feel life is worth living, to paraphrase D.W. Winnicott, my only and favourite psychoanalyst.

As a mother of a very creative teenager, I've also experienced the backstage, sometimes over-competitive and perfectionist environment, of the world of classical ballet schools and companies. I understand how societal norms can oppress your authentic self when you're trying to express your artistic passions. And sometimes we don't even notice the burden that this oppression adds to our relationships, our general well-being and career.

am inspired by the cutting-edge work of artist Lygia Clark and other researchers and artists who put science and the arts in dialogue. They have helped me be a better therapist for clients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Autism, ADHD, OCD and other complex categories. So, I have developed a passion for helping neurodivergent clients, preteens, teenagers and adults, as well as artists from a variety of fields, who need more than talking therapy and are willing to engage in a hybrid creative/artistic/clinical process with me.

I became licensed as a psychologist in Brazil in 2008, and worked as a professor in the field of Work Psychology, Social Psychology and Public Health before immigrating to Canada in 2020. Here, I used my creativity to reinvent my career. I am still doing what I love, but now, as a Registered Psychotherapist and a Career Counsellor. I am still working in the university environment, but in a different capacity. At the University of Toronto - Mississauga, I am the career counsellor in charge of the global and international portfolio. I also provide trauma-informed career counselling and help students with accessibility needs.

I'm formally trained in Phenomenological-Existentialist Psychology, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Mindfulness-CBT, Ecopsychology, and Narrative approaches such as Life Designing and Bibliotherapy. I provide career assessments to help you understand your personality traits, work values, and how your life experiences can contribute to achieving your career goals. I'm committed to a bio-psychosocial perspective and an affirmative stance to gender diverse clients. I speak Portuguese, French and English.

Carolina Pombo, Ph.D., M.Sc., RP, Psychotherapist

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