Dan Krzyzanowski
MA, Doctoral Candidate
Dan Krzyzanowski is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. He has completed a breadth of clinical training in psychological assessment and therapy at Baycrest Hospital; Toronto Western Hospital; Sunnybrook Health Care Sciences Centre, Frederick Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre; University of Toronto Health & Wellness Centre; and Alberta Hospital Edmonton.
Dan has worked with individuals in all stages of adult life experiencing a wide range of difficulties, including obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), depression, anxiety, alcohol and substance use, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, neurological disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy), and neurocognitive disorders associated with aging (e.g., dementia).
Dan has worked with individuals presenting with a range of OCD symptoms, including obsessions and compulsions related to contamination, harm, sexuality, perfectionism and feelings of just rightness. He has also worked with body-focused repetitive behaviours, such as skin picking and hair pulling.
Dan approaches evidence-based treatment through a humanistic lens, and he has received training in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and relapse prevention. At Sunnybrook Healthcare Sciences Centre, Dan was trained to apply these treatments to his individuals with OCD specifically. This involved CBT interventions, including exposure and response prevention (ERP) to help individuals overcome their obsessive thoughts and compulsions related to germs, insects/pests, religion, perfectionism, and uncertainty. He considers the people he works with to be the experts on their own lived experience. Therefore, they work collaboratively and nonjudgmentally to help them find solutions that fit their life circumstances.
Dan is actively involved in clinical research focused on values (i.e., the things that are most important to each of us) and emotional experience in people experiencing mental health difficulties. He is also interested in behavioural strategies aimed at improving cognition (i.e., thinking skills) in people experiencing cognitive decline.
