Dr. Deanne Ho-A-Shoo, MD, MDPAC(C)

Deanne Ho-A-Shoo is a MD-Psychotherapist and Certificant Member of the Medical Psychotherapy Association of Canada. After practicing for 12 years as a full-time Family Physician in Toronto, she decided to pursue further training to become a MD-Psychotherapist. Deanne provided general adult psychotherapy at the Aberfoyle Health Centre in Toronto for 22 years.

Since 2014, Deanne has focussed on Trauma Therapy modalities to assist her clients on their healing journey. “Trauma is a deeply disturbing experience that can create extreme stress and overwhelm the body and mind.” “Healing from trauma means learning to come back to feeling our sense of self with its full range of emotions and physical experiences.” The healing journey is the path towards self-empowerment; the reclaiming of wisdom, strength, and joy of life.

Two of the trauma therapy modalities she introduces includes Internal Family Systems (IFS) and NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM).

IFS proposes that each of us possess a Self that is the true essence of who we are and Parts that fall into three categories–Exiles, Managers, and Firefighters. Respectively, these parts carry the pain of trauma, enact defenses to protect from the pain, and resort to extreme measures to protect against pain when the Exiles break through the Managers’ defenses. The goal of IFS is to assist a person in connecting with the Self, allowing them to understand more about the Managers and Firefighters who seek to protect them and the pain of the Exiles. The Exiles’ pain is released through Self-led efforts, and healthy interaction between the parts can resume, resulting in significantly reduced Complex-PTSD/PTSD symptoms.

NARM is a cutting-edge model for addressing attachment, relational and developmental trauma, by working with the attachment patterns that cause life-long psychobiological symptoms and interpersonal difficulties. These early, unconscious patterns of disconnection deeply affect our identity, emotions, physiology, behavior and relationships. Learning how to work simultaneously with these diverse elements is a radical shift that has profound clinical implications for healing complex trauma. As such, NARM is positioned to become an invaluable treatment option for the Trauma-Informed Care movement as we gain a greater understanding of the nature of adverse childhood experience (ACEs).

Along with these two powerful trauma therapy models, Deanne incorporates a combination of Cognitive Processing Therapy, Narrative Exposure Therapy, and Polyvagal Therapy. Her more eclectic therapy tools include Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT-tapping), The Chakra System as a Path to the Self and Buddhist Psychology.