Dr. Kathryn Fitch

Dr. Kathy Fitch, MD, FRCPC has always been passionate about empowering individuals to better understand their unique strengths and challenges, and transform their lives using the tools she has learned in her undergraduate Medical Training (1999, McMaster University), Psychiatry Residency and then Fellowship in Psychotherapy: CBT&DBT (2004 and 2005, respectively, University of Ottawa). Kathy came to Medicine from a background in Philosophy (BAHons, 1995, University of Calgary), shaping her sensitivity to the complex issues around ethics and self often prominent within mental health.

In research, Kathy has been particularly interested in strategies to reduce stigma against certain populations, and to empower caregivers to be more effective in treating patients others have struggled to treat. Throughout her career, Kathy has specialized in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and worked with individuals suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder, although she has also always worked in inpatient and outpatient settings where she has also treated individuals suffering from the full range of psychiatric disorders, and seen the powerful impact of DBT tools taught and applied to patients suffering from other issues.

Kathy has been Clinical Medical Director of the regional AHS DBT Clinic, and Community Addiction and Mental Health – Central Clinic, since 2013, and is now delighted to be part of the Newly Institute, where she will be doing individual psychiatric assessments and care, and also focused on developing and cofacilitating the DBT skills group component of the program.