Sharon Genest, B.I.S., Practice Manager

Sharon Genest, GPS President and Practice Manager, has managed the practice since its inception. Her goal is to provide excellent care to individual clients in a relaxed and comfortable setting and to offer highly professional services to our corporate clients.

Since completing a Bachelor of Independent Studies degree at the University of Waterloo, Ms. Genest has pursued a range of research, treatment, and business development projects.   She has worked extensively in developing and executing research with a variety of populations, including prenatal groups and patients suffering from pain, multiple sclerosis, breast cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. She is the co-author of the book, Psychology and Health .   Ms. Genest brings over 25 years of experience in finance, administration, and planning to our therapy clients and consultations with corporate clients.

Barbara Fox, PhD, Psychologist

Dr. Barbara Fox (Registration #R0398) holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Vermont. She has worked in a variety of positions in hospital settings, at a university counselling centre, at a partial hospitalization day-treatment program, in an eating disorders clinic, and with Correctional Services of Canada.

A speciality area for Dr. Fox is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. She has provided her services to Dept. of National Defence Operational Trauma Stress and Support Centre. She also conducts and supervises research related to operational PTSD.

Dr. Fox has taught at the University of Vermont. During the past several years, she has been actively involved in research investigating issues related to parenting/family styles and child and adolescent outcomes, women's issues, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Areas of particular interest include therapy and assessment for depression, anxiety, adjustment issues, substance abuse, eating disorders and childhood and adult abuse issues. She works with adolescents and adults, couples and families. Dr. Fox has specialties in eating disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and in forensic assessment including training in and experience with the assessment of violent offenders and the prediction of risk of re-offending.

Beverly Butler, PhD, Psychologist

Dr. Beverly Butler, Psychologist (Registration #R0592) holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Dalhousie University, where her major areas of concentration were in Clinical Neuropsychology and Health Psychology. She has been very active in recent years researching attention difficulties after right-hemisphere stroke and remains committed to researching cognition after acquired brain injuries.

Areas of particular clinical interest include neuropsychological assessment and treatment of adults experiencing cognitive difficulties, behavioural changes, and/or emotional distress after stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological or medical conditions.

Julia Holt, PhD, Psychologist

Dr. Julia Holt is a psychologist, registered in Nova Scotia (#R0515) and Ontario (#2255). She holds an Ed.D. from the University of Toronto. Dr. Holt has worked as a consultant for the Toronto Board of Education and the Toronto Department of Health and has taught at Trent University, Mount St. Vincent University and Dalhousie University. As a private practitioner, her practice has included services to diverse populations in hospital, school, university, corrections, and private practice settings.

Dr. Holt’s mental health focus is primarily adults and children experiencing anxiety, mood and adjustment disorders. She also works from a wellness, health and happiness perspective with adults wanting to enhance life satisfaction and well-being. She has worked extensively with pain and trauma experienced by victims of motor vehicle and workplace accidents. With this population, she has contributed to multi-disciplinary team treatment planning for clients of Workers’ Compensation Boards and insurance companies.

Heather MacLatchy, PhD, Psychologist

Dr. Heather MacLatchy is a registered psychologist in Nova Scotia (R#0469), who holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Dalhousie University. For the past several years, she has been providing services at the IWK Health Centre, working with children, adolescents and adults with a broad range of mental health difficulties, family issues and life challenges. Currently, she divides her time between her private practice at GPS and her work at the IWK Adolescent Day Treatment Service, where she is Team Leader in providing services for children, adolescents and their families.

Dr. MacLatchy specializes in an adolescent population (aged 12-19 years) with chronic, severe and complex mental health histories. She is able to work closely with multi-disciplinary teams, other health care providers and outside agencies (e.g., community services, schools). Her primary areas of interest include the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, self-esteem issues, behavioral difficulties, anger management, parenting and school refusal. Cognitive-behavioural strategies are employed to help teens and their parents learn new ways to manage life stress and improve the overall quality of their lives.

Simon Sherry, Ph.D., Psychologist (Cand. Reg.)

Dr. Simon Sherry (C#10593) holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan. He is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University. He conducts research on the role of personality traits (e.g., perfectionism) and interpersonal processes in depression, anxiety, health anxiety/hypochondriasis, and eating disorders. He recently won the Canadian Psychological Association President’s New Researcher Award (2009).

Dr. Sherry sees adults for individual therapy. He provides treatment for a range of difficulties including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, pain, medically unexplained somatic symptoms, health anxiety/hypochondriasis, body dysmorphic disorder, body image, bulimia, binge eating, perfectionism, work or academic problems (e.g., procrastination), stress, relationship problems, and personality problems. Dr. Sherry has evening appointments available.