Heather B. MacIntosh

Dr. MacIntosh’s research interests fall into the area of trauma and dissociation. In particular, she is interested in the impact of childhood trauma on emotion regulation and mentalizing and how these impact couple relationships and the process of couple therapy, as well as the impact of personal trauma on psychotherapists in their work. A recent addition to her research work is the inclusion of creative arts in the healing process for trauma survivors. Currently, Dr. MacIntosh is in the piloting stage of research for a new model of couple therapy for childhood trauma survivors, Developmental Couple Therapy for Complex Trauma. This model integrates an understanding of the developmental impact of childhood trauma on the capacity of survivors to regulate their emotions and to mentalizing and how these relate to being able to develop and maintain healthy couple relationships. Additionally, this model incorporates the development of these capacities into the couple therapy process to improve the psychological wellbeing of the individuals within the couple, to enhance the capacity of the couple to fully engage and benefit from the couple therapy process and, in the end, to improve the satisfaction and intimacy within the couple relationship. Another ongoing project is in the area of examining the experience of personal trauma in the lives of psychotherapists working in the area of psychoanalysis. This qualitative project has involved interviewing 45 practicing clinicians about their personal histories and the impact of these histories on the work as psychotherapists. More recently, Dr. MacIntosh developed a collaboration with Dr. Jean-Sebastien Vallée, Director of Choral Music at McGill University and they are in the process of recruiting participants for a choir that will explore the experience of singing in a choir for childhood trauma survivors. This exciting project will take place in the Fall of 2016. Other ongoing collaborations include providing research support to the ongoing clinical work of the Cedar Centre, a trauma treatment centre in Ontario as well as other trauma focused projects related to the impact of trauma on individuals and relationships. Dr. MacIntosh welcomes those who are interested in volunteering in her research lab to gain experience in any of the above areas. Currently, she has opportunities for individuals with couple therapy experience who are interested in transcribing couple therapy sessions for research purposes. Additionally, she has a paid position available for someone with quantitative analytic skills. Additionally, she has opportunities for individuals interested in administrative tasks, transcription of therapy tapes and, eventually, participating in recruitment and data collection for two studies. Please contact her by email at heather.macintosh@mcgill.ca or (514)398-7056.