About Us

Main St. Psychological Centre (MSPC) is a group of psychologists in private practice. We’re located in a beautiful landmark building in The Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto.

MSPC psychologists provide psychological assessment and treatment services to children, adolescents and adults. Treatment services include individual therapy, couples therapy and family therapy.

Our psychologists provide professional, caring and confidential services. We work hard to be flexible and responsive to each individual’s unique needs.

We invite you to read further to learn more about our psychologists and the services we provide. Please feel free to contact our administrative staff directly to discuss our services.

About MSPC

OUR PSYCHOLOGISTS

Professional. Caring. Confidential.

Our psychologists are all highly educated and trained with a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) in psychology and are registered with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. We bring a high level of professional education, training, and experience to the work we do helping people.

Dr. John VanDeursen

Dr. John VanDeursen, Director

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our long time Director and Founder Dr. John VanDeursen, who passed away suddenly and without warning on September 1, 2023. His legacy of helping people in the community with a wide range of concerns by providing psychological treatment and assessment services, and his passion for making a difference by his involvement with various psychological boards and associations will be remembered and appreciated. His passing will be felt by all who knew him personally and professionally.

Dr. Anjuman Bains

Dr. Anjuman Bains

Dr. Anjuman Bains is registered with the College of Psychologists of Ontario and is currently under supervised practice at Main St. Psychological Centre. Dr. Bains has her Ph.D. in Psychology, as well as a Diploma in Guidance and Counselling (both through Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi India).

She has extensive experience working with adolescents and adults assisting them with a range of issues including stress, anxiety, depression, effects of trauma, and psychological effects of infertility.

She has also worked closely with high performers/achievers and Olympic athletes, bringing forward her expertise in the area of performance psychology. Her work with the athletes and sports federations such as the Weightlifting Federation of India and Indian Sports Federation of Cerebral Palsy have also been recognized by various national newspapers and news channels in India.

Over the course of her career, she has worked with private practice, government organizations, non-profit organizations, educational institutions and sports federations in the space of mental health.

She has also worked actively with government in high war conflict areas of India (Jammu & Kashmir) under The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). This experience underlies her strong understanding of the effects of trauma on people.

Her passion for mental health has led her to be invited on platforms like BBC World News and TED talks.

Dr. Bains provides treatment using (but not limited to) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness based approaches and Mental skill training for high performance.

Her strengths are her ability to understand and work with different cultures and religious backgrounds while recognizing people’s individual concerns. She works to help people by applying her knowledge and skills in dealing with those concerns.

Dr. Anjuman offers therapy in English, Hindi and Punjabi and has a fair understanding of Urdu.

Dr. Andrea Byrne

Dr. Andrea Byrne

Dr. Andrea Byrne is a licensed psychologist practicing in the areas of Clinical Psychology and Clinical Neuropsychology. Dr. Byrne received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Ottawa, following which she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Since then, she has worked in the GTA and Durham region, most recently at Lakeridge Health.

Dr. Byrne has a special interest in working with young people and adults with complex mental health needs. She conducts comprehensive assessments and provides evidence-based treatment for a wide range of issues and concerns. Her approach is collaborative and strengths-based, and she draws from several modalities including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and mindfulness-based approaches. Fluently bilingual, Dr. Byrne offers services in both English and French.

Dr. Lawrence Dong

Dr. Lawrence Dong is a Clinical and School Psychologist. He has practiced in a variety of settings from community-based agencies to institutions providing psychotherapy, psychological assessments and consultations. Client populations have included children, adolescents and adults, as well as families. Treatment issues that have been addressed are wide ranging, from mood issues and substance abuse to cultural and learning issues. Dr. Dong has had a lengthy history with high risk populations. Currently, Dr. Dong works for the school board, is in private practice and consults to children’s mental health centres.

Dr. Miroslaw Grygo

Dr. Miroslaw Grygo

Dr. Miroslaw Grygo completed his PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Manitoba. He has extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and adults assisting them with a range of issues including adjustment and conduct problems, stress and anxiety related problems, depression, anger management, pain management, addictions, and effects of trauma, including PTSD. He has worked extensively with couples and families assisting them with relational issues and parenting concerns.

Dr. Grygo has worked in various institutional settings including hospitals, a residential treatment facility for youth, School Board (Child Guidance Clinic), employee assistance program, federal corrections, and in private psychological practices. His assessment experience includes clinical and psychoeducational assessments, fitness for duty assessments, threat assessments, and court ordered assessments. He is registered in Ontario to practice in the areas of clinical and forensic psychology.

Dr. Melissa Houser

Dr. Melissa Houser

Dr. Melissa Houser is a registered clinical psychologist practicing with children, adolescents, adults, and families. She has a Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology from the University of Denver. She relocated to Canada for her predoctoral internship at McMaster Children’s Hospital, and she has worked in the Greater Toronto Area since then. More recently, she has worked at The Hospital for Sick Children and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in their adolescent eating disorder programs. Over the course of her career, she has worked in hospitals, private practice, and community mental health settings.

Dr. Houser has worked extensively in the areas of child and family mental health. She has a special interest in assessing and treating over and under control, eating disorders, and trauma. She also performs diagnostic and psychoeducational assessment. Over the past two years, Dr. Houser has been working towards Level 2 certification as an RO-DBT therapist, and has started a comprehensive RO-DBT program at Main St. Psychological Centre. Dr. Houser provides treatment using Radically Open-Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, as well as play therapy, bottom-up approaches to trauma, and mindfulness-based approaches. She is also trained in family therapy, with extensive training in Family-Based Therapy for eating disorders. She has training as a yoga instructor and incorporates yoga into therapy when appropriate.

Dr. Marc Lewis

Dr. Marc Lewis

With his return to Canada, Dr. Marc Lewis is basing his clinical psychology practice here at Main St. Psychological Centre, where he works with adults struggling with a range of issues.

Dr. Lewis is a professor emeritus in developmental psychology, having taught at the University of Toronto for over twenty years and at Radboud University in the Netherlands for six. He is the author or co-author of over 70 journal publications in psychology and neuroscience, and he is recognized internationally for his books on addiction. In Memoirs of an Addicted Brain (2011), he connects his own years of drug use with an account of how the brain changes with addiction. In The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease (2015), he combines biographies of "addicts" with neuropsychological findings, to show how addiction develops and how it can be overcome. While focused on research and writing, Dr. Lewis has devoted more and more time to psychotherapy with people struggling with addictions -- mostly substance addictions but also behavioural addictions including binge-eating, porn, and gambling. He additionally works with individuals suffering depression or excessive anxiety, and he is particularly concerned with the impact of traumatic experiences on psychological functioning and wellbeing.

Dr. Lewis received his Ph.D. in both child-clinical and research psychology at the University of Toronto in 1989. He was initially trained in psychodynamic therapy at the (then called) Hincks Treatment Centre in Toronto. His current practice is also informed by elements of Internal Family Systems therapy (an approach to individual therapy, not family therapy), Emotion-Focused Therapy, insights from social-cognitive neuroscience, and mindfulness/meditation. He brings a personal understanding of addiction, derived from his own past struggles, to a deeply empathic bond with individuals caught between their wish to abstain and their urge to continue addictive behaviours. His emphasis is on helping clients access self-dialogue and self-compassion, reduce feelings of shame and anxiety, and modify addictive patterns as desired rather than feel coerced. A warm and personal style of interaction characterizes his therapy sessions.

Dr. Lewis also maintains an active blog and speaks internationally on addiction and related topics. https://www.memoirsofanaddictedbrain.com

Dr. Lesley Ruttan

Dr. Lesley Ruttan

Dr. Lesley Ruttan is a registered Psychologist practicing in the areas of Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from York University. Dr. Ruttan has been a part-time staff Neuropsychologist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute/University Health Network (TRI/UHN) since 2002 having worked with inpatient and outpatient acquired brain injury populations. Dr. Ruttan also serves as Practice Leader for Psychology at TRI/UHN and is actively involved in the training of clinical interns. She holds an Adjunct Lecturer position at the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Graduate Department of Psychological Clinical Science.

Dr. Ruttan provides neuropsychological and psychological assessment services and treatment services for adults and seniors. Common presenting problems include brain injury/illness, depression, anxiety, coping with life stressors and adjustment to injury/illness/disability.

Privacy & Confidentiality

Confidentiality is respected at all times.

No information will be communicated, either directly or indirectly to a third party without your written, informed consent. For couples, the consent of both partners is necessary in order to release information from their common file.

Exceptions to confidentiality include legal obligation to:

  1. Inform a potential victim of violence, or the appropriate authorities, of the client’s intention to inflict harm;
  2. Inform appropriate persons, or health care professionals, of a client’s intention to end his or her life;
  3. Release a client’s file if it is subpoenaed by a court of law;
  4. Inform the Children’s Aid Society if a client is placing a child at risk for sexual or physical abuse;
  5. Report a health professional who has sexually abused a client or patient

Our psychologists may also consult with one another regarding your treatment for the purpose of enhancing client care.

Main St. Psychological Centre building exterior summer

Fees

Fees for Psychological services are not covered by OHIP, but they may be covered by your group insurance plan /extended health care benefits.

Please check with your insurance provider to determine if psychological services are covered under your plan and if there are limits to your benefits.

The fees for all treatment and assessment services provided at MSPC are charged on an hourly basis including the fee for the initial consultation with the psychologist. All MSPC psychologists are currently charging fees according to the suggested fee schedule recommended by the Ontario Psychological Association. Please call to discuss our current fees with our administrative staff.