101 episodes
PsychEd Episode 78: Mental Health and Homelessness with Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos
01/09/2026 | 36 mins.Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This episode covers homelessness and mental illness with Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos, senior scientist with the General Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems Division at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is also a full professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
She has served in several administrative roles, including vice-chair, clinical and innovation (2017-2022) and co-Director of the Division of Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems (2012-2017) in the Department of Psychiatry, as well as physician-in-chief at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (2016-2022), psychiatrist-in-chief at St. Michael’s Hospital (2011-2016) and medical director, Inner City Health Associates (2017-2011).
Dr. Stergiopoulos completed her medical training at Dalhousie University and residency training in psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She holds a MHSc in health administration from the University of Toronto’s Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and completed director’s education training at the Rotman School of Management.
The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:
Define homelessness and housing insecurity and identify key social determinants that shape health outcomes in this population
Understand how homelessness intersects with mental health, substance use, trauma, and barriers to care and recovery
Evaluate clinical and systems-level approaches to improving care in the interdisciplinary practice and training
Guest: Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos
Hosts: Dr. Sena Gok, Dr. Matthew Cho (PGY2), Dr. Angad Singh (PGY3), Dr. Sophie Gregoire-Mitha (PGY2)
Audio editing by: Dr. Sena Gok- Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers the basics of CYP450 metabolism as it applies to psychotropic medication.
Hosts: Dr. Celine Prell (PGY4), Dr. Angad Singh, (PGY3)
Audio Editing: Dr. Celine Prell (PGY4), Dr. Angad Singh, (PGY3)
For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (@psyched.podcast), Facebook (PsychEd Podcast), X (@psychedpodcast), and Bluesky (@psychedpodcast.bsky.social). You can email us at psychedpodcast@gmail.com and visit our website at psychedpodcast.org. - Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.
This episode covers Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Dr. Kenneth Fung and Dr. Iline Guan.
Dr. Kenneth Fung is Staff Psychiatrist at the Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. He is Professor and Director of Global Mental Health with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. His research, teaching, and clinical interests include both cultural psychiatry and psychotherapy, especially ACT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and mindfulness. He is the Block Co-coordinator of the Cultural Psychiatry Core Seminars for psychiatry residents, and the seminar co-lead and psychotherapy supervisor in CBT at the University Health Network.
Dr. Guan is a psychiatrist who practices outpatient general psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, where she works in the Mood and Anxiety Ambulatory Services and the Northern Psychiatric Outreach Program. She also works with Inner City Health Associates in downtown Toronto. She has had training across various psychotherapy modalities, including psychodynamic therapy, CBT, DBT, IPT, MBSR/MBCT, and ACT. She is involved in resident teaching and psychotherapy supervision at the University of Toronto, and has implemented a pilot ACT group program in the Mood and Anxiety clinic at CAMH.
The learning objectives for this episode are as follows:
Describe the theoretical model and core processes underlying ACT
Identify the evidence base and clinical indications for using ACT across psychiatric presentations
Demonstrate core ACT techniques and how they can be integrated into clinical practice
Guest: Dr. Kenneth Fung and Dr. Iline Guan
Hosts: Victoria Meng (MS3), Dr. Katherine Bailey (PGY3), and Dr. Angad Singh (PGY3)
Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh (PGY3)
References:
1. Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.006
2. Gloster, A. T., Walder, N., Levin, M. E., Twohig, M. P., & Karekla, M. (2020). The empirical status of acceptance and commitment therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.09.009
3. Twohig, M. P., et al. (2025). Group acceptance and commitment therapy versus cognitive behavioral therapy/exposure response prevention for obsessive compulsive disorder: A block randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39987908/
For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (@psyched.podcast), Facebook (PsychEd Podcast), X (@psychedpodcast), and Bluesky (@psychedpodcast.bsky.social). You can email us at psychedpodcast@gmail.com and visit our website at psychedpodcast.org. - Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners. This short episode covers factitious disorder.
Hosts: Jo Kikukawa (MS3), Dr. Kate Braithwaite
Audio editing: Dr. Kate Braithwaite
References:
1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, text revision (DSM-5-TR). 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2022.
2. Irwin, M. R., Bursch, B., & Solomon, D. (2025, July 21). Factitious disorder imposed on self (Munchausen syndrome). UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/factitious-disorder-imposed-on-self-munchausen-syndrome?search=factitious+disorder&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~90&usage_type=default&display_rank=1&searchCorrelationId=681d447e-f8e6-4338-b905-ff937cad5972&searchCorrelationTerm=factitious+disorder#H368608737
3. PsychDB. (2021, December). Factitious Disorder. Factitious Disorder - PsychDB
4. Roesler, T. A., & Jenny, C. (2026, June 12). Medical child abuse (Munchausen syndrome by proxy). UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/medical-child-abuse-munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy?search=factitious+disorder&source=search_result&selectedTitle=3~90&usage_type=default&display_rank=3&searchCorrelationId=681d447e-f8e6-4338-b905-ff937cad5972&searchCorrelationTerm=factitious+disorder#H90255160
5. Yates, G., & Bass, C. (2017). The perpetrators of medical child abuse (Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy) - A systematic review of 796 cases. Child abuse & neglect, 72, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.07.008
For more PsychEd, follow us on Instagram (@psyched.podcast), Facebook (PsychEd Podcast), X (@psychedpodcast), and Bluesky (@psychedpodcast.bsky.social). You can email us at psychedpodcast@gmail.com and visit our website at psychedpodcast.org. - Welcome to PsychEd, the psychiatry podcast for medical learners, by medical learners.
This episode covers the topic of grief with Dr. Cindy Grief, a Geriatric Psychiatrist at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, where she is the Medical Director for Mental Health Services. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and has played active roles in postgraduate and continuing education.
The learning objectives for this episode are as follows
Explain how acute grief becomes integrated over time, and how the dual process model helps us understand this adaptive process.
Recognize the clinical features of Prolonged Grief Disorder, understand factors that may increase vulnerability, and distinguish it from trauma-related disorders and depression.
Structure a bereavement-focused clinical history, differentiate the management of normative grief from Prolonged Grief Disorder, and approach suicide risk assessment in the context of grief.
Guest: Dr. Cindy Grief
Hosts: Ahmad Khan (incoming PGY1), Dr. Angad Singh (PGY2), and Sara Abrahamson (MS3)
Audio editing: Dr. Angad Singh
Resources:
The Center for Prolonged Grief (https://prolongedgrief.columbia.edu/)
Canadian Virtual Hospice (MyGrief.ca)Association for Death Education and Counseling (https://adec.org)
What’s Your Grief (https://whatsyourgrief.com/)
Podcasts: AllThere Is; Griefcast
Books/Memoirs:
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking
Helen Macdonald, H Is for Hawk
C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
Chimamand Ngozi Adichie, Notes on Grief
Articles:
A.C. Shilton, “There Is No Vaccine for Grief,” New York Times, March 2, 2021
M. Stroebe, “The Poetry of Grief: Beyond Scientific Portrayal,” OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, 2018, 78(1), 67–96
References:
Shear, K., Frank, E., Houck, P. R., & Reynolds, C. F., III. (2005). Treatment of complicated grief: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(21), 2601–2608. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.293.21.2601
Simon, N. M., & Shear, M. K. (2024). Prolonged grief disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 391(13), 1227–1236. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcp2308707
Zisook, S., & Shear, K. (2009). Grief and bereavement: What psychiatrists need to know. World Psychiatry, 8(2), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2051-5545.2009.tb00217.x
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About PsychEd: Educational Psychiatry Podcast
This podcast is written and produced by psychiatry residents at the University of Toronto and is aimed at medical students and residents. Listeners will learn about fundamental and more advanced topics in psychiatry as our resident team explore these topics with world-class psychiatrists at U of T and abroad.
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