Dr. Allan Abbass is a Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology and founding Director of the Centre for Emotions and Health at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. In October of 2019, he became the sixth President of the IEDTA.

Allan Abbass, MD

Halifax, Nova Scotia

He completed Medicine at Dalhousie University, a residency in Family Medicine at McGill University, and has worked as both a family physician and an emergency physician. He began to study psychosomatics at McGill University in 1990, where he began training in Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy with Habib Davanloo. In 1995, he completed a Psychiatry residency at the University of Toronto with the goal of teaching and conducting research in psychotherapy.  He continued his work with Dr. Davanloo through supervision until 2001 and attending  immersions since that time.

He is now a leading teacher and researcher in the area of short-term psychotherapy, having contributed over 160 publications and more recently his first book, Reaching Through Resistance. He is known for simplifying the theory and technical aspects of complex models with the use of algorithms and through highlighting moment-to-moment processes that inform intervention. He has received a number of teaching awards including a national teaching award in Psychiatry and the Douglas Utting Prize for contributions to the treatment of depression. He has been honored with visiting professorships at several universities and institutions in North America and Europe where he provides ongoing training programs. Most recently he has been named Visiting Professor at the Tavistock Clinic in London, UK.

Contact Allan Abbass, MD | Email: allan.abbass@dal.ca