Dr. Yusra Ahmad

Dr. Ahmad has specific expertise in trauma, mood and anxiety disorders as well as SPMI (severe and persistent mental illness) populations. She is dedicated to community work and advocacy around diverse issues such as marginalization, homelessness, poverty, refugee mental health, gender-based violence and the struggles of Muslim youth and families. She was a key informant for “Building Muscle: Community Interventions for Family Conflict,” a pilot project by the Redwood Shelter focusing on Black and Muslim communities in the GTA, London and Peel regions. 

Dr. Ahmad received the Ontario Psychiatric Association’s 2019 Breakout Community Psychiatry Advocacy Award for creating the trauma-informed group therapy program entitled Mindfully Muslim which blends mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with the sacred wisdom tradition and teachings of Islam. She presented this program at the 2019 World Psychiatric Association Congress on Religion and Psychiatry in Jerusalem and was profiled in the feature article "Race, Religion & Mental Health" in the Black Lives Matter special edition of Chatelaine magazine. Dr. Ahmad has also served as a film consultant for the award-winning hit dramatic television series, "Transplant," and "The Path Travels Me," an independent Netflix film.