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Dr. Ivana Macar, R.Psych.

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Dr. Ivana Macar (née Lizdek) is a Registered Psychologist. In her clinical practice, she enjoys working with children, adolescents, adults, and couples in assessment and therapy. Dr. Macar has particular expertise in mood and anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), relationship distress and conflict, relational ambivalence, grief and loss, disordered eating, trauma and stress-related difficulties, life transitions, and health-related issues (e.g., chronic pain). She has a special interest in helping individuals identify and understand problematic patterns of thinking, feeling, behaving, and relating to others in order to provide space for growth and an opportunity to live a more fulfilling life.

Dr. Macar’s clinical practice is grounded in empirical evidence stemming from current research on what works best for whom. Her approach to treatment is guided by evidence-based therapies, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). As a scientist-practitioner, she continually strives to integrate the most advanced research findings with her clinical expertise in a manner that is empathic and sensitive to the complex and unique experience of each person. Dr. Macar is certified in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) by the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (CACBT-ACTCC).

Dr. Macar’s research and publications have focused on understanding patterns of behaviour that unfold across time in close relationships and how people’s ways of engaging with others influence important outcomes, such as their overall happiness and the happiness of others. She has also examined the impact of spouses’ depressive symptoms on such nuanced patterns and how sexual communication may differ from nonsexual communication in long-term relationships.

In addition to her private practice, Dr. Macar works as a Psychologist on the Child and Youth Mental Health team for the Ministry of Children and Family Development. In this role, she conducts assessments with children, adolescents, and families with the aim of reducing suffering and improving mental health. In addition, she leads group consultation teams and offers individual consultation to professionals regarding how to design therapeutic interventions that would be most effective for children and their families. Dr. Macar is currently serving as an adjunct clinical supervisor for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Psychology Clinic. In her role, she trains and supervises Clinical Psychology graduate students in the effective delivery of evidence-based treatment. She has also taught Abnormal Psychology at UBC.

Dr. Macar received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. She completed an accredited pre-doctoral residency with the Edmonton Consortium Clinical Residency program, working at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, University of Alberta Hospital, Alberta Hospital Edmonton, and the Grey Nuns Community Hospital. During her residency, Dr. Macar worked in both inpatient and outpatient settings, providing assessment services and psychotherapy for mood and anxiety disorders, severe personality pathology, chronic pain, infectious diseases (Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS), autism spectrum disorder, youth addictions, and psychosis. Dr. Macar has also trained in Ontario at the Centre for Mental Health Research and Treatment in Waterloo, the Operational Stress Injury Clinic in London, and the Inpatient Specialized Mental Health unit at the Grand River Hospital – Freeport Site in Kitchener. 

Dr. Macar provides psychological services in English and Serbian-Croatian.