free therapy Toronto

Psychiatrist

Dr. Chardavoyne is a Psychiatrist.  He previously was a Psychiatrist at Monte Nido where he worked with individuals with Eating Disorders and additional Psychiatric illnesses.  Before that he was the Medical Director of Bright Heart Health, which is a company that provides telehealth services to individuals with Substance Use Disorders and Psychiatric illnesses.  Prior to that he was Interim Chief Medical Officer of Stonington Institute, Director of Medical Services at the Stonington Institute Partial Hospital/IOP Program, and Medical Director of Outpatient Medical Services at Stonington Institute.  He has held leadership and management positions, supervised healthcare professionals in various settings, and taught in medical schools to national conferences. He has undergone specialized psychotherapy training in Transference Focused Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and treating people with Dissociative Identity Disorder and other chronic dissociative processes.

There are many ways to understand the emotional difficulties that affect a person’s sense of self, relationships, behaviors, and other psychological symptoms. One way is to consider that the mind is made up of a psychological structure that is organized around images/representations of oneself and important others that were internalized during the course of growing up. These images aren’t fully conscious. They contribute to how people adjust to the world and other people, the situations into which people place themselves, and how people interpret what they are experiencing. Exaggerated, distorted, rigid, and/or unrealistic internal images can cause challenges in mood, self-worth, relationships, behaviors, and other difficulties. Helping people to understand the images/representations that make up their mind can help them to adapt more effectively to the world around them. This process can result in improved mood symptoms, self-worth, relationships, and the other difficulties for which people seek treatment. Psychotherapy that explores these images/representations through a person’s report of what is happening in their lives as well as what manifests in the therapeutic relationship is a pathway to modifying the psychological structure that causes the various symptoms.

Dr. John Chardavoyne, MD

Dr. John Chardavoyne values the importance of acceptance. He believes that all persons are created equal and that people are endowed with certain unalienable rights, including freedom, treatment with dignity and respect, and the pursuit of meaningful lives, regardless of the colour of a person's skin, what (or whether) a person chooses to worship, someone's physical limitations, gender and gender identity, where a person was born, citizenship status, sexual orientation, the extent of a person's poverty or wealth, or any other way in which a person might be viewed as different or as an "other".

Dr. Chardavoyne’s Commitment to Inclusivity and Diversity

Dr. Chardavoyne’s Specializations

  • Anger Management

  • Anxiety

  • Chronic Impulsivity

  • Bipolar Disorder

  • Borderline Personality

  • Coping Skills

  • Depression

  • Dissociative Disorders

  • Domestic Abuse

  • Domestic Violence

  • Emotional Disturbance

  • Eating Disorders

  • Life Transitions

  • Medication Management

  • Mood Disorders

  • Narcissistic Personality

  • Obsessive-Compulsive (OCD)

  • Pregnancy, Prenatal, Postpartum

  • Personality Disorders

  • Relationship Issues

  • Self Harming

  • Self Esteem

  • Sexual Abuse

  • Sleep or Insomnia

  • Stress

  • Suicidal Ideation

  • 2SLGBTQ+

  • Transgender

  • Trauma & PTSD

Psychodynamic Therapy Toronto

Sessions with Dr. Chardavoyne

We are a team collaborating to achieve your treatment goals by following an agreed-upon treatment plan.  Treating one another with respect and dignity is of utmost importance.

Education on the nature of the illness(s) is important and may continue throughout treatment.  It is important to empower yourself with knowledge.

For medication evaluation and management appointments, we will discuss what is happening in your life as well as your symptoms.  We will also review the medication effects.  Supportive Psychotherapy and Motivational Interviewing strategies will be incorporated in our interactions.

For Psychodynamic Psychotherapy appointments, we will discuss how the sessions will be structured and the content of the sessions at the start of treatment.  You will typically discuss difficulties that pertain to the challenges that brought you to treatment.  I will help you to explore aspects of your mind that occur in what you discuss as well as how you relate to me in order to understand the images/representations of your mind that influence your experiences. 

Dr. Chardavoyne’s Credentials

Registration & Professional Memberships

Advanced Residency in Psychiatry: Fellowship in DBT, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 2010-2011

Chief Resident of Outpatient Psychiatry, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver, CO, 2009-2010

Resident in General Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver (UCD), Denver, CO, 2006-2009

Medical Degree, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, 2006

Bachelor of Arts with highest distinction in Psychology, Magna Cum Laude, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 1998-2002

Education

Motivational Interviewing Training by David Rosengren, PhD.  Prevention Research Institute, 2022

General Psychiatric Management for BPD.  Harvard Medical School On-Demand Course, 2021. 

Temperament Based Therapy with Supports by Laura Hill, PhD and Stephanie Knatz Peck, PhD, iaedp Virtual Symposium, 2021. 

Psychological First Aid Online.  The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2020

ACUTE Symposium: Medical Complications of Eating Disorders, Sponsored by Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, CO, 2017

American Society of Clinical Hypnosis-approved Basic Hypnosis Workshop led by Daniel Handel, MD.  Denver, CO, 2016

Dissociative Identity Disorder Educational Consultation by Dr. Richard Chefetz, 2016-2018

Transference Focused Psychotherapy Training by Frank Yeomans, MD, 2012-2017

Trauma‐Focused Symptom Screening and Assessment and Early Trauma-Focused Mental Health Intervention Strategies for Children, Adolescents, Families and Individual Adults by Steven Marans, PhD, MSW and Carrie Epstein, LCSW‐R in Newtown, CT, 2013

Buprenorphine in the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder.  American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.  Denver, CO, 2009

Buprenorphine in the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder.  American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.  Denver, CO, 2009

Training & Certifications

Connecticut Psychiatric Society Roger Coleman Memorial Award Service to Patients- awarded for responding after Sandy Hook tragedy, 2013

Certificate of Appreciation for Teaching, University of Health Sciences, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2009

Honours & Awards

Dr. Chardavoyne’s Publications & Presentations

Carsky, M., & Chardavoyne, J. (2017). Transference focused psychotherapy and the language of action. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 34(4), 397–403.

Daly Robert W., Luft Eric v.d., Bluhm Robyn, Wells Lloyd A, Bedrick Jeffrey D, Lewis Benjamin R, Chardavoyne John, Martin Elliott B.  ‘Sanity’ and the Origins of

Psychiatry with commentaries.  Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry Bulletin.  2013. 20:1.   

Savin DM, Legha RK, Cordaro AR, Ka S, Chak T, Chardavoyne J, Yager J, Novins D: Spanning Distance and Culture in Psychiatric Education: A Teleconferencing Collaboration between Cambodia and the United States.  Acad Psychiatry. 2013 Sep 1;37(5):355-9.

Phillips James, Frances Allen, Cerullo Michael A, Chardavoyne John, Decker Hannah S, First Michael B, Ghaemi Nassir, Greenberg Gary, Hinderliter Andrew C, Kinghorn Warren A, Lobello Steven G, Martin Elliott B, Mishara Aaron L, Paris Joel, Pierre Joseph M, Pies Ronald W, Pincus Harold A, Porter Douglas, Pouncey Claire, Schwartz Michael A, Szasz Thomas, Wakefield Jerome C, Waterman G Scott, Whooley Owen, Zachar Peter: The Six Most Essential Questions in Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Pluralogue Part 4: General Conclusion.  Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 2012, 7:14. 

Phillips James, Frances Allen, Cerullo Michael A, Chardavoyne John, Decker Hannah S, First Michael B, Ghaemi Nassir, Greenberg Gary, Hinderliter Andrew C, Kinghorn Warren A, Lobello Steven G, Martin Elliott B, Mishara Aaron L, Paris Joel, Pierre Joseph M, Pies Ronald W, Pincus Harold A, Porter Douglas, Pouncey Claire, Schwartz Michael A, Szasz Thomas, Wakefield Jerome C, Waterman G Scott, Whooley Owen, Zachar Peter: The Six Most Essential Questions in Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Pluralogue Part 3: Issues of Utility and Alternative Approaches in Psychiatric Diagnosis. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 2012, 7:9.

Phillips James, Frances Allen, Cerullo Michael A, Chardavoyne John, Decker Hannah S, First Michael B, Ghaemi Nassir, Greenberg Gary, Hinderliter Andrew C, Kinghorn Warren A, Lobello Steven G, Martin Elliott B, Mishara Aaron L, Paris Joel, Pierre Joseph M, Pies Ronald W, Pincus Harold A, Porter Douglas, Pouncey Claire, Schwartz Michael A, Szasz Thomas, Wakefield Jerome C, Waterman G Scott, Whooley Owen, Zachar Peter: The Six Most Essential Questions in Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Pluralogue Part 2: Issues of Conservatism and Pragmatism in Psychiatric Diagnosis. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 2012, 7:8.

Phillips James, Frances Allen, Cerullo Michael A, Chardavoyne John, Decker Hannah S, First Michael B, Ghaemi Nassir, Greenberg Gary, Hinderliter Andrew C, Kinghorn Warren A, Lobello Steven G, Martin Elliott B, Mishara Aaron L, Paris Joel, Pierre Joseph M, Pies Ronald W, Pincus Harold A, Porter Douglas, Pouncey Claire, Schwartz Michael A, Szasz Thomas, Wakefield Jerome C, Waterman G Scott, Whooley Owen, Zachar Peter: The Six Most Essential Questions in Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Pluralogue Part 1: Conceptual and Definitional Issues in Psychiatric Diagnosis. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 2012, 7:3.

Savin D, Glueck D, Chardavoyne J, Yager J, Novins D: Bridging Cultures: Child Psychiatry via Videoconferencing. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America  20:1; 125-134, 2011.

Chardavoyne J: A Psychotherapeutic Challenge for the Beginning Therapist. Am J Psychiatry The Residents’ Journal  5:11; 18, 2010.

Chardavoyne J, Frechette V:  Occult PTSD with Panic Attacks in a Patient Post-TIA: Case Report. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine  36:4; 427-434, 2006.

Publications

Discovering the Unknown: Chronic Dissociative Processes in People with Eating Disorders.  Monte Nido Webinar, 2025

COVID-19 Collateral: Managing Loneliness, Anxiety, and Depression in the Primary Care Setting. RubiconMD Webinar, 2021

Faculty.  All Hands on Deck- Eating Disorders in 2021: Primary Care and Behavioral Health Updates in Diagnosis, Treatment, and System Innovations. Webinar. Partnership Health Plan, 2021

Expert Panelist.  Disconnected: a discussion regarding the impact loneliness has on clients and mental health providers.  Webinar.  Anthem, Inc, 2021

Expert Panelist.  Violence Against Doctors: How to Prevent & How to Respond. Webinar. Indian Orthopaedic Association and INDEAR, 2021

Faculty for ASAM Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder, 2021

Course: Criminal Justice Focus.  American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2021

Assessment of Narcissistic Personality Disorder- When to consider a Kernberg vs Kohut approach.  Committee of Shanghai China American Psychoanalytic Alliance, 2021

Centurion’s Eating Disorders Webinar Series 3: Medical Complications of Eating Disorders.  RubiconMD Webinars, 2021

Centurion’s Eating Disorders Webinar Series 2: Management of Eating Disorders in the Primary Care and Correctional Setting.  RubiconMD Webinars, 2021 

 Centurion’s Eating Disorders Webinar Series 1: Overview of Eating Disorders in the Primary Care Setting.  RubiconMD Webinars, 2021

Management of Alcohol Use Disorder in the Primary Care Setting, RubiconMD Webinars, 2020

Managing Anxiety and Depression During COVID-19 & Beyond. RubiconMD Webinars, 2020

Workshop on Transference Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline and Narcissistic Personality Disorders. Presented with Frank Yeomans, MD, PhD and Jonathan Shedler, PhD.  Sponsored by University of Colorado Denver Department of Psychiatry. Aurora, CO, 2011-2016

Antisocial Behavior and the Justice System: Criminal Sanctions vs Rehabilitation.  Presented with Christine Sheldon, MA, LPCC.  Eating Disorder Center of Denver in-service. Denver, CO, 2016

Sexual Boundary Violations.  Eating Disorder Center of Denver in-service. Denver, CO, 2016

Transference Focused Psychotherapy, Object Relations Theory, and the movie: Good Willing Hunting.  Presented with Robert Feinstein, MD.  Sponsored by the Denver Psychoanalytic Society.  Denver, CO, 2016

An Object-Relations Approach to Borderline Personality Disorder.  Eating Disorder Center of Denver in-service.  Denver, CO, 2015

Boundary Crossings and Violations in Clinical Practice.  Denver VAMC Outpatient MH Clinic Prescriber’s Meeting.  Denver, CO, 2015 

Organized with Robert Feinstein, MD- Object Relations: Transference Focused Psychotherapy for Personality Disorders by Frank Yeomans, MD, PhD.  University of Colorado Denver Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2014

Looking Forward: Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Programs and Levels of Care.  Denver VAMC MH Clinic Town Hall.  Denver, CO, 2014

Looking Forward: Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Programs and Levels of Care.  Denver VAMC MH Clinic Town Hall.  Denver, CO, 2014

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy- A Treatment Approach for Comorbid Borderline Personality Disorder and Eating Disorders.  Sponsored by the Eating Disorder Center of Denver.  Denver, CO, 2014

 VA Mental Health - SCAN ECHO: Borderline Personality Disorder. Denver, CO, 2013

VA Mental Health- SCAN ECHO: Antipsychotic Pharmacology/Metabolic Concerns.  Presented with Jeff Gold, PharmD, BCPP.  Denver, CO, 2013

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy.  Denver VAMC Team B in-service. Denver, CO, 2013

"Does Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Work?  An Evidence-Based Approach." Yale Philosophy and Psychiatry Group.  New Haven, CT, 2012

Dealing with Behavioral Health Issues in the Workplace with Mark Lawless, LCSW.  Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.  Hamden, CT, 2011

7th Annual Yale Borderline Personality Disorder Conference presentation to mental health trainees: Therapists and Sexual Boundary Violations, 2011

 7th Annual Yale Borderline Personality Disorder Conference: Empirically Supported Therapies for Borderline Personality Disorder:
Common and Distinguishing Aspects of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
and Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT)- Role player for MBT and DBT expert discussions and demonstrations, 2011

Silver Hill Hospital treatment care and front staff in-service: Therapists and Sexual Boundary Violations, 2010

University of Colorado Hospital Outpatient Psychiatry Department Presentation on Mental Health and Cambodia with Dr. Robert Feinstein, MD and Dr. Daniel Savin, MD, 2010

Organized with Dr. Donald Winter, MD at the Denver VAMC a conference for Psychiatry residents on assaults and workplace violence, 2010

University of Colorado Denver Psychiatry Department Grand Rounds with Dr. Robert Feinstein, M.D.  Sex, Lies, and Videotape: Boundary Issues and Supervision: Treatment of Patients with Severe Personality Disorders, 2009

Presentations

Dr. Chardavoyne’s Experience

The International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, 2021-present

American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2021-2024

China American Psychoanalytic Alliance, 2020-2021

American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, 2016-2017

Dissociative Disorders Study Group of Denver, 2016-2018

International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, 2015-present

American Psychiatric Association Psychotherapy Caucus, 2015-present

International Society of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy, 2013-present

Cofounder of the Yale University School of Medicine Philosophy and Psychiatry Group, 2020

American Psychiatric Association, 2013-present     

Organizations

Preceptor for Caring for Patients with Addiction Elective. University of Michigan School of Medicine, 2022-2023 

China American Psychoanalytic Alliance Curriculum Year 2 Trimester 3 Technique Classes 26-30.  Supportive Psychotherapy and Termination, 2020

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders II. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2017

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders I. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2017

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders II. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2017

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders I. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2017

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders II. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2016

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders I. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2016

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders II. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2016

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders I. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2016

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders II. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2015

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders I. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2015

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders II. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2015

Director for PGY-1 Psychiatric Diagnosis and Phenomenology: Personality Disorders I. University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry.  Aurora, CO, 2015

Guest Lecturer on Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for University of Colorado Denver Department of Psychiatry Integrative Case Seminar for PGY IV Psychiatry Residents. Aurora, CO, 2014

Guest lecturer for Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, 2012

Predoctoral Internship in Clinical and Community Psychology Interventions Seminar- Transference-Focused Psychotherapy, 2012

Faculty Co-Sponsor of the Yale Philosophy and Psychiatry Group Seminar. New Haven, CT., 2011-13

 Yale University School of Medicine 3rd-year medical student write-up tutor, 2010-11

 Guest lecturer for University of Colorado Denver PGY II Cross-Cultural Psychiatry course, 2010

Director of University of Colorado Denver PGY 1 course On Call: Suicidal Patient. 2009

 Guest lecturer on psychotherapeutic modalities for general psychiatry residents.  University of Health Sciences, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 2009

Clinical teaching to 3rd-year medical students during inpatient psychiatry and consultation/liaison rotations. 2006-2008

Teaching

Consultant to Indian Orthopaedic Association to develop a Physician Health and Wellness Program. 2021

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Supervisor. China American Psychoanalytic Alliance. 2020-21

Complex Case Educational Consultant. 2018-present

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Supervisor.  University of Colorado Denver Department of Psychiatry. Aurora, CO. 2016-18

Clinical supervision of outpatient therapists at EDCare (formerly Eating Disorder Center of Denver).  Denver, CO. 2015-18

Clinical supervision of psychiatric pharmacists who were earning prescribing privileges in the VA outpatient mental health clinic.  Denver, CO. 2014-15

Clinical supervision of UCD Psychiatry PGY 2, PGY 3, PGY4, and chief residents in the VA outpatient mental health clinic.  Denver, CO. 2014-15   

Clinical supervision of UCD Psychiatry PGY 1, PGY 2, and chief residents in the VA outpatient mental health clinic.  Denver, CO. 2013-14   

Clinical supervision of Yale University Department of Psychiatry residents who participated in the Family Connections Program elective I created. 2012-13

 Clinical supervision of Yale University School of Nursing Mental Health Advanced Practice Registered Nurse students at the Hospital of Saint Raphael Hamden Clinic and then the YNHH SRC PHP/IOP Clinic in Hamden, CT. 2012-13

Clinical supervision of PGY 2 and 3 residents in psychotherapy at the Yale Psychiatric Hospital Intensive Outpatient Clinic.  New Haven, CT.  2010-11

 Clinical supervision of PGY 2 and 3 residents, social work interns, and 3rd-year medical students at the University of Colorado Hospital outpatient psychiatry clinic. 2009-10

 Clinical supervision of UCD psychiatry PGY 1 and 2 residents in the VA outpatient mental health clinic. 2009-10

 Clinical supervision of UCD PGY 1 residents who take call at the VA. 2009-10

 Clinical supervision using videoconferencing of general psychiatry residents at the University of Health Sciences, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 2009-10

Clinical supervision on-site of general psychiatry residents at the University of Health Sciences, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 2009

Clinical Supervisor/Consultation

A Doctor Weighs in on How to Talk About Eating Disorders. Interviewed by Kim Christiansen and Christine Noël.  9News (KUSA). Denver, CO, 2017

Media Appearances

Any Questions?

With ongoing professional education, our practitioner can regularly collaborate to provide our patients with the most appropriate and up-to-date care.

We offer psychodynamic therapy in Toronto for individuals, couples, and families and are available across Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and Yukon

Contact Us