Dr. Mikaela Gabriel

Dr. Mikaela D. Gabriel, C. Psych (Italian & Mi'kmaq of Ktaqmkuk; she/her) is a clinical and counselling psychologist and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit Mental Health and Homelessness. As a researcher she explores Indigenous mental health, health and wellbeing, urban cultural connection, and housing transitions for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Her primary research focus is the promotion of positive cultural identity, strength, and healing through traditional knowledge and cultural support.

Dr. Gabriel’s research and clinical work is grounded in Indigenous cultural approaches to mental health, trauma-centered approaches, and narrative therapeutic strategies. She has provided mental health care across inpatient, outpatient, and community mental health treatment settings, and currently works supporting Indigenous urban mental health in Toronto.

Dr. Gabriel is a scientist with MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and Well Living House in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. She is an Assistant Professor-Affiliated Scientist at the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health/University of Toronto, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship. She is the head of the Network for Aboriginal Mental Health Research (NAMHR), and member of the Ontario Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (ON NEIHR). She holds a PhD in Clinical and Counselling Psychology from the Ontario Institute in Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. She is a writer, traveler, and an auntie.