Yarissa Herman

Dr. Yarissa Herman, C.Psych is a psychologist and course director with UHN’s Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Group. She is also a psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where she is the head of a substance use Harm Reduction Program for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. She has been working in the area of substance use treatment for almost 20 years, beginning with her doctoral research, which explored the relationship between cognitive functioning and outcomes in substance use treatment.

In addition to her general practice in addictions, she has provided specialized substance use interventions for street-involved youth, indigenous communities, and individuals with psychosis. Dr. Herman is involved in clinical and research endeavors in the domains of substance use interventions as well as psychedelic assisted psychotherapies. She has particular interest and experience in psychedelic integration and the relationship between psychedelic use and psychosis.

Recent Publications:

Rosenbaum, D., Hare, C., Hapke, E., Herman, Y., Abbey, S.E., Sisti, D. & Buchman, D. (2024). Experiential Training in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: A Risk-Benefit Analysis. Neuroscience and Society, 54.

Herman, Y., Norouzian, N., Mackenzie, L. E. (2022). An integrated substance use treatment model for young adults with first-episode psychosis: A naturalistic pilot evaluation. Intervention in Psychiatry, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.13337

Williams, R. S., Virdee, G., Bowie, C. R., Velligan, D. I., Maples, N. J., Herman, Y., & Kidd, A. (2019). Development and feasibility exploration of a combined compensatory and restorative approach to addressing cognitive challenges in early intervention psychosis. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 4, 454-469.

Herman, Y., Shireen, H., Bromley, S., Yiu, N. & Granholm, E. (2018). Cognitive behavioural social skills training for first episode psychosis: A feasibility study. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 15(5), 863-868.

Kidd, S.A., Kerman, N., Ernest, D., Maples, N., Arthur, C., de Sousa, S., Kath, J., Herman, Y., Virdee, G., Collins, A., & Velligan, D. (2018). A Pilot Study of a Family Cognitive Adaptation Training Guide for Schizophrenia. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 4(12), 109-117.

Riad-Allen, L., Siodmok, S., Herman, Y., Bellisimo, K., Selby, P., George, T. (2017). Becoming tobacco-free: Changes in staff and patient attitudes and incident reports in a large academic mental health and addictions hospital. The American Journal on Addictions, 26(2), 183-191.

Rabin, R.A., Barr, M.S., Goodman, M.S., Herman, Y., Zakzanis, K.K., Kish, S.J., Kiang, M., Remington, G., George, T.P. (2017). Effects of extended cannabis abstinence on neurocognitive outcomes in cannabis dependent schizophrenia patients versus non-psychiatric controls. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(11), 2259-2271.

Kidd, S.A., Kaur, J., Virdee, G., George, T.P., McKenzie, K., & Herman, Y. (2014). Cognitive remediation for individuals with psychosis in a supported education setting: A randomized controlled trial. Schizophrenia Research, 157(1-3), 90-98.

Kidd, S. A., Herman, Y., Baric, S., Ganguli, R., George, T. P., Hassan, S., McKenzie, K., Maples, N. & Velligan, D. (2014). Testing a modification of cognitive adaptation training: Streamlining the model for broader implementation. Schizophrenia Research, 156, 46-50.

George, T.P. and Herman, Y. (2012). Book review: Principles and Practice of Group Work in Addictions. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57, 1.