Marcia Sokolowski

Profile

Dr. Marcia Sokolowski is a retired clinical psychologist and director/clinician of medical ethics as well as a published author and international speaker. Her graduate schooling was in both psychology and philosophy.

Regarding her career as a psychologist, she was employed as both a psychometrist engaged in clinical and educational assessments of students and patients of various ages and as a clinical psychologist in her private practice offices in Toronto, Guelph and Thornhill providing individual, couple and family therapy, the latter often involving three generations. She also practiced as a group therapist, one example being with Holocaust survivors and children of survivors. She worked in various public mental health organizations plus in a private psychiatric hospital for patients with eating disorders.

As an ethicist and director of ethics for 20 years, she predominantly worked at Baycrest Health Centre where she participated in ethics consultations, training, educational sessions, research activities, and mentorship activities. Additionally she was a prolific author of ethics articles, book chapters and a book (“Dementia and the Advance Directive: Lessons from the Bedside״). Dr. Sokolowski presented her work locally, nationally and internationally. She was an invited expert speaker at the Canadian combined Senate and House of Commons Committee focused on use of advance consent by patients requesting medical assistance in dying.

Also she held a (status only) assistant professorship position at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto. She was a visiting ethics professor at Haifa University and Ben Gurion University in Israel. Her volunteer experiences span a long duration. Currently she serves as a member of both the Advisory Council and Clinical Practice Committee of MAiDHOUSE. She is also the Canadian president of the Board of the Israel Guide Dog Centre. Additionally she volunteers in the emergency department at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital.