Meet the Team

Irina Pavlova BSc, MSW, CFT (in process of completion)
Coordinator, Transitional Care Program
Jewish General Hospital

I have a Masters in Social Work from McGill University and am currently in process of completing an Applied Masters degree in Couple and Family Therapy at McGill University. As the coordinator of the Transitional Care Program, I work with families of discharged children from child psychiatry, and supervise team educators who work with the referred children’s schools. My professional experience consists of hospital social work in Adult Outpatient Psychiatry, Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry. More recently, I have been working as a Couple and Family Therapist at the Couple and Family Therapy Clinic at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. I have also worked in the past in various daycare centers supporting educators and families and their children. In addition to that, I also work in private practice in individual, couple and family therapy.

Phyllis Zelkowitz Ed.D, MA, BA
Founder, Transitional Care Program
Jewish General Hospital

After completing a B.A. in Psychology from McGill University and an M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Toronto, I obtained a doctorate in Human Development at Harvard University. I am the Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry at the Jewish General Hospital, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University. I am a licensed clinical psychologist, and worked for several years on the Child Psychiatry Day Hospital team. Based on that experience, I developed the concept of the Transitional Care team, and obtained funding to establish the program.

Carol-Anne Blanshay, MA, BA
Consultant, Transitional Care Program
Jewish General Hospital

I have completed a D.E.C. in Early Childhood Education at Vanier College, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at McGill University, and a Master of Arts at Université du Québec à Montréal specializing in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Systemic approaches to therapy. I have worked extensively both on and off the island of Montreal as a Resource Teacher, as an Inclusion Coordinator for special needs, a specialized educator for children with autism or PDD, a phobic aide and a private clinician and sexologist. I am a member of l’Ordre Professionnel des Sexologues du Québec (OPSQ). My role in the Transitional Care Program involves supporting children discharged from child psychiatry as they transition back to their school full time. I consult with child Psychiatry and the school staff during this transition to help the child maintain the gains he/she made while in the behaviour disorders program.

Anne Smart
Consultant, Transitional Care Program
Jewish General Hospital

I completed a three year Child and Youth Program at St Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. The program’s emphasis was on facilitating change in children, youth and young adults who are experiencing a range of social, emotional and/or behavioural challenges. I began work at the Jewish General Hospital Child Psychiatry unit in my 20’s and first worked in the evening hospital program for several years before I started working with children in the Day Treatment Center. From there I moved to the ETC and worked in the Nursery and kindergarten program and at the same time, managed the younger after school program. In 2002, at its inception, I was asked to join the Transitional Care Team, and have worked with its members and children ever since.