Virginia Tsekova

416-979-5000 ext. 552184
virginia.tsekova@torontomu.ca

Degree in Progress

PhD Clinical Psychology

Degrees

2020 MA Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University
2017 BA (Honours) Psychology, Concordia University

Research Interests

Virginia’s research interest encompass social anxiety disorder. Her master’s thesis examined the relationship between anger in social anxiety disorder. Specifically, her thesis examined the role of rejection in the experience of anger in people with high and low social anxiety.

Clinical Interests

Virginia has completed clinical practica at St. Michael’s Hospital (Psychology Training Clinic) in Toronto and the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton. At both of these settings, she has refined her skills in conducting cognitive-behavioural therapy for a range of disorders, including mood, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and trauma-related disorders. Going forward, she is especially interested in gaining experience in dialectical behavioural therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Research Support

2022-2023: Jackman Foundation Psychology Graduate Student Research Excellence Award
2020-2024: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) – Doctoral Fellowship
2019-2020: Fonds de Recherche – Société et Culture Master’s Research Scholarship – Masters Award
2018-2019: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) – Master’s Award

Publications

  • Tsekova, V., Lenton-Brym, A. P., Rogojanski, J., Hood, H. K., Vorstenbosch, V., McCabe, R. E., & Antony, M. M. (2021). Psychometric properties of the Ryerson Social Anxiety Scales in individuals with social anxiety disorder. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping [advance online publication]
  • Serravalle, L., Tsekova, V., Ellenbogen, M. A. (2020). Predicting Interpersonal Outcomes from Information Processing Tasks Using Personally Relevant and Generic Stimuli: A Methodology Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.543596
  • Ellenbogen, M. A., Tsekova, V., & Serravalle, L. (2019). Hormones and major depressive disorder. In L. Welling and T. Shackelford, The Oxford Handbook on Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioral Endocrinology (pp. 379-404). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Conference Presentations

  • Tsekova, V., Provost-Walker, O., Rowa, K., Elcock, A., McCabe, R.E., & Antony, M.M. (2020, November 19-22). Group cohesion in cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety and related disorders [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54thAnnual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
  • Provost-Walker, O., Tsekova, V., Rowa, K., Elcock, A., McCabe, R.E., & Antony, M.M. (2020, November 19-22). Treatment sensitivity of the STICSA in anxiety and related disorders [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54thAnnual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
  • Tsekova, V., McCabe, R.E., Rowa, K., Elcock, A., & Antony, M.M. (2019, November). Examining the Social Phobia Inventory across DSM-5 depressive and anxiety-related disorders [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 53rdAnnual Convention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
  • Trespalacios, F., Tsekova, V., Serravalle, L., Cardoso, C., & Ellenbogen, M.A. (2018, September). Context matters: Intranasal oxytocin increases negative memory recall in persons at risk for depression during computerized task, but not when administered by a person [Poster presentation]. Society for Research in Psychopathology Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
  • Tsekova, V., Serravalle, L., & Ellenbogen, M.A. (2018, June). Positive coping style moderates the mood response to psychosocial stress following attentional retraining [Poster presentation]. International Congress of Applied Psychology, Montréal, QC, Canada.
  • Trespalacios, F., Tsekova, V., Serravalle, L., Ellenbogen, M.A. (2018, June). Retraining of attention improves mood repair following a psychosocial stressor [Poster presentation]. International Congress of Applied Psychology, Montréal, QC, United States.
  • Ellenbogen, M.A. , Cardoso, C., Serravalle, L., Tsekova, V. (2018, May). Intranasal oxytocin augments the efficacy of psychotherapy for major depressive disorder [Poster presentation]. Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting, New York, NY, United States.
  • Tsekova, V., Iacono, V., Serravalle, L., & Ellenbogen, M.A. (2017, September). High levels    of parental positivity predict lower levels of depressive symptoms in the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder following a 12-week prevention program [Poster presentation]. Society for Research in Psychopathology Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, United States.
  • Tsekova, V., Iacono, V., Serravalle, L., & Ellenbogen, M.A. (2017, June). Improved organization in families with a parent having bipolar disorder following a 12-week prevention program [Poster presentation]. Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Toronto, ON, Canada.
  • Serravalle, L., Iacono, V., Tsekova, V., & Ellenbogen, M.A. (2017, April). Improved dyadic mutuality between parents with bipolar disorder and their offspring following 12-week prevention program [Poster presentation]. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Austin, TX, United States.
  • Iacono, V., Beaulieu, L., Tsekova, V., & Ellenbogen, M.A. (2016, October). Growing up with a parent having bipolar disorder: Parenting practices in middle childhood mediate the relation between risk status and mental health outcomes in young adulthood [Poster presentation]. Society for Research in Psychopathology Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, United States. Preliminary Finalist for the Smadar Levin Award