Claudia Dias Martins (she/her), MA
PhD4, Counselling Psychology
Research Interests: Interpersonal mindfulness in romantic relationships; Mindfulness and compassion-based interventions
Biography: Claudia is a doctoral candidate in the Counselling Psychology program at McGill University. She holds a Specialized Honours BA in Psychology from York University, and an MA in Counselling Psychology (Project Stream) from McGill. Claudia is passionate about various mindfulness research endeavours, including: interpersonal mindfulness in the context of romantic relationships; mindfulness- and compassion-based interventions; and therapeutic presence for the promotion of safe therapeutic environments and effective therapeutic relationships. Her CGS-M funded master’s research project examined the variable importance of mindfulness, social and couple-related factors, and emotional wellbeing among adults in romantic relationships. Presently, Claudia is interested in using dyadic and daily diary methods to better understand the links between interpersonal mindfulness and interpersonal wellbeing. She is funded by the SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral (CGS-D) program.
Claudia is currently completing a clinical practicum at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic of the Montreal General Hospital (MUHC). Additionally, she has completed clinical practicums at the McGill Psychoeducational & Counselling Clinic and Emotional Health CBT Clinic. She also received training to conduct psychological and psychoeducational assessments at Milestone Clinic.
Supervisor: Dr. Bassam Khoury
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MA in Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 2024
Specialized Honours BA in Psychology, York University, 2021
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Dias Martins, C., Vergara, R.C., Khoury, B. (2026). Empathy Toward Animals (ETA) scale. In C. U. Krägeloh, M. Alyami, O. N. Medvedev (Eds.), International Handbook of Behavioral Health Assessment. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89738-3_80-1
Dias Martins, C., & Khoury, B. (2025). Empathy Toward Animals Scale. In N. N. Singh (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mindfulness, Buddhism, and Other Contemplative Practices. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90465-4_124-1
Dias Martins, C., Vergara, R. C., & Khoury, B. (2025). A machine learning approach for investigating variable importance in relationship and sexual satisfaction: The role of interpersonal mindfulness and psychological safety. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 51(2), e70026. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.70026
Khoury, B., Lesage, M., Kasprzyk, A., Sadowski, I., Manova, V., Benchimol-Elkaim, B., Dias Martins, C., Rigas, C., & Rej, S. (2025). Embodied and Embedded Mindfulness and Compassion Framework. Mindfulness,16(5), 1091–1115..https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-025-02561-4
Dias Martins, C., Vergara, R. C., & Khoury, B.(2025). Internal and external validation of the Empathy Toward Animals scale. Anthrozoös, 38(1), 131-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2024.2436730
Geller, S., & Dias Martins, C. (2022). Being with grief and loss: The foundational role of therapeutic presence. In D. L. Harris & A. H. Y. Ho (Eds.), Compassion-Based Approaches in Loss and Grief (pp. 93-101). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003204121-12/being-grief-loss-shari-geller-claudia-dias-martins
Shorbagi, S., Dias Martins, C., & Bialystok, E. (2022). Acquiring the language of instruction: Effect of home language experience. Applied Psycholinguistics, 43(2), 463-484. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0142716421000618
Dias Martins, C. (2021). Mindfulness for depression? A critical analysis of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Revue YOUR Review, 8, 38-50. https://yourreview.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/yourreview/article/view/40523
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Dias Martins, C., Taoufik, M., Mongeon, J., & Khoury, B. (2026, July 12). Associations between interpersonal mindfulness and relationship and sexual satisfaction: A systematic review [Conference presentation]. International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) Conference. Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Kwarko-Fosu, A., Kasprzyk, A., Dias Martins, C., & Khoury, B. (2025, June 27). Depression as a moderator of mindfulness in couples and sexual satisfaction among adults in committed relationships [Poster presentation]. International Conference on Mindfulness-Asia Pacific. Hong Kong, China.
Dias Martins, C., Kasprzyk, A., Kwarko-Fosu, A., & Khoury, B. (2025, June 12). Sexual satisfaction as a mediator on mindfulness in couples & relationship satisfaction [Poster presentation]. 86th Annual National Convention for the Canadian Psychological Association. St. John’s, NL, Canada.
Dias Martins, C., Vergara, R. C., & Khoury, B. (2024, June 21). A machine learning approach for investigating variable importance in relationship and sexual satisfaction [Poster presentation]. 85th Annual National Convention for the Canadian Psychological Association. Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Dias Martins, C., Vergara, R. C., & Khoury, B. (2023, June 24). Empathy Toward Animals: Validation of a scale to evaluate animal directed empathic concern and perspective taking [Poster presentation]. 84th Annual National Convention for the Canadian Psychological Association. Toronto, ON, Canada.
Dias Martins, C. (2021, March 10). Impact of socioeconomic status (SES) and bilingualism on French language development in Early French Immersion [Poster presentation]. York University Undergraduate Research Fair. Toronto, ON, Canada.
Dias Martins, C. (2020, March 4). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for depression: A critical analysis [Poster presentation]. York University Undergraduate Research Fair. Toronto, ON, Canada.
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Funding:
IARR Student Scholarship, International Association for Relationship Research, 2026, $125
Canada Graduate Scholarships – Doctoral, SSHRC, 2024, $120,000
Bourse de doctorat en recherche, FRQSC, 2024, $100,000 (declined)
Graduate Excellence Fellowship, McGill University, 2024, $6,000
Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s, SSHRC, 2023, $17,500
Graduate Excellence Fellowship, McGill University, 2022, $5,000
Awards:
Graduate Enrolment Driven Incentive Award, McGill University, 2024, $1,500
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