Headshot of Claudia Dias Martins.

Claudia Dias Martins (she/her), MA

PhD in Counselling Psychology, Year 2

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 funded by CGS-D and she aims to expand on her master’s research with the use of dyadic, longitudinal and physiological methods to better understand how couples maintain relational wellbeing.

Claudia has completed a practicum at the McGill Psychoeducational and Counselling Clinic and will undertake another practicum at the Emotional Health CBT Clinic during the 2025-2026 academic year. She has previously volunteered as a crisis text line responder with Kids Help Phone and a youth mental health advocate with Jack.org. She also worked closely with the co-directors of the Centre for MindBody Health in Toronto, where she supported clinical operations, as well as research and training initiatives in the areas of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Mindfulness and Self-Compassion.

Supervisor: Dr. Bassam Khoury

  • MA in Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 2024

    Specialized Honours BA in Psychology, York University, 2021

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Funding:

    • 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

  • ResearchGate Profile