Dr. Michael Best is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Graduate Department of Psychological Clinical Science at the University of Toronto. He is director of both the Therapeutic Interventions for Psychosis Lab and the Clinical Research and Evaluation Center at the University of Toronto. He also holds appointments as an affiliate scientist at Ontario Shores Center for Mental Health Sciences and as a collaborator scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Dr. Best’s research focuses on cognitive mechanisms underlying experiences of psychosis and innovating cognitive treatments for psychosis. He has co-developed a novel cognitive treatment for internalized stigma, called BOOST, that focuses on helping people with a first-episode of psychosis overcome internalized stigma. He has also developed novel methods for measuring schemas in psychosis to inform cognitive conceptualization. Dr. Best has been awarded over $4 million in research funding to improve psychosocial treatments for psychosis and has published over 50 peer reviewed research articles and book chapters on psychotic disorders. Currently, Dr. Best is conducting clinical trials examining remotely delivered individual CBTp, mechanisms of change during CBTp, and effective CBTp training methods.

In addition to his academic work, Dr. Best is the founder and director of the Canadian Centre for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which provides cognitive behavioural therapy for wide range of conditions including psychosis, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depressive disorders. Dr. Best has trained over 500 clinicians across 7 countries in cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis. Dr. Best is also a steering committee member for the North American CBTp Network.