Psychiatrist, Board Member, Self-Care Champion

There are some things in this world that we are simply meant to do. For Dr. Tanya Gallant, that was always psychiatry. Growing up with her mother being a psychiatric nurse, witnessing the love and passion that she had for her career, was what truly solidified her calling.

Dr. Gallant was born and raised in O’Leary, Prince Edward Island. While she left the province for her education, attending the University of Ottawa and Northern Ontario School of Medicine, she was quick to return home after, bringing along her future husband and family physician, Dr. Brandon Webber. Today, Dr. Gallant is happy to be back at home living on PEI, with her husband and three fur babies. She entered the specialty at a time when mental health and addictions have never been more widely or openly discussed.

“I have had patients reach out for the first time to seek help, despite living a lifetime with mental illness and/or addictions,” she said. “It pains me to know that they suffered for so long, worried about how they will be perceived and received. It gives me hope that someday we will see our society talking as openly about mental health and addictions as physical health.”

That hope may be one of Dr. Gallant’s motivators to make a difference in how mental health services are delivered on PEI. While this summer will only mark her second year in practice, you would never know it based on the many roles she plays in our healthcare system.

She provides psychiatric care for both in and outpatients at the Prince County Hospital in Summerside, and offers provincewide emergency psychiatric care.

Community-based and team-based care are also an important part of what Dr. Gallant does. She works alongside family physicians and nurse practitioners at Harbourside Health Centre, in Summerside and is part of a team dedicated to caring for patients who live with both mental illness and an age-related illness, such as dementia. She is also part of the Community Mental Health Outreach Team, where she supports patients living with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. At a national level she is PEI’s incoming representative on the Board of Directors with the Canadian Psychiatric Association.

Even with her level of energy and dedication, she knows the demand for mental health services is greater than what she and her colleagues can handle. That’s why most recently she took on a new role to help recruit psychiatrists.

Given her profession, Dr. Gallant truly understands the importance of having a good work life balance and making sure to practice self-care.

“Self-care is important,” she said. “My self-care includes work-life balance, socializing, physical activity, nutrition, mindfulness, and following a daily schedule,” she said. “I also incorporate mini-vacations during my day whether it is a cup of coffee, reading a few pages of a novel, lighting a candle, or sharing a laugh. For those that know me, know that I enjoy dressing up each and every day for absolutely no reason other than pure joy! Finally, and most importantly, to be compassionate with myself when life gets ahead of me. I always tell my patients to be compassionate with themselves. Practice does not mean perfect, it means progress.”