Dr. Alex Porthukaran, C.Psych. (He/Him)

Dr. Alex Porthukaran, Ph.D., C. Psych., is a Clinical and Supervising Psychologist with extensive expertise in autism, neurodevelopmental differences, psychological assessment, and mental health across the lifespan. At Flourish, Alex serves as a senior supervising psychologist and provides clinical leadership, consultation, and mentorship across our psychological and neurodevelopmental assessment services. He supervises clinicians and trainees conducting assessments and brings particular expertise to autism, differential diagnosis, and complex or overlapping presentations.

Alex earned his Ph.D. in Clinical-Developmental Psychology from York University and has built his career at the intersection of clinical practice, research, teaching, and training and supervising other mental health professionals. In his role at Flourish, he supports both the quality and consistency of individual assessments and the continued development of the clinicians completing them.

Alex has extensive experience assessing autistic children, adolescents, and adults, including individuals with complex or less readily recognized presentations and those with co-occurring mental health or neurodevelopmental concerns. His clinical expertise also includes ADHD, learning differences, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression, and other complex presentations. He brings particular depth to differential diagnosis and to understanding how autism can intersect with mental health, cognition, learning, identity, and an individual’s broader life experience.

His hospital and academic work has included clinical practice, research, teaching, and supervision through the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the University of Toronto. At CAMH, his work has focused extensively on autistic people and individuals with other neurodevelopmental differences, including autism assessment, consultation, and intervention for those with co-occurring mental health concerns. His research has examined autism diagnosis in adulthood, the experiences of people identified as autistic later in life, and the development of meaningful supports alongside autistic people. He has also taught and supervised psychology trainees, residents, and other health professionals, helping to build greater clinical capacity in autism and neurodevelopmental care.

Alex is also the co-founder of Autism Wellness, a psychology practice dedicated to neurodiversity-affirming assessment, therapy, consultation, and professional education. He is one of the expert clinicians featured in Autism Reframe, an educational initiative focused on advancing contemporary, affirming understandings of autism across the lifespan.

Alex is deeply committed to neurodiversity-affirming, person-centred care. Rather than approaching assessment or therapy as an effort to make an autistic person appear more typical, he works to understand each individual’s strengths, needs, values, communication style, and experience of the world. His therapeutic work draws primarily from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), adapting evidence-based approaches to fit the person rather than expecting the person to fit the approach.

Across his clinical, academic, research, and supervisory work, Alex is committed not only to providing excellent care to autistic people and their families, but also to improving how psychologists and other professionals understand, assess, and support neurodivergent people.