Penny Acton
Program Coordinator, Inner City Youth Mental Health Program
(workshop description)

Penny Acton graduated from UBC School of Social Work with her masters.
Currently, she is the social worker for the Inner City Youth Mental Health Program, a Connect Parent Group facilitator and faculty at Douglas College in the Child and Youth Care Program. Previously Penny has worked as a youth worker in residential and community treatment programs, as a conduct disorder clinician with Child and Youth Mental Health and an investigator with the BC Representative for Children and Youth.

Dorothy Bob, ssa
Sister of Saint Ann
(workshop description)

Dorothy Bob, ssa is a Sister of Saint Ann and has been involved in the Christian dimension of Reiki healing since 1998.  Dorothy's sharing is personal, simple, and easily understood.  She shares an understanding of the Medicine Wheel from her own personal experience, having lived the lifelong truths of the Medicine Wheel. She sometimes shares the wisdom of her great grandmother who was an extraordinary healer who greatly influenced Dorothy in her years growing up.  Dorothy is a gentle, quiet, wise elder who has the capacity to soothe the soul once you sit with the Spirit in her company and you may be pleasantly surprised by her delightful sense of humour when you least expect it.  

Tracy Brown
Mental Health Clinician, Covenant House
(workshop description)

Tracy Brown graduated with a masters from UBC Counselling Psychology Program. Presently she is the mental health clinician at Covenant House in collaboration with the Inner City Youth Mental Program. Prior to this Tracy was a case manager in a long term residential program, a youth worker in a crisis shelter for youth and  a high school teacher in an alternate program with youth at risk.

Aesha Faux
Lawyer, Brown Henderson Melbye
(first workshop description) (second workshop description)

Aesha is a Victoria-based lawyer who practices in the area of family law with the law firm of Brown Henderson Melbye. Her practice includes drafting pre-nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements and separation agreements as well as representing parties in custody disputes, division of property issues and acting as parent's counsel for parties involved with the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Aesha is also a trained mediator and collaborative family lawyer. In addition to spending time with her two small children, she volunteers with the bono Access Justice clinic, the UVic Law School as a mentor, and she acts as chair of the Victoria West Coast LEAF Committee and co-chair of the CBA Victoria Family Law Subsection.

Dr. Mia Korn
Psychiatrist, Urgent and Short Term Assessment Team (USTAT), Vancouver Island Health Authority
(workshop description)

Mia Korn graduated from Dalhousie Medical School  and completed her psychiatry residency at Harvard Medical School.  She has mainly worked at Vancouver Island Health Authority ‘s Urgent and Short Term Assessment Team clinic and Psychiatric Emergency Service.   She has also spent some time working with the Victoria Integrated Community Outreach Team. 

Throughout her training and in her work with VIHA, she has been active in lecturing with a basic review of symptoms of common affective disorders, including Major Depression and developing workshops to teach about psychiatric disorders and to foster personal and professional  ethics and “wellness” for medical trainees, physicians and various health care clinicians in a variety of hospital-based and community settings.

She has spear-headed several initiatives to promote a balanced lifestyle among clients and staff at USTAT, including the Wellness and Breathe Easy booklets which have been well-received and widely distributed throughout Vancouver Island and the rest of British Columbia.   Most recently, she sparked a booklet about “Happiness” developed and distributed by the Victoria Foundation.

Marion Little
Executive Director for Threshold Housing Society
(first workshop description) (second workshop description)

Marion has a BA in Linguistics, a MA in Dispute Resolution, and is the Executive Director for Threshold Housing Society, providing transitional housing for youth at risk of homelessness on Vancouver Island. Marion also works with the Anglican Diocese of BC to administer their sexual misconduct prevention policy. A sessional
communication skills instructor at the West Coast College of Massage Therapy, Marion is also a Past-President of the BC Network for Compassionate Communication. For over 10 years she has regularly contributed to various community initiatives including youth housing advocacy, parent education, teacher
training, restorative justice social skills for youth, and the Canadian Red Cross’ nationally acclaimed ‘RespectEd’ violence prevention programs.

Since 1990, Marion’s academic interests have focused on language-use, power dynamics, and empathy development during conflict. From 2006-2008, she led research projects in San Diego CA and Vancouver BC schools assessing the impact of a model called Nonviolent Communication on bullying, self-esteem, and school climate. The research teams are now submitting papers to academic journals for publication. Marion’s recent Master’s thesis “Total Honesty/Total Heart: Fostering conflict resolution skills and empathy development” was nominated for the 2008 Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medal at the University of Victoria. Marion offers dynamic professional development presentations and workshops on request.

Lynda Monk
Founder, Creative Wellness
(workshop description)

Lynda Monk, MSW, RSW, CPCC is a registered social worker and a certified professional co-active coach.  She is the founder of Creative Wellness – a coaching business that engages helping professionals and human service leaders with the art of caring for themselves so they can thrive and be well in life and work.  Lynda believes that self-care should not just be one more thing on your already full “to do” list but rather an inspired place to arrive to over and over again for renewal, replenishment and well-being.   She is the author of Life Source Writing: A Reflective Journaling Practice and the Creative Wellness Guided Meditation CD – both resources for the helper’s self-care toolkit.  She has 20 years of social work experience including consulting/training in the areas of Organizational Health &Employee Wellness and has worked in child welfare, mental health and as a medical social worker.  You can learn more about how Lynda supports helping professionals at www.creativewellnessworks.com.

Katherine Paxton
Counsellor, Katherine Paxton Counselling Services
(workshop description)

Katherine Paxton is a well-known local speaker and expert on autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities. She has been supporting people with special needs in diverse roles, from front-line and consulting to counselling, for over 25 years. Katherine is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in private practice specializing in special needs, and author of Counselling people on the autism spectrum: A practical manual.

Dr. Allison Rees
Parent Educator, Living in Families Effectively (LIFE) Seminars
(workshop description)

Allison Rees has been teaching the LIFE Seminar courses since 1993. She has a humorous and down to earth approach that takes the guesswork out of parenting and leaves parents feeling empowered. Allison is an inspiring speaker, family counsellor, co-writer of the LIFE Seminars, co-host of the Island Parent Radio show, on the editorial board of Parenting Teens magazine. She lives in Victoria, B.C. with her husband and two teenagers.

Dr. Cathy Richardson
Professor, University of Victoria School of Social Work and Co-founder, Centre for Response-Based Practice
(first workshop description) (second workshop description)

Cathy is a Metis family therapist, researcher, child welfare advocate and activist.  Her Cree name is Kinewesquao/Golden Eagle Woman.  She is a faculty member at the University of Victoria in the School of Social Work. 

Cathy developed the “Islands of Safety” child and family safety planning model for Metis Community Services in Victoria, B.C.  She has written about Metis identity and responses to violence and mistreatment.  She is also the co-founder of the Centre for Response-Based practice and is interested in violence, resistance, language and restoration in contexts of social justice. 

She works with Aboriginal survivors of residential internment and community violence prevention in the north.  She lives in Cowichan Bay with her husband and three children.

Lori Rock
Concurrent Disorder clinician, Centre for Concurrent Disorders, Vancouver
(first workshop description) (second workshop description)

Lori Rock has worked with Concurrent disorder clients for 5 years and has provided training to professionals in the field who are treating clients with Concurrent disorders. Lori has also developed many groups for clients with Concurrent disorders as well as a parenting group for parents of youth with Concurrent disorders. She is currently working at the Centre for Concurrent Disorders as a Concurrent disorder clinician, working with youth and young adults with Concurrent disorders, providing individual counselling and groups. Lori also specializes in family therapy.

Judy Simonett
Counselling Psychologist
(first workshop description) (second workshop description)

Judy Simonett received her Master’s in counseling psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology and has been in private practice since 1999.  She has certificates in Collaborative Separation & Divorce (CLE), Couples & Family Therapy (JI), Cross Cultural Counselling (UBC), and has taken the core courses in Concurrent Disorders (JI). She is proficient in EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and EMDR.

In her private practice, Judy specializes in trauma, family of origin issues, and parent/child conflict.  Many of her young adult clients present with a combination of addictions, eating disorders, depression and/or relationship problems.

Marc Storms
Director and Senior Advisor, GMG Consulting
(workshop description)

Marc Storms worked for more than 16 years as a Family Counselor, front line Social Worker and Team Leader with the Ministry of Children and Families, including nearly 10 years living and working in the Northwest BC communities of Dease Lake, Iskut, Telegraph Creek, Terrace and Kitimat. Marc has nearly two decades of experience and expertise in developing marketing and business plans, economic development initiatives, training curriculum and organizational management strategies. Marc has also served as the first Vice Chair of a BCGEU local, and the Vice Chair of the Vancouver Island MCFD Leadership Training Team.

Marc currently sits on the Boards of Directors of the Child and Family Counselling Association (CAFCA), and the Caring for First Nations Children Society. He is certified in Executive Management, providing training to upper level managers and government executives.

In his current role as Director and Senior Advisor with GMG Consulting Services, Marc applies his considerable first-hand experience, knowledge and understanding of rural Aboriginal issues in Aboriginal, government and private sector settings. He is active in developing integrated protocols with First Nation communities, supporting the training, development and strategic direction of First Nations Leadership and community members; and teaching life skills, employment readiness, and personal development. Marc is a father of three children, two of them age 7 and one 11, which has given him practical “real life” training in event planning, organizational management, dispute resolution and stress management!

Dr. Jim Tanaka
Professor of Psychology, Co-director of the Brain & Cognition Lab at the University of Victoria
(workshop description)

Jim Tanaka received his PhD from the University of Oregon and was a post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University.  His research examines the effects of experience and learning on the cognitive and neural mechanisms of face recognition. With collaborators at the Yale Child Study Centre, he developed the Let's Face It! program, a computer-based intervention, intended to enhance the face and emotional skills of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. A recent clinical trial indicates that 20 hours of the Let's Face It! program was sufficient to improve the face processing skills of children with ASD relative to a baseline control group. At the workshop, Jim will demonstrate the Let's Face It! software and accompanying hands-on materials. The software and hands-on materials can be downloaded for FREE at: http://web.uvic.ca/~jtanaka/letsfaceit.  Jim will be joined by the Let's Face It! Outreach Team - Magali Segers, Lia Best, Breanne Aesie and Jenna Hatter - recent graduates from the psychology program at the University of Victoria, currently active in the field of autism intervention.