Biography:
Alyson has been an adjunct professor at UBC School of Social work for a period of 7 years, 2013-2019. She has also taught in the UBC Faculty of Education Counseling Psychology Dept. in 2020 and 2022.
She has been a counselor for over 30 years specializing in group therapy, individual trauma therapy, and conflict resolution. She is a clinical counselor with a master’s degree in social work from the University of British Columbia and a Diploma in Conflict Resolution from Royal Roads University. Alyson has taught a trauma informed practice approach to students in a wide variety of classes. She is an author of 5 published books and a chapter in Holistic Engagement: Transformative Social Work Education in the 21st Century. Her textbook, Experiential Unity Theory and Model was first published in 2012 and a second edition published in 2022 Experiential Unity Theory and Model: Treating Trauma in Therapy is aligned with the principles of a Trauma Informed Practice.
Alyson has taught her model at both International and Canadian conferences and at a variety of workshops on Trauma Informed Practice. She founded and is the Director of the Trauma Informed Practice Institute established in May 2021. Alyson was born in Zimbabwe and trained as a social worker in South Africa. She launched her social work career in London, England and then emigrated to Vancouver, Canada. Her self-help book, Heal Trauma: How to Feel it, Unlock Patterns and Release it was published in 2023 by Hamilton Books.
www.traumainformedpracticeinstitute.com
Biography:
Lara Ellison, MSW, RSW is deeply grateful to have been living, working, and raising her family as an uninvited guest on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples since birth. Lara and her family live in Xwesam (Roberts Creek) which is a community that shares overlapping territories with the Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. Lara is of mixed ancestry; her ancestry is Choctaw and European decent. Being raised disconnected from culture, Lara began her journey of identity and understanding as an Indigenous woman in her adult life. Lara has been working in harm reduction, counselling and social work settings since 2006. For nearly a decade, Lara has been working full time in a private practice focusing on using narrative therapy. Outside of work she can be found enjoying time with her partner, three wonderful and hilarious kids and her chickens.
Biography:
Mary has 24 years of experience as a student and practitioner of Satir’s model. She recently edited the book: Virginia Satir’s Evolving Legacy: Transformative Therapy with a Body/Mind Connection (May 2024).
Mary taught the MSW Social Work Practice with Groups course at the UBC School of Social Work (2008-2013) and a UBC Continuing Education Program (10 hours) on Integrating Spirituality in Professional Practice (Dec 2010). Mary has given several webinars for both the CASW and BCASW, and numerous conference presentations. Mary has published “Widening Our Lens, Deepening Our Practice: An Exploration of Energy Within the Teachings of Virginia Satir”, an article published in The Satir International Journal (Dec 2016) and reprinted in The Satir Model in Action, edited by Dr. John Banmen (2021).
Mary had the privilege on two occasions of watching Virginia Satir working with a family in two teaching settings. In each she was profoundly moved and inspired, resulting in her decision to work with families and couples as a career, in healthcare (over 30 years) and private practice (21 years, at times overlapping). She retired in October 2022 when her RCSW status was retired.
Biography:
Matty Devenish, MSW, RSW is a cis-gender settler therapist and social worker from English, Scottish and Swiss ancestry. Matty and his family live in Xwesam (Roberts Creek) which is a community that shares overlapping territories with the Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. Matty has been working in the counselling field and studying Narrative Therapy for nearly 20 years with over 10 years of working in private practice. He is the co-founder and Clinical Director of Vancouver Counselling and Wellness Centre and is passionate about teaching therapy modalities that assist people in understanding problems within a larger sociopolitical context and which help connect people to meaningful stories about themselves that empower the life they want to live.
Biography:
Dr. Monica Sesma-Vazquez is a social constructionist-oriented social worker, family therapist, educator, and researcher. She is a Mexican Mestiza who lives in the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) and Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, Canada. Monica is an Assistant Professor and the Academic Coordinator of the Post-Masters program in Couple and Family Therapy Program at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary.
Dr. Sesma-Vazquez works at Eastside Community Mental Health Services and the Calgary Family Therapy Centre as a family therapist and supervisor. She is the Research Coordinator of the Calgary Family Therapy Centre. She is currently a Board Member of the Canadian Association for Couples and Family Therapy and the Family Process Institute. Her current clinical and research interests focus on relational and systemic work with undeserved communities. Dr. Sesma-Vazquez’s research focuses on children and their families and on immigrants, refugees, and newcomers’ issues. She has been practicing and training on Single Session Therapy for more than 20 years in Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
Biography:
Pascale de Kerckhove obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Major in Family Studies) in 2006 and a Master in Social Work in 2011 from the University of British Columbia, after a career as a ballet dancer and an arts administrator.
Pascale is a healthcare social worker who has practiced since 2011 in acute, community, and outpatient settings including in the areas of pediatrics, neonatal intensive care, perinatal care, child and adolescent trans care, adult oncology, palliative care, hospice care, and Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).
Pascale is also a Serious Illness Conversation Guide facilitator, with special interests in Narrative Medicine, palliative care and end-of-life care, MAiD, and bereavement/grief counselling.
With a strong commitment to social work education, Pascale has supervised MSW students in the field since 2014 and has been an Adjunct Professor at the UBC School of Social Work since 2018.
Biography:
Tommy Spence, MSW, RSW (He/Him) is a therapist and social worker who lives and works on the the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. He is interested in social constructionist and collaborative approaches to helping work and has been practicing from a narrative perspective for the past 6 years. Tommy has had the privilege of working alongside people in non-profit, health care and group practice settings. Alongside his therapeutic work, Tommy is an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.
Biography:
Wendy was a trainer for the Satir Institute of the Pacific, is a co-coordinator of the Vancouver Island Satir Network and has over 25 years of ongoing training and practice in Satir’s model.
Wendy has given a number of conference presentations on Satir’s model, including for the International Family Therapy Conference in Vancouver. She has published writing on Satir practice, including: “Therapists’ Experience Using Satir’s Personal Iceberg Metaphor” in The Satir International Journal and “The Use of Self of the Therapist” in Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy, edited by Dr. John Banmen (2008).
Wendy is a counsellor with The University of Victoria Student Wellness Centre: Counselling and has coordinated their practicum program and supervised clinical psychology and counselling students. Wendy has a private practice in Victoria BC using Satir’s model.