Instructors
All Professional Development instructors are highly qualified. Their knowledge and skills are backed by hands-on experience.
Cathy Brothers, MSW
(Resource Management and Development)
In February 2010, Cathy became the first Executive Director in Residence of Capacity Waterloo Region.
After undergraduate degree from University of Toronto, Cathy received a Master of Social Work degree at Wilfrid Laurier University. For over 40 years, Cathy has held senior management roles in health and social services, most recently as the Executive Director at Mosaic Counselling & Family Services. Cathy taught social policy courses for 20 years in the Department of Family Studies at the University of Guelph.
Presently, Cathy is a member of the Barnraisers Council in Waterloo Region and WLU President’s Council of Advisors. In addition to being a founding member for several social service organizations, Cathy's community service has included board membership with St. Jerome’s University, the Rotary Club of Kitchener-Westmount, Family Service Ontario, Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services, St. Mary's General Hospital and St. Joseph's Health Care System. Cathy is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and an Honorary Senior Fellow at Renison College, University of Waterloo. In 2011, as part of Laurier's Centennial Celebrations, Cathy was selected as a member of Laurier's 100 Alumni of Distinction.
Jaime Brown, PhD
(Program Evaluation)
Jaime earned a PhD in applied social psychology at the University of Guelph. Her keen interest in intervention theory, design and evaluation has continued to grow through her 10 years of work as an applied research and evaluation consultant with community-based research organizations, provincial and federal government and health and social service agencies. Jaime has research and evaluation experience in a variety of content areas, but is particularly passionate about health and mental health services. Jaime’s main interests include social determinants, effects and strategies for preventing and managing chronic illness, health policy, citizen/public participation and social justice issues in health services. Jaime’s interests also include child development and family relations. She was involved on the design team of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth and in a pan-Canadian community-based research project examining the meaning and impact of father involvement on fathers, child development and family relationships. Jaime has experience facilitating professional training and development sessions about evidence-informed decision-making and knowledge translation and exchange, and teaching university psychology, statistics and program evaluation. Before joining Taylor Newberry Consulting, Inc., Jaime coordinated a national project to support knowledge translation in public health practice and policy for the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health at McMaster University.
Dr. Theresa Casteels, EdD, PhD, CPsych
(Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy)
Theresa is a psychologist in private practice. She has run regular mindfulness groups in her practice since attending the first international training opportunity in MBCT in 2002, led by the founders of this approach (Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, John Teasdale and Jon Kabat-Zinn). In 2008-2009 she ran the MBCT groups for Dr. Zindel Segal at CAMH for his most recent research into the comparative effects of MBCT and anti-depressant medication in preventing depression relapse.
In her practice, Theresa also does individual counselling for individuals learning to cope with anxiety, stress, depression and eating disorders, among other issues. Previously, she worked for 16 years at the University of Waterloo Counselling Services, where she did individual counselling and functioned as coordinator of the internship program. She also taught Group Counselling, Theories and Techniques of Individual Counselling, Clinical Interventions and courses in developmental, adolescent and educational psychology at St. Jerome’s University at the University of Waterloo Psychology Department.
Scot Cooper
(Single Session Therapy)
Alongside his therapeutic work, Scot is a faculty member with Brief Therapy Training Centres International (a division of the Hincks-Dellcrest Institute) teaching in the Institute’s year-long Clinical Extern Program in Brief and Narrative Therapy. It’s through the Brief Narrative Practices Project and as a Supervisor of the Haldimand Norfolk REACH Walk-in Counselling Clinic that he continues to further his exploration of competency-based single session therapy. Scot’s therapeutic work and teaching spans a range of contexts including consulting with child protection services, group home service providers, therapists and school personnel. He continues to apply narrative practice in community contexts through the Name It 2 Change It Community Bullying Prevention Initiative and in playing an ongoing part of the Neighbouring Communities Project. His most recent publications include the co-editing of the book, Masters of Narrative and Collaborative Therapies: The voices of Andersen, Anderson, and White (2011) Routledge Publishing, and the articles, Narrative Community Practice: Neighbouring Communities Re-visited (2011, Journal of Systemic Therapies), Co-composing an Evidence Base: The narrative therapy revisiting project co-authored with Karen Young.
Annette Dekker, MSW, RSW, RMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor
(Clinical Supervision)
Annette is employed part-time as a couple and family therapist at the Centre for Family Medicine, Family Health Team in Kitchener and has a private practice in Waterloo. She is also a part-time assistant professor with the Department of Family Medicine of McMaster University.
Annette has over 30 years of clinical experience in a variety of settings across the province and has been teaching and supervising in the field of family therapy and social work since 1995. She enjoys mentoring the next generation of social workers and family therapists because this brings diversity to her professional life and challenges her to remain current in the field. Annette practices therapy from a stance of curiosity and continues to be amazed by the resilience and strengths that people have.
Mike Fidler, MSW, RSW
(Bridging the Couple Chasm: Level 1)
Mike is a registered Social Worker with over 25 years of assisting couples as a marriage counsellor. Mike has co-led marriage preparation courses for over 15 years and is an international Arts and Science of Love Couples Workshop presenter. He is a certified Gottman couples therapist, a certified Gottman couples workshop trainer and the only certified Level 1 trainer for clinicians in central and eastern Canada. He has advanced training in emotional focused couples’ therapy with Susan Johnson. Mike was a child abuse specialist for 12 years and taught provincially and nationally for over six years for the Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse and is known for his clarity and humour.
Sue Gallagher, MSW, RSW
(Crisis and Trauma Counselling)
Sue is a graduate of the Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University. In over 28 years of clinical practice, Sue has focused on work in the field of crisis and trauma. Sue is currently a member of the Waterloo Region Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centre where she responds to acute cases of sexual and domestic violence through the emergency departments of two local hospitals. She also provides ongoing counselling to those men, women and children who have experienced sexual and/or domestic violence. As well, Sue offers counselling through Cardinal Counselling and Mediation in Waterloo.
Sue currently teaches in the Social Work programs at York University and Wilfrid Laurier, as well as in the Social Services program at Conestoga College. Sue teaches a course on Trauma and Trauma Healing at Conrad Grebel University College and, along with Sandy Jardine, provides a variety of workshops with consistently positive feedback from participants!
Sandy Jardine, MSW, RSW
(Crisis and Trauma Counselling)
Sandy is a graduate of the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. Prior to her social work career, Sandy taught school in P.E.I. and B.C.
In her 14 years as a clinical social worker, Sandy has worked in various settings. For the past seven years she has worked with the Waterloo Region Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centre where she responds to acute cases of sexual and domestic violence. Sandy is an associate faculty and coordinator of the Applied Counselling post-degree, post-diploma program at Conestoga College.
In her private counselling practice, located in Cambridge, Sandy works with individuals, couples and families. She is a clinical investigator with the Office of the Children's Lawyer and recently became certified as a Field Trauma Specialist, Compassion Fatigue Specialist and she continues her coursework to be certified as a Clinical Traumatologist through the Traumatology Institute of Canada.
In partnership with Sue Gallagher, Sandy develops and delivers workshops to various agencies, professionals and community groups.
Annette Kussin, MSW, RSW
(Adult Attachment: Redeveloping Security in Adulthood)
(Attachment in Adolescence: The Wonky Braing that Allows for Change)
Annette is a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist and advanced Attachment Focused Therapist. She is the owner/director of the Leaside Therapy Centre, a multi-discipline clinic in Toronto, where she specializes in attachment issues and trauma for children and adults. She has worked in children’s mental health as a therapist, supervisor, manager and clinical director.
Annette has received advanced training in Attachment Focused Therapy from Daniel Hughes and is a member of an advanced consultation group in this model of therapy. She offers consultation to agencies and individual professionals and regularly provides training to organizations throughout Ontario including Safeguards Children’s Services Training, TAPE, Hincks-Dellcrest Institute and a children’s mental health services and child welfare agencies in the area of attachment, trauma and brain development.
Dr. Ginette Lafrenière, MA Management and Development of Co-operatives, MSW, PhD
(Diversity in Organizations)
Ginette is an associate professor at the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier and the director of the Social Innovation Research Group, which values university-community collaboration. Ginette has a background in management and as such is interested in organizational change in the face of diversity. She has worked with a wide variety of non-profit and government organizations assisting in enhancing workplace responses to diversity issues. She is currently working on two funded research projects relative to economic integration strategies for immigrants and refugees in southwestern Ontario as well as best practices for social service and health care providers working with survivors of war, torture and organized violence. Ginette is also working on research looking at enhancing services for organizations working with domestic violence survivors and perpetrators.
Dr. Kristiina Montero, PhD
(Fundamentals of Trauma)
Kristiina received her BA from the University of Waterloo in French Teaching Specialization and her BEd from Brock University. She is an Ontario Certified Teacher. After teaching French and English as second languages in public and private schools, she pursued graduate studies in literacy and language education at the University of Georgia. Kristiina has been recognized for her teaching excellence: She was awarded a Meredith Recognition Award for excellence in university teaching in 2007 and was also an Education Alliance Research Fellow (2008-2009) at Brown University. More recently, she was nominated for a teaching excellence award from the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools. Her research interests include the literacy development of non-literate and semi-literate English language learners with limited prior schooling, culturally responsive teaching practices, urban education and research conducted under the framework of engaged/public scholarship.
Kristiina is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Helen Mullen-Stark, MSW
(Program Development and Project Management)
Helen has been the president of HMS Inc. Human Resource Solutions since 1995. As an independent consultant Helen has engaged in numerous successful consulting ventures within both the private and public sector. Helen has undertaken a number of project management assignments for Children’s Aid Societies, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Society, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and children’s mental health organizations and has also provided facilitation services to a variety of social service providers for organizational restructuring and program development. She has over 30 years experience in the child welfare sector with several Children’s Aid Societies throughout Ontario. Helen brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of organizational systems, interagency and intergovernmental linkages.
Dr. Evangeline Munns, PhD, CPsych, RPT/S
(Introduction to Theraplay and MIM)
Evangeline is a certified clinical psychologist. She is a registered trainer/supervisor with the Theraplay Institute in Chicago, the Association for Play Therapy in the U.S. and the Canadian Association for Child and Play Therapy (CACPT), on which she serves on the education committee. She is a popular presenter and has given numerous workshops on play therapy across Canada, the United States and internationally. In recent years, much of her time has been spent in training and supervising therapists in Theraplay and/or nondirective and filial play therapy including teaching as a guest lecturer at the University of Western Ontario in London and Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.
With over 40 years of experience working with children and their families, she offers a rich knowledge in the children’s mental health field. She has served as a consultant to many agencies. Dr. Munns has written numerous articles on Theraplay and has edited two books entitled Theraplay: Innovations in Attachment-Enhancing Play Therapy (2000) and Applications of Family and Group Theraplay (2009).
In the past she received the Monica Herbert award from the CACPT for an outstanding contribution to the field of play therapy in Canada. Recently, she was the first therapist described in a list of the five top play therapists in Canada by CACPT.
Margaret Notar, MSW, RSW
Margaret is a clinical social worker with 25 years experience working in the mental health field with individuals, families and groups. She is a staff member in Adolescent Outpatient Mental Health Services at Grand River Hospital where Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is one of several therapeutic techniques practiced. Since 1999 Margaret has been a part-time faculty member with Laurier’s Faculty of Social Work, teaching in the Individual, Families and Groups stream. Margaret has a small private practice and has contributed to the development of eating disorders services in the Waterloo region. She was a co-founder of the Eating Disorders Awareness Coalition, a non-profit charity now subsumed under the auspices of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
(Cognitive Behaviour Therapy)
(From Counselling to Therapy: Embracing Conflict Using Challenge and Confrontation as Tools to Deepen Therapeutic Gains)
David Pell, MSc
(Managing Organizational Change)
(The Challenge of Marketing for Human Service and Nonprofit Organizations)
(Social Enterprise: A Viable Strategy for Human Service Organization Development?)
David has worked as a manager and volunteer within the human services sector for 35 years. During this period he has learned as much from his success as the mistakes he has made along the way. David’s work has taken him to most parts of Canada, Europe and several developing countries. David has worked as a leader of several organization change projects with the goal of improving the lives of marginalised groups within society. Projects have involved government, the voluntary sector and private business.
David’s experiences include the planning of the first community-based human services centre in rural Ontario, the development of one of the first community education departments for a community college, a business and employment development centre in Toronto, youth and immigrant service organizations including the Newcomers Enterprise Centre and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, as well as a community economic development program for the Government of Saskatchewan. As a member of a private consulting firm, David worked with municipalities, local development corporations and provincial governments on numerous organization change and community service projects in the health, education and economic development and environment sectors.
David has taught courses for several universities in Canada including the University of Waterloo and St. Francis Xavier University. He has written and contributed to numerous publications on topics related to community economic development, social enterprise, partnerships between private and voluntary sector organizations as well as effective training for 'front-line' youth workers.
Managing organizations during times of rapid growth or organization difficulties has been the focus of David’s work during the past 10 years. David recently resigned from his position as the Chief Executive Officer of Street Kids International to pursue consulting work with organizations that are experiencing strategic challenges. David is particularly interested in how human services organizations can achieve optimal performance and become self-sustaining organizations. His ideas are drawn from his experience with social enterprise and integrated development practices which effectively link individual aspirations with organization success and systematic change. David believes partnerships that unite local service organizations with senior levels of government and, in some instances the private sector, provide the basis for effective organization management and development. Effective managers are able to see the big picture, be proactive with planning and use leadership skills to motivate their colleagues and the decision makers they need to influence.
Dr. Nancy Riedel Bowers, RSW, Rpt-S, Cpt-S, PhD
(Introduction to Play Therapy)
(Play Tools and the School Setting)
(Play Therapy and Childhood Trauma)
Nancy has had a private practice in play and adult therapy, consultation and supervision for 27 years (www.riedelbowers.com). She has been full- and part-time faculty for several schools of social work since 1980, currently teaching courses at the Seminary and Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University, including courses in play therapy, children’s mental health, trauma and group work. Nancy also serves on masters and doctoral research committees at Memorial University, UNBC, UK and South Africa. A researcher and international workshop presenter, Nancy studies the psychotherapeutic process particularly in the area of play therapy. Nancy is an American Play Therapy Continuing Education Provider and instructor for CACPT and Laurier, having taught or conducted research in Ontario, Newfoundland, Morocco, Singapore and Hong Kong. She is currently working with a group of orphanages in Viet Nam, setting up play healings areas.
Angela Rolleman MSW, RSW
(Fundamentals of Addiction, Introduction to Motivational Interviewing)
Angela is a graduate of Laurier's Faculty of Social Work. She currently works as a Social Worker/Counsellor at the Thames Valley Family Health Team in Woodstock and also has her own business providing personal development seminars for individuals and training for professionals about addiction and related topics. Angela has additional training and expertise in addiction counselling and has worked in both outpatient and residential (short-term and long-term) addiction treatment settings as well as implementing the Ontario Works Addiction Services Initiative in Guelph. Other prior employment has included working in child welfare and employment counselling. Angela has designed and delivered several training events and workshops for professionals about substance abuse and addiction. She has presented at conferences for the Association for Municipal Employment Services, the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association, the Thames Valley Family Health Team and the Family Health Team Mental Health Networking & Education Day. Angela was also instrumental in starting the Wellington-Guelph Drug Strategy committee in 2006.
Charles Sim, SJ
(Working with Traumatized Refugee Children)
Charles graduated from the Institute of Psychiatry with a Master of Science in Family Therapy. He did his clinical training at both the department of Child and Family Psychiatry, King’s College Hospital and the Traumatic Stress Service, Clinical Treatment Centre, Maudsley Hospital, London. He is an adjunct lecturer for advanced family therapy at the Singapore Institute of Management University. In 2008, Charles and his team taught recovery techniques to child survivors of the cyclone disaster in Yangon, Myanmar. He has extensive experience in teaching and conducting clinical workshops in Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and China. Charles is presently pursuing his PhD in couple and family therapy at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Kristin Trotter, MTS, PhD Kristin teaches in the areas of family therapy, trauma, use of self, treatment of individuals, couples and family and human growth and development at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her main research interest is in the area of trauma, having worked with refugees, particularly from the former Yugoslavia. Currently, she is collaborating on an interdisciplinary research project and exploring areas such as vicarious traumatization and refugee children and trauma. She is also completing a book that combines family therapy and play therapy. Kristin is certified with the Ontario and American Associations for Marriage and Family Therapy and has a clinical practice where she works with families, couples and individuals.
(Fundamentals of Trauma)
Jan Varner, MBA, CTDP
(Fundamentals of Management)
Jan is currently the CEO of United Way Kitchener Waterloo & Area. Prior to this role, Jan was a faculty member at Wilfrid Laurier University for 10 years. She was also the Director of the Laurier Institute, the management and development arm of the School of Business and Economics. She joined the faculty after serving 15 years in the private and public sector. Jan and her husband Dave own Innersee Initiatives Inc., an experiential training and development business that includes their own team building challenge course. Jan has been teaching with the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development department for four years.
Terry West, MSW, MBA, CHRP
(Human Resource Management)
Terry has worked for 35+ years in child welfare, 10 as a front-line child protection worker, eight as a front-line supervisor and 20 years as a Director of Human Resources. He now has a private consulting practice, working with a variety of social service organizations.
Dr. William Yule, PhD
(Working with Traumatized Refugee Children)
William is a Professor Emeritus of Applied Child Psychology in the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, England. He trained as a clinical psychologist at the Institute of Psychiatry and Maudsley Hospital, London and spent six years in educational and epidemiological research before returning to the Institute of Psychiatry. He has published more than 300 articles and nine books on a wide range of topics in child psychology. He is a Consultant Psychologist in the National and Specialist division of the Children’s Directorate, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust.
For the past 20 years, William has been heavily involved in the study and treatment of PTSD in both adults and children. Since the summer of 1993, William has been an advisor to UNICEF on its psychosocial program for war affected children in the former Yugoslavia and was Technical Director of a program to develop services for war affected children in Bosnia. He is a member of the Board of the Foundation for Children and War in Norway and helped establish training in clinical child psychology at the University of Kiev in Ukraine. He was also awarded a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship to study the effects of the tsunami on children, and more generally, the mental health needs following complex emergencies.
Some of William’s many awards and appointments include: Chair of the Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry (1996-1999), Green Cross Foundation Academy of Traumatology (1998), Honorary Consultant in Clinical Psychology to the Army (2000), member of the Defence Scientific Advisory Committee, Lifetime Achievement Award of the ISTSS (2005), Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society (2006), Aristotle prize of the European Federation of Psychology Associations (2007), member of the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ standing Committee on Crisis, Disasters and Trauma, member of the NICE Guideline Development Group on PTSD, member of the Department of Health Emergency Planning Guidance group on Children in Emergencies (2005/6) and honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Roehampton in recognition of his international work with children (2011). The Bill Yule Adolescent Unit at the Bethlem Royal Hospital, was named in his honour in July 2005.
