Andrea has been leading health and wellness programs, serving British Columbians in Vancouver, and Vancouver Island for over 30 years. A specialist in Community and Hospital Mental Health and Addictions, Andrea has practised and led in diverse Specialty Hospital and Community settings, including Forensic Psychiatry, UBC Hospital, and Vancouver Coastal Health. Moving to Vancouver Island in 1995, developing and managing Community, Tertiary, and Hospital Mental Health and Addiction Systems for Island Health. She is a graduate of BCIT’s Psychiatric Nursing and Registered Nursing Programs, and a graduate of UBC’s Bachelor and Master of Science in Nursing Programs.
Andrea concluded her 30 year hospital and community career, shifting from the limits of conventional psychiatry, she now supports individuals, groups, and leaders to recover their full health, and unlock their true potential in body, mind and spirit. Addressing the root cause of disease, this approach represents the new field of Functional Medicine.
The in-person gatherings of the Roots to Thrive program take place of the ancestral and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation at the Snuneymuxw Community Wellness Center, and also on the homelands of the Coast Salish, Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and Nuučaan̓ułʔatḥ (Nuu-chah-nulth) Peoples.
Integral to Roots to Thrive’s approach to healing, re-connection and remembering who we are, are these Guiding Principles. By embodying these principles we intend to honour and give thanks to the Snuneymuxw and all First Nations, the teachings they carry and lands they steward, and to join in working for Truth and Reconciliation.