Team
Crosbie Watler
, MD, FRCPC
Co-Chair RTT Medical Team & Organization Steward
Crosbie completed his MA in Psychology at Lakehead University, prior to completing Medical School at McMaster in 1991. Following medical school, Dr. Watler completed his residency in psychiatry at Dalhousie University. Crosbie relocated to Duncan BC in 2001, working with Island Health in diverse clinical roles, and served as Medical Director and Department Head for Psychiatry between 2015 and 2019.
Crosbie is the lead psychiatrist for the Roots to Thrive ketamine-assisted group psychotherapy programme, also supporting their psilocybin-assisted group therapy programme. He is an instructor with VIU’s newly launched Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Graduate Certificate Programme and provides psychiatry support to Cedars at Cobble Hill residential treatment centre.
Trained in the traditional medical model, Crosbie became increasingly frustrated by the rise of “biological” psychiatry, and the limited efficacy of our standard treatments. Crosbie’s passion is bringing awareness to the upstream determinants of mental health. Through this lens, most with anxiety/depressive symptoms are not broken or disordered. Rather, they are distressed as a predictable adaptation to the trauma and disconnection of living in the modern world.
Instead of invoking “treatment resistance”, perhaps we are simply using the wrong tools. People make sense, and they deserve better.
Other Management
RN, MPH, EdD
Visioning and Development Lead, RTT Innovations Co-Chair & Organization Steward
Shannon Dames (maiden Magnus) is a third generation immigrant with mixed ancestry from Britain, Norway, and Germany. She is a descendant of GT Magnus and Lianne Telnes, the proud mother of Piper and Beckett Dames, and the life partner of Phil Dames. She lives and serves as a Health Professional ...
Lead of Operations & Organization Steward
Phil Dames (he,him), a descendant of diverse European roots, resides on the ancestral lands of the Stz’uminus First Nation. He is the son of George and Leslie Dames, a brother, a father, friend to many and a life partner of Shannon Dames.
Phil is a co-founder, the Lead of Operations and playlist ...
MD
RTT Medical Team Co-Chair, Medical Lead and Organization Steward
Dr. Pamela Kryskow is the medical lead for the Roots To Thrive Program. She is a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada and the medical chair of the Vancouver Island University Post Graduate Certificate in Psychedelic Medicine assisted Therapy. Pam is also a a clinical i...
Somatic Energy Modalities Lead & Organization Steward
Helen comes to the team with a background in integrative health delivery. She earned advanced certifications in Eden Energy Medicine and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Her work heightens awareness at the level of body-mind, supporting the innate capacity for healing. Helen is playing a lead ...
MD
RTT-KAT physician
Dr. Zhiish McKenzie is Family Physician. She is Anishnabai from Northern Ontario and a member of the Temagami First Nation. She works as a Clinical Instructor & Indigenous Portfolio Co-Director at the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. Zhiish was introduced to Roots to Thrive as a patient particip...
Lead Elder
In my role as a VIU Elder-in-Residence, I work directly with students and Faculty/Professors in Health and Human Services programs at VIU and the Shq’apthut/Gathering Place. I share my Traditional Knowledge to work with all programs within the Health & Human Services and within the Shq’apthut...
RN(c), MN, DMin
Co-Chair RTT Medical Team, Medicine Administration Nursing Lead, PAT Facilitator
Gail brings nearly 50 years of nursing experience to Roots to Thrive. Much of her career has been working with and for Indigenous people and communities. Gail promotes awareness of physical, mental, and spiritual health issues associated with past traumas and walks beside people as they reconnect...
Development Integrator (focus on curriculum and evaluation)
Wes’s core practice is recognizing the heart and beauty in everyone. Joining in the early days of the Roots to Thrive community was therefore a no-brainer. During the ‘80s and ‘90s, he worked as a therapist in addiction and trauma recovery in the US and Australia. He focused on providing advanc...
RPN, BSN, MBA
RTT KAT Program Chair, Intake lead, Nurse Facilitator
Julia comes to the Roots to Thrive team with over twenty years experience as a front-line registered psychiatric nurse. Julia completed her nursing training in New Zealand before becoming certified in California and then Canada. Julia has practiced in a wide variety of clinic areas including inpa...
MA, RCC
RTT Training Program Chair, Operations Integrator, Facilitator
Krys is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, and she has worked in the Mental Health and Substance Use field for 25 years, managing teams in various leadership capacities. This varied experience working in clinical environments offers a thorough understanding of the challenges in health care and a p...
MD, FRCPC
RTT KAT Medical Doctor
Laura is a settler of European descent who is uncomfortable but grateful to live as an uninvited guest on Vancouver Island on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Cowichan Tribes, to whom she offers respect and honour. Laura’s medical background is in respirology and critical...
MA, RCC
RTT Alumni Program Chair, Alumni Facilitator
Graham comes to the Roots to Thrive team with a passion for supporting people on their journeys of healing and growth. He has worked as a clinical counsellor since 2011 using an integrative therapeutic approach that includes the mind and body while honouring people’s inherent wisdom to heal thems...
MD, FCFP(EM)(PC) GPO
RTT PAT Physician
I am a palliative care physician and general practitioner in oncology working in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. I am an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of British Columbia and working on a clinical trial demonstrating the feasibility of delivering psilocybin t...
RN, BSN, BA
Nurse, Sea to Sky RTT
Heidi comes to Roots to Thrive with over 25 years of emergency pre-hospital care as a professional Ski Patroller in Whistler and over 8 years of nursing with both Oncology and Emergency nursing specialties. She currently lives and works as an RN in Squamish, BC with her amazing family.Heidi joine...
MD, FRCPC
Psychiatrist, Sea to Sky RTT
Birgitta is a psychiatrist in Vancouver, BC with a special interest in psychedelic medicine as a powerful tool for accelerated healing from deeply rooted psychological trauma. She realized early on that standard psychiatric treatments are inadequate for many individuals and participated in the M...
MD, FRCPC
Psychiatrist, Sea to Sky RTT
Kathryn is a psychiatrist working in the Sea to Sky corridor and took part in cohort three of the Roots to Thrive (RTT) program. Her approach to psychiatric care is person-centered and she has a special interest in the (re-)emerging field of psychedelic medicine. She is grateful to work with an a...
MD, CCFP(PC,AM), FCFP, cGTT, CMAc, CAPM, PGcPain
KAT Physician, Facilitator
Barb is thrilled to be a part of the RTT team as a facilitator after being a participant in Cohort 5. She is of European (German) ancestry living on the unceded territory of the K’omoks First Nations in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island since 1998.
Barb has been a Family Physician for 25 years...
