Team

Zhiish McKenzie

Zhiish McKenzie

, 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 participant. She is especially interested in and connected to the Spiritual healing of this work.  “We are all just walking each other home.” Ram Dass

Other Medical Team

Pam Kryskow

MD

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...

MD, FRCPC

Mental Health (inc. Psychiatry) Lead & 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 ...
Gail Peekeekoot

RN(c), MN, DMin

Medicine Administration Nursing Lead, 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...

RPN, BSN, MBA

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...
Laura McLean

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...

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

KAT MD, Sea to Sky RTT

Clark Lewis is a 15-year ER doctor in Whistler.  He is open-minded, and sees alternative treatments like psychedelic therapy playing a role in helping address our modern mental health crisis.

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...