Team

Julia profile pic resized

Julia Sheffield

, 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 inpatient units, community outreach teams, crisis walk-in clinics and community and ER based crisis response teams.
With a deeply compassionate approach, Julia welcomes meeting people through the intake process, and further supporting participants on their unique healing journey. Leading with the primary medicines of connection and community, Julia strives to support the inner healing intelligence that resides in every body.

Other Facilitator

Shannon Dames

RN, MPH, EdD

Visioning and Development Lead & 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 ...
Phil Dames

Lead of Operations & Organization Steward

Phil Dames is a settler of mixed European descent, incredibly grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional unceded territory of Stz’uminus First Nation. He is the son of George and Leslie Dames, the brother to Amy and Bumper, father to Piper and Beckett , and life partner to Shannon Dames....
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 ...

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 ...
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 particip...
Geraldine Manson

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...
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...
Wes Taylor

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...
Jo Hall

RN, MSN

Program Nurse

Jo comes to the Roots to Thrive team with a nursing background in palliative, psychiatric, medical and minor-surgical patient care. Years of disrupted mental health inspired her to seek healing in a variety of alternative treatments. This lived experience informs her deeply compassionate approach...
Todd Haspect

M.Ed., RCC

Lead Therapist, Facilitation and Alumni Lead

Todd is a Registered Clinical Counsellor. He entered the field of mental health and substance use as a peer support worker in 1998 and his work since that time, has been focused supporting humans heal impacts of trauma, mental health, substance use challenges.  Todd brings experience in various r...
Krys Sciberras

MA, RCC

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...
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...
Kelsey Voysey

BHSc, CCAC

Alumni Facilitator

Kelsey first came to the Roots to Thrive team as a patient-participant and is thrilled to transition into a co-facilitation role. She has experience working as a counsellor with adults, youth, and families; her expertise is in the areas of mental health, substance use, and trauma. Kelsey is passi...
Kerrie Miller

RPN BscN

Nurse Facilitator

Kerrie has been a Registered Nurse for nearly 20 years, working in inner city public health for nearly a decade, before moving to Vancouver Island where she has worked in mental health and substance use, primarily as a crisis nurse. Kerrie has been part of the Roots to Thrive team since June 2021...
Graham Walker

MA, RCC

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...
Ryan Boyer

M.Ed., B.H.Sc., C.C.C

Facilitator and SFN Liaison

Ryan lives and works on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw people. Ryan grew up in Northern Alberta, moving to Nanaimo, BC in 2018. Ryan has a strong passion for working with diverse and often times marginalized populations and loves being connected to people who are engaged in their own...
Laura Brace

RN, BScN

Nurse Facilitator

Laura joins the Roots to Thrive team as a co facilitator following patient participation in cohort 3. She is accompanied by her 25 years as an oncology registered nurse specializing in Leukemia\ Bone Marrow transplant as an inpatient RN, outpatient RN and most recently a case manager. Having iden...

Facilitator

Hello Fellow Roots to Thrivers, My name is Allan Campbell and I am excited to be a part of the Roots to Thrive team. I come to this work as a curious participant with a desire for other means of supporting those I work with. I have been a counsellor over 20 yrs and have spent the majority of my c...
Christine Dennstedt

PHD, RCC

Facilitator, Sea to Sky RTT

As a clinical therapist and supervisor, Christine is informed by narrative and collaborative therapy practices. She has over 20 years experience working in the field of substance use, disordered eating and trauma. She has developed curriculum and taught group work, addiction counselling, and indi...

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.

MA, RCC

Facilitator, Sea to Sky RTT

Ryan comes to RTT as a former participant (cohort three) and is excited to be guiding others through the program as a facilitator. He is motivated by the potential that therapeutic psychedelic experiences have to move people through places of long standing "stuckness". When not working with the R...

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...

MA, RCC

Facilitator

Jolene is of mixed Northwestern European descent and feels grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional, unceded, and ancestral territories of the skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and shíshálh (Sechelt) First Nations; colonised as The Sunshine Coast, BC. She is a Registered Clinical Couns...

MD, CCFP(PC,AM), FCFP, cGTT, CMAc, CAPM, PGcPain

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...