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 therapy in a group set, setting and integration model with Roots to Thrive. I’m certified in psychedelic medicine through the California Institute of Integral Studies and I have also received training through Therapsil and Roots to Thrive.
I have been working in the psychedelic space since 2020 using psilocybin-assisted therapy for palliative patients, navigating the Section 56 Exemption and later, the Special Access Program to support patients with distress secondary to their serious cancer diagnosis. I have been supporting palliative patients with both independent and group psilocybin-assisted therapy.
I previously worked in the Yukon Territories for 10 years and then moved to Vancouver Island in 1998 to work as an emergency physician. I trained in palliative care in 2014.
I have three grown children and my partner and I own and work on a 10-acre farm to support sustainable food production.
I play the piano for myself and play viola in two community orchestras and my new hobby is Argentinian tango.
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.