Counselling Faculty Biographies

Alana Abramson (PhD in criminology) has more than 20 years of experience working in the areas of restorative justice, violence- prevention, and conflict resolution, in justice, community, and school settings. She has assisted in developing various initiatives involving elders, at-risk adults, people with disabilities, Indigenous communities, youth, former prisoners, and victims and survivors. Abramson is a passionate educator and lifelong learner who studies and practicses transformative approaches to education.

Bruce Cairnie is a registered counsellor, trauma responder and coach for personal resilience and stress management. In a world filled with many stressors, he supports people in attending to their personal resilience and stress management, assisting them to thrive in the midst of it all. He has worked in those capacities and in crisis response in different settings such as corrections, industry, healthcare, education, and business.

Cairnie leads the critical incident stress management program (CISM) for Fraser Health. He has also provided CISM support in education, corrections, industry, business, and religious settings. Having completed the JIBC CISM certificate in 2010 he is now thrilled to assist others in acquiring these skills to support people experiencing crisis.

Jeff Cartright is a Training Officer/ Instructor for the Justice Institute of British Columbia Fire Academy and an Instructor for the JIBC Center for Counselling and Community Safety. His roles at the Justice Institute include facilitating the Fire Officer programs, CISM Programs, training new recruits and ongoing training for Fire Departments and Corporate organizations across North America. He has developed course curriculum for the JIBC and many other organizations. He is a Facilitator and Trauma Clinician for many corporate organizations and provides Crisis Management, Education and Consultation to assist Workplace Health Divisions. His roles include facilitating a variety or workplace mental health initiatives, leadership training and providing crisis management interventions following a trauma in the workplace.
 

Jann Derrick, PhD, is a Registered Family Therapist, Supervisor Mentor in the Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a member of the Canadian Psychological Association. She trained first as a teacher then as a counselling psychologist with a specialty in relationship and family therapy. She has been in practice for 40 years and has taught across Canada, the U.S., New Zealand and Australia. Derrick is of Irish, English and Haudensaunee/Mohawk heritage. Her passion is the healing of Indigenous families and sharing knowledge of Indigenous family systems. She did pioneering therapy work with residential school survivors in the 1980s and was part of the first residential school court case in Canada. She has provided clinical supervision at culturally-based treatment centres and in the pioneering Aboriginal Trauma Recovery Program. In 1998 she facilitated a national Aboriginal focus group that created a code of ethics for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Her published work has included papers on The Box and the Circle and Aboriginal Family Systems, and Kahwà:tsire: Indigenous Families in a Family Therapy Practice with the Indigenous Worldview as the Foundation, which was published online in 2017. Derrick has served as a director on the Board of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She served with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada, and worked with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commission, as well as the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development. She was awarded the John Banmen Award for Outstanding Contribution to Family Therapy in B.C. in 2003.

Vicki Farnell (MA) is a Registered Clinical Counsellor practicing in Kamloops, BC.  In addition to her post secondary education,  Vicki has completed her post-graduate certificate in Complex Trauma through the Justice Institute of BC.  It was within this program that Vicki recognized her passion for helping childhood trauma survivors validate, work through and heal from the experiences that they had.  She is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and uses this tool to support folks who are struggling with PTSD or C-PTSD.  She works with the client to allow them to guide their healing while providing supportive strategies and nudges forward.   Farnell also provides ongoing support and processing for birthers and their partners, addressing pre and postpartum mood disorders and birth trauma.  In her space time, she is an avid gardener, and enjoys sitting around a campfire or hiking with her family. 
 

Glen Grigg, PhD., is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Approved Clinical Supervisor . Grigg’s doctorate (Walden, 2008) is in clinical and counselling psychology and his master’s degree (UBC, 1993) includes specializations in family and career counselling. Grigg is adjunct professor of counselling psychology at the University of British Columbia where he teaches family therapy, group psychotherapy, and professional ethics, while also serving as an adjunct at Adler University. His clinical practice is with Jericho Counselling, and he also provides mental health consultation, conducts outcome and efficacy research for health authorities, and offers clinical supervision across a range of mental health professions. His home life includes gardens, guitars, grandchildren, and mountain bikes.

Aaron Hilgerdenaar has a rich and diverse background in bylaw enforcement, community support, corrections, and forensic services. He currently serves as Manager of Bylaw Enforcement, Business Licensing & Animal Services for the City of Coquitlam. Throughout his extensive career, Hilgerdenaar has been deeply immersed in virtually every aspect of bylaw enforcement. He also serves as a sessional instructor of bylaw enforcement at JIBC. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Simon Fraser University, and an Investigations and Enforcement Skills Certificate from the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC). 

Darrin Hotte (BA, MDiv, Cert. ConRes., FMC Cert. CFM, RRM, FEA) has over 35 years of experience and specialized training in the areas of conflict, leadership, complex family systems, and relationships. He is passionate about building, restoring, and preserving health within families, communities, faith-based groups and other organizations. The focus of his mediation practice is separation/divorce, family business, and speaking/training, and has mediated, facilitated, or coached in over 800 family and civil disputes. Engaging learners on the topics of de-escalation, conflict and negotiation at places like the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) and the Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business , he is a sought-after trainer and public speaker. Hotte holds a certificate in Family Mediation (JIBC), a Bachelor of Arts in psychology/sociology (Concordia College), and an MDiv (Regent College), and is a Certified Family Enterprise Advisor (Institute of Family Enterprise Advisors). He is married with two children, is an occasional jazz drummer and is an active firefighter with Lions Bay Fire Rescue.

Magda Laljee is a seasoned leader with over 15 years of experience in municipal government and a decade-long tenure in private sector business management. Currently heading the City of Abbotsford’s Bylaw Services Division, she has reshaped the city's enforcement program with a focus on conflict analysis and community engagement. As the principal of Curiositas Consulting, Magda specializes in business transformation and dispute resolution, serving First Nations, local government, and not-for-profit organizations. She has led initiatives in policy development for municipalities and governance structure reviews for First Nations. Magda holds a Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Management from Royal Roads University, providing expert facilitation and mediation skills. Her educational background also includes a Local Government Public Administration Certificate from Capilano University, a Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies from Royal Roads University, and additional certifications in mediation and business management.
 

Dan Maja is a seasoned Bylaw Officer with a career spanning since May of 1999. Specializing in prosecuting MTI and LFI (Long Form Informations), Dan has experience conducting Bail Hearings for interim release and handling breach of condition hearings. Beyond his enforcement duties, he has dedicated 9 years teaching Bylaw Level 1  and is currently in his fourth year instructing at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC). As arthritis gracefully ended his soccer and volleyball careers, Dan now finds joy in the thrill of riding motorcycles and walking his dog. His passion for both law enforcement and education defines his impactful journey in the field.
 

Michelle Mann PhD is a registered clinical counselor (RCC) and an approved clinical supervisor (ACS) with BCACC. Her PhD is in Psychology from Maastricht University, the Netherlands, 2003. Michelle’s clinical practice is Be The Key Counselling Services. She has been providing individual therapy for all ages, couples therapy and parents psycho-education for more than 30 years. Michelle offers clinical supervision and consultations across a range of mental health professions.  Her background includes work with school districts, health authorities, graduate programs in health sciences, school counseling, counseling psychology, and expressive art therapy. She is an adjunct faculty at Adler University where she teaches group psychotherapy and multicultural counselling. Michelle is also a somatic experiencing practitioner, a mindfulness meditation teacher and a professional coach. Her work is done with deep appreciation to the relational field, spiritual realm and body-mind connection. Michelle has a neuroscience informed practice. She is passionate about addressing mental health issues and social challenges through an existential lens with attention and care, empowering compassion, self-regulation and resiliency. To learn more about Michelle and her work click on http://www.bethekey.ca
 

Maureen McEvoy was a volunteer with a sexual assault centre in Ontario.  Intrigued by that experience, she changed careers, going back to school to earn her degree in Counselling Psychology. Since then she has worked with many survivors of trauma – both historical and recent. She works with individuals, couples and groups. She is a long-standing instructor with the Justice Institute of BC, teaching  other counsellors skills for working with complex trauma. She provides clinical consultations to a number of counsellors and agencies. She has written several articles, including one co-authored with Maggie Ziegler on counter-transference in trauma    groups. She also wrote “Balancing conflicting Interest:  A Counsellor’s Guide to the Legal Process, 3rd Edition”.A believer in life-long learning, Maureen has continually updated her knowledge and skills through both individual and couples therapy approaches. Consequently, Maureen draws on a broad knowledge base - from recent advances in brain development to approaches that include  Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DMNS) and art therapy  to assist deep healing work with individual clients, including those with complex trauma and  dissociation. She does extensive work with couples where one or both of the partners is a trauma survivor, either recent or historical. She has taken many trainings to develop skills in couples work, including Imago Relationship Therapy, the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), The Developmental Model and, most recently, Stan Takin’s Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT). She is a certified Imago Relationship therapist (Advanced Clinician) and Clinical Consultant.  Along with her business partner Tamara Adilman, Maureen also presents Imago-based Getting the Love You Want weekend workshops for couples. You can find out more about her work with couples by visiting www.ImagoVancouver.com
 

Marla McLellan holds a Master of Arts in counselling Psychology and a PhD in Education. She worked in the public school system as a teacher and counsellor for 34 years. McLellan has a private counselling practice, www.walkandtalk.ca, where she incorporates movement, mindful awareness, and critical reflection to help clients connect with their inner healing intelligence as they work toward their definition of recovery. As well as being an instructor at JIBC, she is a faculty associate and clinical supervisor in the Master of Counselling programs at City University of Canada.

Kerry Palmer is a Metis citizen from the Red River Valley of Manitoba and for more than two decades has operated his consulting business, Integrative Mediation Services. His focus is in the areas of conflict resolution, mediation, facilitation, training, workplace improvement processes, team support, and executive coaching. Palmer has been a faculty member at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) for more than 20 years, currently as an instructor in the Centre for Conflict Resolution, and for a time in the Aboriginal Leadership program. His work has taken him to First Nations communities and organizations where he has provided training, facilitation, circle work, and mediation services to chief and council, band offices, employees, and community members. Palmer has worked as a mediator in the areas of child protection and family mediation and currently serves as a mediator/coach for the BC Public Service Agency, as well as a respected workplace advisor for several provincial Crown corporations in B.C. He holds certificates in Conflict Resolution, Family Mediation, and a specialization in Restorative Practices from JIBC, as well as a diploma from Vancouver Community College in adult education.

Laurie Pearce is a practitioner, educator and researcher in the disaster management community. She teaches in the area of emergency management and critical incident stress management at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), as well as the Master of Disaster and Emergency Management at Royal Roads University. In addition, she provides consultation services for various federal and provincial government organizations and currently provides services for the Psychosocial Services for Emergency Response Team (PSERT) for Health Canada. She was the Research Chair at JIBC, managing the SIMTEC project which focused on developing identifying stressors in Emergency Operations Centres for first responders, and others, and developing strategies to support them. Pearce's current research is focused on the impacts of disasters on evacuated households, particularly those impacting Indigenous communities, the amphibious retrofitting of homes, and continued work on the psychosocial impacts of disasters on first responders. 

She is an active volunteer with the Disaster Psychosocial Services Program in B.C., has served on Canada’s National Advisory Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction, and sat on its National Disaster Resilience and Security Advisory Table related to Canada’s adaptation to climate change. She holds a PhD, a Master of Arts from the School of Community and Regional Planning, and a Master of Social Work, as well as undergraduate studies in sociology and psychology, all from the University of British Columbia. She is a Registered Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers, and a member of the BC Association of Social Workers, the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network, and the BC Association of Emergency Managers. 

Nancy Poole, PhD, LLD (Hon.) is dedicated to motivating, connecting and creating new ways of learning and doing. As an educator, she has co-led system change initiatives, and co-developed toolkits, training curricula and guidelines on trauma-informed practice with agencies and governments across Canada, and brings this expertise to teaching courses on trauma-informed approaches for JIBC. As a researcher, she leads a virtual research and knowledge exchange centre dedicated to work that informs policy and service provision on girls’ and women’s health, and promotes gender equity. As a networker, she facilitates virtual collaborations and online communities of inquiry, that support creative thinking on complex issues such as the interconnections between substance use problems and trauma and intimate partner violence. Poole has been a member of research teams such as the Honouring Our Strengths: Culture as Intervention team, studying Indigenous approaches to healing from substance use concerns and has a strong commitment to working with Indigenous partners to incorporate strengths-based and Indigenous wellness approaches in all teaching, learning, and research.

Camille Williamson is committed to improving the health and wellness of marginalized communities and populations. She became interested in the field of social work early in her career when she was a youth counselor for young males in the juvenile detention center in Urbana-Champaign.  This inspired her to pursue graduate studies in clinical social work with adolescents, young adults, and families at the University of Chicago. In her work on the south and west sides of Chicago, she has seen the impacts of racism and classism that continue to segregate, persist generational trauma and poverty and create greater health inequities. 

As her career developed, she began to take on more leadership roles to work with many groups and organizations in community settings to address health and education inequities. Williamson has built her career in academic and grassroots community-based setting and has taught classes and facilitated workshops on the topics of Social Work, Methodology, Special Populations, Community Practice, Intersectionality, and Social Problems and Social Action.  As well as, designing health outreach and post-secondary programs for youth and young adults, as a licensed clinical social worker she has provided therapeutic counseling, services, and clinical consultation for women and children experiencing domestic violence. Williamson is currently a doctoral student at the University of Southern California, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work studying Black Maternal Child Health.