The Work We Did in 2019
Emotions BC — Health and Wellness SocietyEmotionsBC (EMOTIONS Health and Wellness Society of British Columbia Inc.) was formed in 2018 as a non-profit society to provide and deliver programs and services to families and caregivers of loved ones dealing with emotion dysregulation caused by diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health challenges.
EmotionsBC was created to eliminate barriers and to enhance health and wellness for loved ones struggling with mental health challenges as well as families — and therefore, potentially and quite literally, saving lives. Challenges navigating the public health system can create long wait lists before people are able to obtain help and support, prolonging the risk of suicide, self-harming and other dangerous behaviours. The cost of private health care can be unsurmountable for many families and unguided support groups can lead to frustration as many don't offer any skill development. EmotionsBC is unique because of the commitment to supporting and delivering quality services which include the following in a comprehensive way:
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Our MissionThrough the delivery of wellness programs and support, EmotionsBC provides families and caregivers of loved ones struggling with mental health challenges with actionable skills and community connection that is proven to reduce suffering, build hope and transform relationships.
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Board of Directors
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Art Claxton
Board Chair With an extensive background in adult education in the provincial government, as well as in the private sector, Art brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the board of EmotionsBC. In addition to working for two provincial governments for more than a decade, Art has worked as an financial planning educator for the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). He has run public seminars through the Department of Continuing Education and he produced and directed his own television program called the Money Masters for two seasons. He is currently the President of Ayoba Financial Services which allows him to teach people concepts which help when they reach their “play years”. READ MORE
Art has two years of post-graduate work at the University of Manitoba. After working with provincial governments and seeing a need for people to access government programs and gain financial knowledge, Art began work in the financial services industry in 1981. As a personal Economic Strategist, Art is excited to share his latest expertise as a Cash Flow Specialist™. He is married with four children and eight grandchildren. He is the Executive Director of the Fraser Valley Executive Association. He is an active Rotarian and is currently the Foundation Chairperson. He has been a member of Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada for 29 years. A world traveler, his goal for clients is for them to have financial freedom to travel the world, achieve their financial goals and have peace of mind at home. |
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Laurie Edmundson
Vice President Laurie Edmundson is a mental health advocate, speaker, and consultant. She shares her lived experiences with mental health issues (Borderline Personality Disorder, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Anger Management, etc.) to help those who feel alone in what they are going through, parents and service providers who feel lost of disconnected in their ability to support the people they care about, and other professionals who wish to provide more compassionate care. She has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Criminology from Simon Fraser University and will be graduating with a Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia in February 2020. She recently began her Masters of Health Administration also at the University of British Columbia. READ MORE
Laurie has been working at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) as the Regional Mental Wellness Advisor since November 2017 where she works with the 32 Fraser Salish First Nations communities to support community driven approaches to holistic wellness. Laurie works on many projects that vary greatly. She works closely with Fraser Health and other partners to ensure that services provided in community are meeting the needs of community members, works alongside communities to do wellness planning, works to ensure that mental wellness and substance use supports are being included in primary care conversations, and does basically anything else community asks her to do! Prior to working at FNHA Laurie was working with the Surrey-North Delta Division of Family Practice as the Project Lead of the Surrey-North Delta Local Action Team, part of the Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use (CYMHSU) Collaborative. She was the first and only ‘youth with lived experience’ to be hired as a Project Lead of a LAT and was one of 4 youth selected to be on the Provincial Steering Committee. In addition to her work with the CYMHSU Collaborative, she has provided mental health literacy education to thousands of students, parents, service providers and physicians over the past 8 years. In her spare time, Laurie has been singing in choirs since the age of 4, loves cats, experimenting with makeup and Harry Potter, finds exercising to be incredible important to her mental wellbeing, and is an avid board game player. I believe that I will bring many perspectives to the Board of Directors that will support the growth and continuation of the amazing work that Emotions BC is already doing. I have led many initiatives myself and am happy to contribute my experiences both personally and professionally to the work of the board. |
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Kyle Grant
Fundraising Director Based in Langley, Kyle has a proven track record of client success. He is passionate about real estate, and aims to share that passion with his clients by delivering an experience that they’ll love. Kyle is up-to-date with the latest changes and developments in the market, and draws upon his years of experience to help his clients achieve their goals. Along with the dedication Kyle has for his business, he also has a passion for helping those in his community by volunteering his time with well-positioned organizations. One of his main focuses is helping families who have loved ones struggling with mental health challenges. Having close friends who need this kind of support, Kyle knows first hand how important it for these families to have "immediate" and "ongoing" support in order to improve their own well-being and in turn, the well-being of their loved ones. |
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Cathy Morris
Secretary-Treasurer Cathy has a background in Administration, Bookkeeping and Office Management as well as Customer Service. Cathy joined the Board of Emotions BC after hearing first hand how much it helped a family near and dear to her heart. Mental Health has always been a subject that interests her as she has family members as well as several friends that struggle with getting help with this ‘invisible and stigmatized’ illness. Cathy ran a home-based childcare business for over 18 years to enable her to be home while her daughter was growing up. Re-entering an office-based workforce in 2008, she updated her skills and currently does the books for three small businesses as well as volunteers in her community in various capacities. EmotionsBC Skills + Support, as well as the introduction of new Programs (Mindfulness now available) are something she feels strongly about being involved in, and is excited to be a part of getting information available to all families in need. READ MORE
Cathy is married with three children and four grandchildren. Her and her husband enjoy travelling and spending as much time as possible with family and friends. Her sister is bipolar and her father had Alzheimer's. Cathy says, "Having a sibling with mental health issues is like walking on a tightrope sometimes. You never know when you are going to say the wrong thing, even if you've said it previously." |
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Leeann Noye
Programs Director Leeann found the support group in early 2018 after her 20-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Leeann came to the group desperate for help. The support group provided by EmotionsBC allowed Leeann to drastically improve her relationship with her daughter using skills and support. The impact of this group resulted in Leeann becoming a volunteer facilitator and joining EmotionsBC in 2018 and Leeann hasn’t looked back since. Leeann brings passion and commitment to EmotionsBC and the programs they offer, believing that they must be shared with all that need them. Leeann’s 19 years experience in the financial services industry and corporate environment includes facilitation, day to day operations and large-scale project implementation. Leeann is a certified Lean Blackbelt which includes a broad depth of process improvement skills that translate into any industry. |
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Nicole Taylor
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Advisory Board
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Andrew Neufeld, MC RCC
Andrew Neufeld is the Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Alongside You and Principal at Immerse Consulting, and Clinical Faculty at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Psychiatry. He is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Certified Birkman© Consultant and Executive Coach, with over a decade of experience working with individuals, couples, families, and professionals. His passion is in helping clients to clarify their goals and passions and design plans on how to get to where they want to be. READ MORE
His background working in business, health organizations and non-profit work as well as being an entrepreneur give him practical insight into the challenges that individuals and organizations face. He combines this with his clinical insight into interpersonal psychology and the functioning of team environments to come alongside clients to establish goals, find solutions, and ultimately, help clients come to a deeper understanding of themselves and how they can increase their resilience so they can function at their best. Since 2015, Andrew and his wife, Meg have built Alongside You, an evidence-based integrated health clinic that offers integrated mental and physical health services to the community. With a growing team and multiple offices, their innovative practice serves the needs of the Greater Vancouver with in-person visits, as well as clients across North America via online services. They are unique in that their services are designed to fill the gaps in the public system, and all of their services are provided on a sliding fee scale based on income because their belief is that everyone deserves excellent care, regardless of income level. Their own Step Forward Program subsidizes their services and has provided over $200,000 in care in their 3 years of operation, something that they are very proud of. Andrew looks forward to working with EmotionsBC to find similar, unique ways to help others through the services EmotionsBC offers. LEARN MORE > Alongside You | Immerse Consulting |
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Shefali Raja
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Paul Taylor "MR. MINDFULNESS"
Program Advisor + Facilitator Paul’s tenacity and dedication as well as possessing a calm and focused demeanour has made him very a successful business owner for over a decade as President of Taylor Restoration. His passion lies in helping people through tough situations – whether it’s in his own business, or personal life volunteering as the “mindfulness guru” with EmotionsBC. The mindfulness program that Paul delivers helps participants learn how to integrate techniques into their daily lives with the ultimate goal of reducing stress and the ability to cope easier with the curve balls of life. Paul has made mindfulness a daily practice since he was a young boy where his father was a huge influence in this area of his life. He has maintained this practice through adulthood where he has now become more involved in learning about more specific based practices such as the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course as well as partaking in silent retreats and experiencing the true power of mindfulness and being “in the moment”. Paul has many loves but his first and foremost is his family. He is lucky enough to be married to his soul mate and has a blended family of four children and five grandchildren. He loves learning about new things, playing the guitar, renovating or project building and let’s not forget the love that he has for watching movies (especially anything 007). |
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Jenn Cusick, CPRP
Founder, Luminate Wellness Jenn has over 25 years experience in community mental health. In 2014 she started Luminate Wellness and offers trainings and workshops. She trains WRAP facilitators, and workshops on: WRAP, self-determination, self-nourishment & Appreciative Inquiry, and self-compassion. Recently she completed writing a Peer Support Training curriculum for Alberta Health Services. Currently she is the curriculum developer and writer for the BC Peer Support Training Curriculum project. She also works with PSR Advanced Practice out of Douglas College to support education to mental health and substance use practitioners across Canada. READ MORE ABOUT JENN |
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Samuel Vijayan, MD CCFP
Dr. Sam (as most people affectionately call him) spent most of his young life living in Ontario, but after coming to Vancouver to attend UBC to do his training in family practice, he fell in love with the mountains and ocean and decided to start his married life here in BC. He is now living and working as a full time family physician in the Langley community and calls Murals Medical Clinic his second home where he’s been practicing medicine for over five years. Dr. Sam was drawn to working with EmotionsBC as he recognizes that mental health plays a very important part in a person’s well-being and the need for barrier free, accessible mental health supports and services in communities. As he works with many families, he understands the benefit of being able to offer holistic supports as part of his treatment so that they don’t feel so isolated and can gain education and learn skills from others going through similar experiences. As part of his main psychiatry training at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Detroit, Michigan where PTSD and trauma were his main areas of focus, Dr. Sam got a good feel for what it was like to struggle with mental health challenges and the impacts of trauma on the brain. He feels certain that families and caregivers who are supported and skilled can attribute to the wellness of these suffering people as well as the caregivers themselves. He is also a father to two young boys, and when there is time, Dr. Sam enjoys biking, photography, and playing tennis. |
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Contact Us |
METRO VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA | T: 604.968.6448
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LANGLEY MEETING LOCATION
20101 MICHAUD CRESCENT LANGLEY BC V3A 8L9 |
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EMOTIONS HEALTH & WELLNESS SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA INC.
Charity #728239112RR0001 COPYRIGHT 2019 — METRO VANCOUVER, BC |
T: 604-968-6448
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