The Mindfulness Centre incredible team

We are growing. Within a few short months, an inspiring bunch of dedicated and enthusiastic professionals has coalesced around The Mindfulness Centre.

More than 2 years and 26 Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs later, Linda has now established herself not only as a superb teacher, but also an invaluable partner at The Mindfulness Centre. She now heads the MBSR department and teaches all our MBSR-X programs. She has several students under her wings job shadowing her, all mentioned in the adjacent photograph (see newsletter). The time of overcrowding in our little suite has finally come and we are expanding by taking over a second suite in the same building. I don’t know what I would do without her.

These students are now moving into staff positions at our Centre, contributing and teaching various aspects of mindsight and mindfulness. They bring a wealth of fresh, provocative, and constructive ideas we are diligently implementing as we go along. Creativity and innovation are at the heart of our work, and we deeply live by these principles. A new and improved website is going to launch soon, where detailed biographies of all our students/staff will be found, but for now, here is just a very brief summary.

Dr. Alison Kelford, originally a family physician, is training with both Linda teaching the MBSRP-X (X = extended version as we incorporate Interpersonal Neurobiology – IPNB) and with me doing assessments. She has now started to do her own assessments for the Centre, helping Linda and I process the avalanche of referrals we receive every day. Having already had experience in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), she will hopefully be starting to lead MBSR groups in the spring. Marlene Van Esch, MSW also trains with Linda teaching MBSR and is shadowing one of my long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy groups. She is expanding her psychotherapy practice, and will soon take on the task of running ‘Post-MBSR Review’ programs for students who have taken the MBSRP-X, something our students have long asked for. Jennifer Stone, BA, MSc, is currently a licensed Mindfulness-based Chronic Pain Management (MBCPM) facilitator, also training with Linda, and taking on the task of running our ‘Discovering Mindfulness’ programs. Dr. Kanwal Kukreja, a psychiatrist, is training with Linda and has the intention at some point to help us out with assessments and teaching the MBSRP-X. Dr. Mary Rubino-Sullivan, a family physician, started getting involved but had to temporarily put her involvement on hold to attend to personal family matters. We look forward to her return. Last but not least, the Mindsight Intensive program I teach on Monday nights has grown significantly and all my teaching energy goes into that.

A special note deserves Reena, my administrative assistant of 20 years, whose job description is shifting significantly. Due to the fact that I finally bit the bullet and to my delight successfully switched to using voice recognition software for all my dictations, she does not have to spend hours transcribing anymore. This frees her up to manage the needs of the new staff and take on a major role in policy development and online management. And she is very good at it! In our Centre, she is in fact the real boss, without whom everything comes to a grinding halt. Thank you Reena for your dedication.

I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with this incredible team of knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and dynamic co-workers as we together meet the ever-increasing social need for mindfulness, perspective, wisdom, and health.

Copyright © 2018 by Dr. Stéphane Treyvaud. All rights reserved.

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