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Steering Committee

Rod Cohen - Chair of the Coalition

Rod Cohen, assumed the Chair of the Coalition at the September 2009 Annual General Meeting. Rod received his B.A in Psychology, from York University and then continued his training at the Toronto Institute of Human Relations (TIHR): Studies in Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. He is a graduate of theToronto Institute of Relational Psychotherapy (TIRP) (1997) and has been a Clinical Member of the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists since 1998.

Following are Rod’s other affiliations.

Ontario Society of Psychotherapists (OSP)—Board of Directors

• 2006  Member at Large and Public Relations
• 2007  Vice-President and Legislative Task Force
• 2008  President
• 2009  Past-President and Chair of the Legislative Task Force

Ontario Coalition of Mental Health Professionals (OCMHP)
Member of the Steering Committee
OSP Representative

Riverdale Share Community Association (Toronto)
Chair, Board of Directors

Blake Boultbee Youth Outreach Service (Toronto) a community-based non-profit social service agency providing psychotherapy, counselling, outreach and life skills training to high-risk young people and families in the City of Toronto

1989-present Founder and Executive Director/Therapist

Rod has been in private practice since 1996.

Vinnie Mitchell, MA, Vice Chair of the Coalition

Vinnie Mitchell is a counsellor at Humber College Institute of Technology and Applied Learning.  She has over 28 years experience working with students and staff in post secondary settings.  At Humber she spends most of her time providing clinical counselling to students. The remaining time is committed to a variety of counselling projects, college initiatives and professional committees.

Vinnie has garnered much experience in project development, project coordination and external committee work. She is the team leader for Humber's TESN (Tragic Events Support Network) a volunteer service she helped establish in 1992 to which she brings extensive experience in crisis work and critical incident response.  In addition, Vinnie was instrumental in establishing and for many years coordinating the Counselling Department’s tutoring services and disability services. She has served on Academic Council, the College Violence Task Force, and has been a steward for the Union.  Presently Vinnie is a member of the College Equity and Diversity Committee and the College’s Flu Pandemic Committee. 

Throughout her many years at the College, Vinnie has been active with OCC (Ontario College Counsellors), whose mandate is to promote and support the professional development of counsellors within Ontario colleges. As member of the OCC executive for many years she served as central region representative and as editor of OCC newsletter Between Us/Entre Nous.

In her spare time, Vinnie operates a small private counselling practice working with clients across the lifespan.

Barbara MacCallum, B. Math., Treasurer

Barbara MacCallum is the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. She has over 30 years of experience in administration, business development, computer software development, and career development. She is also the president of the Canadian Career Development Foundation, and just recently completed eight years as the Secretary/ Treasurer for Disabled Persons Community Resources. Barb has a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Waterloo.

Sandi Deschambault - Secretary

Sandi Deschambault is a senior registered Art Therapist with the Ontario Art Therapy Association. She has over 20 years combined experience in mental health and addictions.

Sandi is currently in private practice in the Simcoe County with a home office in Midland offering services to those dealing with grief, loss, trauma and addictions related issues. She and her partner also have a retreat centre at their home which offers individual and couples retreats for spiritual enrichment. “Peace Bye Peace” also provides workshops to groups interested in incorporating spiritual concepts into their workplaces.

Sandi is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and also of the post-graduate Art Therapy program at the University of Western Ontario.

Bob Bond, M.Div.- Chair Advocacy Committee

Bob Bond has been the Coordinator of Spiritual and Religious Care at the Niagara Health System – Welland Hospital Site since 1990. He is also Chairman of the “Welland Harvest Kitchen” arising out of Welland’s “Out Of The Cold” Program  (also chaired by Bob). Bob is also, Chair of “STEP-Niagara” (“Solution To End Poverty”), a member of the Board for Welland’s “Hope Centre” and Co-Chair of CAPPE/ACPEP Ontario’s ‘working group’ on College formation. He has a B.Sc. (in honours Physics), University of Waterloo, 1979  (After this he worked two years at Bell Northern Research, Ottawa) He then continued his education to obtain a M.Div., McMaster University, in 1984. Bob also is certified as a Specialist in Pastoral Counselling within the “Canadian Association for Spiritual Care", (January 1999). He is active (with a variety of responsibilities) within his profession, faith community, and the community at large.

 Lilian Wong, Member-at-large

Lilian C. J. Wong received her MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, training in Learning Disabilities and Psychopathology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and obtained her PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia.

She has served as Psycho-Educational Consultant, School Psychologist, and Area Counsellor for several School Boards in Ontario and British Columbia. From 2001 to 2005, she was Associate Professor and School Counselling Coordinator with the Graduate Program in Counselling Psychology at Trinity Western University, B.C. From 2006 to 2009, she was Associate Professor of Psychology at Tyndale University College, Toronto.

She is recognized for her research on multicultural competencies in clinical supervision. She is a co-editor of the Handbook in Multicultural Perspectives on Stress and Coping (2006) by Springer Publishers, and The Positive Psychology of Meaning and Spirituality (2007) by INPM Press. She serves on several Boards of Directors. She is Vice President of Meaning-Centered Counselling Institute, Inc. and Co-Chair (2011) for the Supervision and Training Section of The Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17), American Psychological Association (APA).

She has been a frequently invited keynote speaker and workshop presenter on counselling children, and play therapy, in North America and overseas. At present, she and her husband, Dr. Paul T. P. Wong, are completing several writing projects, including The Manual for Meaning-Centered Therapy (INPM Press), Reminiscence and Life Review (Cambridge Press), Positive Psychology for Difficult Times, and Conference Proceedings: Addiction, Meaning, and Spirituality (INPM Press). She also has a private practice in Toronto.