Presenters

Duncan Grady’s professional experience includes over 20 years of post secondary education and 36 years of psychotherapy in addictions, trauma, death and dying. He has a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology and a Doctorate of Ministry. He is an elder of the Circle of Indigenous Nations Society, West Kootenays, BC. He currently co-leads retreats, works with communities impacted by lateral violence and provides training and consultation using western and non-western approaches to health, well-being, spirituality, trauma, dying and death. During the past year he has gone to communities in BC and Alberta to assist health care teams experiencing the overwhelm of working with suicide, fentanyl overdose and death. This work has primarily been with care providers who provide services, but has also included community presentations as well.

Pamela Kryskow MD is a clinical instructor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.  Specializing in alleviating the complex modality of pain, she successfully synthesizes her training in family, rural, emergency, pain, counselling and functional medicine.  Dr. Kryskow’s wealth of experience in conventional medicine augmented by her deep knowledge on the safe use of MDMA, psilocybin and other psychedelics, places her at the forefront of this new, rapidly emerging paradigm. Her specialized interest and research in the applicability of microdosing has proven formulative in this growing practice.

Dr. Valorie Masuda is a palliative care physician and general practitioner in oncology working in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island.  Certified in psychedelic medicine through the California Institute of Integral Studies, Valorie was also trained through Therapsil and the Roots to Thrive program. She has 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.  So far, 17 patients have been supported through the Roots to Thrive psilocybin-assisted therapy program. In addition, Valorie has been supporting patients with both independent and group psilocybin-assisted therapy, and is currently working in the Cowichan Valley supporting palliative patients at home, in hospice and hospital, as well as working in the community oncology clinic. Valorie’s other interests include sustainable food production, and playing music including the viola in two community orchestras.

Tarzie McLean has a Masters in Counseling Psychology, is a Registered Counseling Therapist, and has been working in counselling, mental health, community development and systems transformation for over 20 years. Tarzie works from a holistic model of health and recognizes the interplay between biology/physiology, psychology, social supports, and spiritual wellbeing. She is passionate about helping people get informed about psychedelic-assisted therapy. She provides individual counseling support through her private practice, Soul Compass Therapy, www.soulcompass.info. 

Dr. Shannon Dames serves at Vancouver Island University as a nursing professor and resilience researcher. She collaboratively spearheaded the development of the theoretical framework for Roots to Thrive.  As a byproduct of her doctoral work, which focused on the core factors that promote human flourishing, and as a Health Professional Investigator for the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Dr. Dames is now overseeing the ongoing development and research components of Roots to Thrive (RTT) combined with medicine-assisted therapy.

Jean Paul grew up in Toronto, Ontario before moving to Vancouver, BC to complete a Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology on an academic scholarship, a 4 year Medical Degree, a 3 year residency in Internal Medicine, a one year fellowship in General Internal Medicine, and finally a 6 month Echocardiography fellowship to obtain a level 2 Echocardiography certification, all done at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is a USA Board Certified Anti-Aging Specialist with specialty in bioidentical hormone balancing as well as a certified neuromodulator and dermal filler practitioner. He is also a leader in the medical cannabis space, creating one of the only medical cannabis data companies and leveraging this information to advance the practice of prescribing cannabis as a medicine. He prides himself in exploring innovative medical therapies that push the boundaries of conventional health care systems, with the goal of achieving a more natural and holistic patient journey to well-being. His vision is to refocus the expectation and treatment of human health to look at the person as a whole rather than simply a sum of their parts, as the body is designed to live in balance and harmony. In his free time, Jean Paul most enjoys spending time with his wife and young children and playing a variety of sports. 

<span style=”font-weight: 400″>Holly Bennett is the Communications Director at TheraPsil. She lives, works, and plays on the unceded Anishinabewaki &amp; Haudenosaunee Territories in Toronto, ON. She has over 8 years of experience in the Canadian cannabis industry including communications, and patient education and holds a special interest in bioethics and drug policy and is passionate about mental health, harm reduction, and compassionate patient care. She is dedicated to helping change public perception and policy regarding psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy and ensuring that this treatment option becomes safe, sustainable, and equitably accessible in Canada.</span>

Dr. Crosbie Watler is the lead psychiatrist for the Roots to Thrive Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Programme and an emerging thought leader, forging new pathways to alleviate suffering related to mental distress. He completed his MA in Psychology at Lakehead University, before going to Medical School at McMaster in 1988. Following medical school, Dr. Watler completed his residency in psychiatry at Dalhousie University. Upon completion he worked in Kenora, Ontario from 1995-2001, where he was Chief of Psychiatry at the Lake of the Woods District Hospital. In 2001 Dr. Walter relocated to Duncan BC with his wife and their three children, working within Island Health and served as Medical Director and the Department Head for Psychiatry. Dr. Watler has practised in multiple settings including, tertiary, inpatient, outpatient and ACT. Dr. Watler’s current interests focus on incorporating the best of modern medicine with holistic/integrative health.