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The team at Cedars at Cobble Hill is a diverse group of knowledgeable, highly-trained and compassionate individuals from varying professional and educational backgrounds. Many members of Cedars staff have had first hand-experience with addiction and are not afraid to share their personal experiences with honesty, empathy and humility.
At Cedars, our approach is invitational, instead of confrontational. We foster connections and establish trust with our patients by being transparent and involving them in their own individualized treatment process. By courageously sharing our stories, we can create the authentic connection that is essential to healing from addictions.
We believe that it truly “takes a village” to create an environment for individuals to grow and thrive. Regardless of their particular area of expertise, each team member is united in their goal of helping each individual find success in long-term recovery. Each staff member has their own unique skillset and our team is proud of our collaborative approach to treating addictions. Our entire complement of multi-disciplinary staff form an integral part of what makes Cedars one of the premier recovery centres across the country.
Below, we invite you to learn more about our incredible team members at Cedars.
Leadership
Carson McPherson, MBA, MSc., D.SocSci (c)
Managing Director
As Managing Director, Carson is responsible for all operations at Cedars to ensure the delivery of high quality, patient oriented treatment services. Carson brings a wealth of...
Steve Low, CCAC
Clinical Director
In 1988, Steve began training in chemical dependency and has been working in the field ever since. Steve is particularly skilled in empathically connecting with others a...
Dr. Lyn MacBeath, MD, FRCPC, ABAM, ISAM
Medical Director
Dr. Lyn MacBeath is a psychiatrist (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada) additionally certified by both the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) and the Inter...
Lisa Shields BA, MCC(c)
Director of Operations
Lisa is the Operations Manager at Cedars. Her education and experience is an asset to the team in ensuring the wellbeing of both staff and patients. Lisa is responsible for staff s...
Marshall Smith, CCAC
Director, Partnerships and Implementation
Marshall’s impressive professional experience includes senior executive positions in the field of Addiction treatment and recovery advocacy, most recently as Director of Corporat...
Annelies Briggs
Director of Facilities
Annelies has been caring for Cedars since it opened, over 10 years ago. Her role has evolved from housekeeping to overseeing housekeeping operations and man...
Ethan McCandless
Director of Admissions
As the Admissions Director, Ethan assists people in the first step of their recovery journey by supporting them in their decision to enter treatment. Ethan brings his enthusia...
Bill Caldwell, BA, CCAC
Director of Community Care
Bill comes to the Cedars with over a decade of experience working in addictions treatment, primarily in extended care and aftercare roles, as well as working as a research consulta...
Neal Berger
Director Emeritus
Neal is one of the founders of Cedars at Cobble Hill. A lecturer and author, Neal has produced films on the subjects of chemical dependency and treatment, and is the President...
Medical
Dr. Edward P. (Ted) Kardera, MD
Medical Consultant
Dr. Kardera has been a Physician at Cedars since 2005 and currently operates as the Medical Consultant. He has been a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine since 198...
Dr. Chris Bosman, MD
Physician
Dr. Bosman is the primary physician at Cedars. He comes to Cedars with over 30 years of experience as a Family Physician with the majority of his practice being within rural commun...
Dr. Gerrit Prinsloo MbChB, CCFP, dABAM
Physician
Addiction Medicine Research Fellow with the BC Centre on Substance Use and a University of British Columbia (UBC) Clinical Instructor on the Addiction Medicine Consult Service at S...
Tyler Huston, LPN
Nurse Team Lead
Tyler is a Licensed Practical Nurse who brings with him a wealth of experience from years working in addictions treatment. He relies on his experience and specialized addiction nur...
Amanda Toth, LPN
Nurse
Amanda is a Nurse within the medical team at Cedars. She has held previous roles within the field of addiction recovery as a counsellor and social worker in addition to nursing. Am...
Charlene Kozakevich, RN
Nurse
Within her role as a Registered Nurse at Cedars, Charlene collaborates with other team members including Support Staff, Clinicians, and Physicians to provide comprehensive care to ...
Nicholas Fitterer, MN, NP(f)
Nurse Practitioner
Nicholas comes to Cedars with a wealth of experience as a Nurse Practitioner and provides our patients with holistic medical support. He plays an integral role within the Medical t...
Clinical
Joe Petriccione – M.Ed, LPC
Counsellor
Joe is a Licensed Professional Counsellor with over 36 years experience working in psychiatric, dual diagnosis and chemical dependency programs. Joe graduated from George Washingto...
Rosa Toste
Counsellor
Originally from Ontario, Rosa relocated to the island several years ago and is passionate about working in the field of addictions. She has worked in a variety of departments and r...
Terry Ketteringham, MA, RCC
Counsellor
Terry has worked as an addiction counsellor since 2009 in a number of different settings. With an impressive educational background including a Master of Arts in Counsell...
Amanda Poitras – M.Ed, RCC
Online Counsellor
Amanda Poitras is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and graduated from the University of Lethbridge with degrees in Counselling Psychology (M.Ed.) and Addictions Counselling (B.Hlsc...
Jo Dumont, MA
Counsellor
Jo comes to Cedars with three generations of recovery in her family, including her own. She worked as an adult educator and paramedic/first aid trainer for 25 years before an injur...
Craig Extine – MA, RCC
Counsellor
Craig’s background in personal recovery is what initially drew him to this field. He began by working with adolescents and youth and completed his Masters in Clinical psych at An...
Kathleen Stevens, BA
Counsellor
Kathleen began as a Support Staff at Cedars and has transitioned to the Counselling team. She comes to her work with a rich history of counselling and social work, including fiftee...
Wellness Team
Jodi Strom, MA
Expressive Arts Therapist & First Nations Liaison
Jodi Strom is a Certified Art Therapist with expertise in addiction treatment and trauma. In the past 11 years, she has worked with adults in the abstinence-based addiction treatme...
Richard Osler
Poetry Therapist
During his final business chapter as a registered specialty money manager Richard rediscovered the healing power of words, first in his own life and then in the lives of countless ...
Geri Laurence
Counsellor & Somatic Therapist
Geri also has worked in the addictions field bringing 12 -step and mindfulness programs into her practice for twenty years. She has taught in Recovery centers in Vancou...
Greg Darjes
Spiritual Advisor
As a spiritual advisor at Cedars, as well as a workshop facilitator and lecturer, Greg builds connection and creates a safe container for our patients to explore their spirituality...
Rev. Pierre Leroux, CACII
Spiritual Advisor
Rev. Pierre Leroux is an ordained minister with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada and holds a certification as an Addiction counselor CACII with the Canadian Council of Profe...
Lilian Bianchi
Yoga Instructor
Lilian Bianchi has been teaching Yoga since 1982. She first became involved with Yoga in her early teens. She has received certification from Master Vayuananda (Rio de Janeiro...
Tim Kearney
Personal Trainer & Group Fitness
Tim is a Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor with over 20 years of involvement in the fitness industry, with a background in the Canadian Military serving for...
Community Care
Jake Sombrutzki BSc.
Community Care Counsellor
Jake is graduate of the University of Lethbridge who completed his bachelors of health science specializing in addiction counselling. He joined Cedars in 2013 after completing an i...
Eric Collins, MSc, PhD. (c)
Research
Eric Collins is a PhD candidate at Western University in the Department of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences. Eric’s research interests include substance use disorders, addict...
Facilities
Dennis Rumney
Kitchen Operations
Dennis is the Kitchen Operations Manager at Cedars. Born and raised in James Bay (Victoria) B.C. He attended the Culinary Arts Program at NAIT and spent 3 years in the Oil Industry...
Zeke Kruse
Chef
Zeke is a Sous Chef with Aramark Canada and has been with Cedars since 2009. He enjoys ...
Aaron McCluskey
Driver
Aaron began his own journey of recovery from addiction as a former patient at Cedars. Aaron was a very active member of the Cedars Alumni network, and volunteered on the Alumni Adv...
Sheila Humber
Housekeeping Lead
Sheila has been with Cedars as a lead housekeeper since February 2013. Sheila brings to Cedars an energy of appreciation for her work. She enjoys seeing the positive transformation...
Michelle Humber
Housekeeping
Michelle was born and raised in the Cowichan Valley. Michelle has been with Cedars as a Housekeeper since June 2015. She is grateful for the opportunity to learn about the recovery...
Jessica James
Housekeeping
Jessica was born and raised in the Cowichan Valley and joined the Cedars Housekeeping team in February 2016. Within this role Jessica enjoys creating a comfortable environment for ...
Breanne Brown
Housekeeping
Breanne’s passion for working at Cedars began with a family history of addiction recovery. She has used this personal experience as a means to help her gain insight into some of ...
Tara Bugden
Housekeeping
Working in housekeeping at Cedars is a special experience for Tara: “I feel like I’m not just in housekeeping but that I am part of the larger team. I love that I can contribut...
Barb McWhirter
Housekeeping
Barb loves working at Cedars because it she really likes the people that she works with and “it feels like service work”. After spending 24 years in housekeeping with companies...
Toni Hulan
Housekeeping
Toni is grateful to be a member of the Cedars team and contribute to the recovery of our patients in a positive way! She enjoys creating comfortable spaces for people just arriving...
Administration
Tesa Cournoyer
Administration
Tesa completed her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Regina, and has continued working with people seeking healing ever since. With work experience in variety ...
Aidan Hughes-Toal
Admissions Coordinator
Aidan joined Cedars in April 2016 as support staff and is now working in the admissions department. While currently residing in Victoria BC, Aidan grew up in Belfast, Ireland and E...
Nora Bryant, RN, Retired
Business Development Manager
In Nora's current role as Business Development Manager with Cedars at Cobble Hill. she has the pleasure of networking with medical, clinical, and corporate partners across Canada.&...
Jacqui Rouse
Financial Lead
Jacqui Rouse has worked in finance for over 8 years. She started working at Cedars in 2015 as maternity coverage, and has always been drawn to the positive, supportive energy that ...
Amanda Graham BA
Administrative Assistant, Discovery
Amanda joined the Cedars team in the first year of operation as support staff. In February 2007 she joined the Discovery family and has evolved with the program as it h...
Support Staff
Debbie Gould
Clinical Assistant
Debbie has been a dedicated member of the support staff at Cedars for over 5 years and is also in long-term recovery. Debbie’s experience includes 20 years with the Ministry of H...
Gavin Pringle
Clinical Assistant
Gavin has been with Cedars at Cobble Hill since January 2016. Originally from Toronto, where he first became involved in the recovery community, Gav...
Emma Larose
Clinical Assistant
Emma is originally from the Vancouver area and relocated to Vancouver Island over 4 years ago. She’s always had a passion for working with people, and in 2014 she completed the C...
Don MacLeod
Support Staff
As a member of the primary support staff, Don began working at Cedars in the fall of 2006. Within a short period of time, he was booking Cedars’ W...
Joanna Blaszczyk
Support Staff
Joanna has been a member of the Cedars team since 2010. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Victoria in the Faculty of Soci...
John Blaszczyk
Support Staff
John joined the Cedars team in 2010. Originally from Victoria BC, he now lives in Cobble Hill with co-woker and wife Joanna and a former four-legged...
Michael Kennelly
Support Staff
Mike began working with Cedars over 3 years ago, after having working in various locations in North America including Arizona, Ontario, and British ...
Penny Murphy
Support Staff
Penny is a member of the support staff at Cedars. Despite a stint on the mainland of BC for several years, Penny came back to Vancouver Island in 20...
Harry Martin
Support Staff
Harry has enjoyed working as a member of the support staff at Cedars since 2011. Originally from the Cowichan Valley, Harry has lived in various loc...
Edmond Cantin
Support Staff
Hailing from Port Alberni, BC, Edmond was given sobriety in 2009 by surrendering to the 3 legacies of a 12 step program. Since then, he has chaired ...
Nadine Langelo
Support Staff
Nadine is grateful to be a member of support staff and helping the patients at Cedars in their recovery journey. She is honoured to work with such a great team and is inspired ever...
Devyn Erickson
Support Staff
Devyn was born and raised in Cowichan Valley, as a teenager and young adult experimenting with substances quickly progressed into abuse. She found herself falling into a transient ...
Perry Johnson
Support Staff
Perry was born and raised in Alberta, and from the age of 17 spent most of his early years moving around North America as well as London, England. Perry joined the Cedar’s team i...
Pamela Huumonen
Support Staff & Scheduler
Pamela currently lives in Shawnigan Lake, and has been calling the
Cowichan Valley home since she was a teenager. After a 15 year career within
the spa & wellness industry sh...
Amber Rabey
Support Staff
Amber divides her time at Cedars between working as Support Staff and Administration. She began at Cedars through a practicum from Camosun College in 2016 where she completed the M...
Asheleigh Narey
Support Staff
Asheleigh enjoys many things about her role as support staff but what stands out to her is being able to support individuals to get well and re-invent themselves. She plays an inst...
Laura Laidlaw, BA
Support Staff
Laura enjoys helping others on their journey of recovery in her role as support staff. She learns everyday from both the patients and staff. Laura is passionate about working in th...
Julian Brissard
Support Staff
Julian is inspired by the healing and transformation that happens everyday at Cedars. He is grateful to be a part of a team so dedicated to seeing people get well and thrive in a l...
Animals of Cedars
