Our team members are compassionate and dynamic humans who offer support and guidance through the change process with nature as their co-facilitator. We aim to match you with a counsellor or Master’s level practicum student who fits your individual or family needs.
David Segal
Executive Director – MA, RCC-ACS (he/him)
David Segal has been providing therapeutic nature-based counselling for children, youth, adults, couples, and families for over 15 years. He is deeply passionate about the natural world and how strengthening human-nature relationships can enrich our collective and individual well-being. He has spent the last decade learning from a vast array of teachers (including the non-human natural ones) the tools and skills for guiding people to truly know their own inherent wholeness and how to work with the struggles of their life in order to both harness and harvest the gifts and learning available.
David completed a Masters degree in Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria, is registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors and is a certified Somatic Transformation Practitioner and Emotionally Focused Therapist with specializations in working with couples/families and resolving trauma. When not counselling, he loves playing sports, exploring forests, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and spending time with his family.
Eidel the Nova Scotia Duck Toller
Eidel brings with her an insatiable joy for life and contagious love for the present moment, sticks, and running in the forest. Eidel loves to join Dave on his adventures with clients.
Katy Rose
Clinical Director – MA, RCC-ACS (she/her)
For over 15 years Katy has been discovering the joys of experiential and nature-based approaches to working with children, youth and families for the promotion of healing and growth. Katy holds a deep trust in the healing power of connection with the non-human natural world, and believes that each individual is born with an innate drive and capacity towards wholeness and health. Katy completed a Master’s degree in Transpersonal Counselling Psychology, with a specialization in Wilderness Therapy, from Naropa University in Colorado. She is trained in Somatic Transformation, Emotion Focused Family Therapy and EMDR.
Along with her involvement in HNCS, Katy has developed and facilitated several group therapy programs for families and youth throughout the Greater Victoria Region. Katy’s passion is in creating innovative and accessible programming which are steeped in the values of connection, family, nature and community. Katy loves to share her passion for the exciting field of Nature-Based Therapy with others, and provides training, supervision and education on these topics in the hopes of encouraging other counsellors step beyond the office walls. Katy is a parent to two vivacious boys and a Registered Clinical Counselor with the BC Association of Clinical Counselors. Katy is ever grateful to have the privilege of working and living in the traditional and unceded territories of the Lekwungen and WSÁNEĆ people, and is committed to ongoing learning and unsettling of how our services can contribute to decolonizing mental health practices and services in our communities.
Ripple the Bernerdoodle
Ripple is full of love for all humans and fellow creatures. She loves exploring the beach, romping through the forest, finding giant sticks, and most of all, snuggles. Ripple is happiest when she gets to join Katy and her clients in the great outdoors (FYI – she is a gentle giant at 110 lbs!).
Bonnie Dyck
Manager of Clinical Supervision & Training – MSW, RCC-ACS (she/her)
Squamish-North Vancouver & Telehealth
For over 20 years, Bonnie has been providing experiential nature-based and adventure therapy for children, youth, adults, couples, and families. She believes it is through relationship with ourselves, each other, and the natural world that we learn, grow, and heal. Through experiential invitations, she supports clients in repairing relationships, deepening connection, and increasing a sense of meaning, health and wholeness in their lives.
Bonnie completed a Masters of Social Work degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2001 and is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. She is trained in Adventure Therapy, Nature-Based Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy (individual and Family), and Narrative Therapy.
Bonnie is passionate about growing the field of Nature-Based Therapy Practitioners. She provides Training, Supervision, and Consultation for individuals and agencies that are seeking to work with clients in nature settings.
When not providing training, supervision, and counselling, Bonnie teaches university courses on “Facilitating a Healthy Relationship with Media”, serves as President on a school board, and spends time playing in nature with her family. She has 2 adventurous boys who continue to be her greatest teachers. Bonnie is grateful to have the privilege to work, live, and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people and is committed to ongoing learning and decolonizing of mental health practices.
Registered Counsellors
Jordie Allen-Newman (he/him) – MA, RCC – Clinical Counsellor
Sooke & Westshore
Jordie has practiced counselling with children, youth adults and families in health care and social services for 30 years. He is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and member of Human Nature’s Clinical Supervision Team. For over 20 years Jordie has worked with children who have witnessed violence using adventure therapy and he has extensive experience as a mental health and substance use counsellor with VIHA, and a sand tray therapist with children struggling with grief, loss, anxiety and depression.
Jordie cares deeply about nature and people. He combines his knowledge of experiential, narrative and mindfulness therapies and teams up with nature to support innovative and personalized ways of healing and growing. As part of his practice he writes nature based narrative therapy letters to all of his clients and includes therapeutic photographs from the session — oriented to assist people to remember and further reflect on the important and challenging work they do in therapy.
In addition his clients have the opportunity to do K9 therapy as a nature based method through Indianna Jones the Labradoodle therapy dog.
Jordie enjoys his own connection with nature and has been a wilderness guide and instructor for the past 25 years, a long distance adventure kayaker and a rock climber/mountaineer. He lives with his life partner, Alysha Jones, in the traditional territory of the T’Sou-Ke First Nations.
Sarah Delroy (she/her/they) – MA, RCC – Cortes and Quadra Islands, Campbell River – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Sarah is a third generation Ukrainian/English/Irish settler who grew up on unceded Algonquin territory. She uses a strengths-based approach to counselling to help generate a safe and compassionate space for clients to find connection to themselves, others and the living world. She works with families, adults, youth and children to help highlight what is already working, offer tools and gentle space to grow what’s needed and help shift or re-story what isn’t, and helps to integrate the changes that come into daily life.
Sarah has studied and worked in wilderness and life ways skills since 2001, with a focus on connecting children, youth and adults with nature for the last 7 years. She has trained in EMDR, Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, and Nature-Based Therapy. She can offer tools from these orientations, and if there is interest integrate life ways skills she has spent years studying such as weaving, storytelling, animal tracking, bird language, stone tool making and fine arts such as using clay, paints or other crafting mediums.
Sarah works from a culturally sensitive, inclusive and trauma informed lens. She especially welcomes 2SLGBTQIA+ folx and their families.
Nate Demetrius (he/him) – MC, BCYC, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
Nate is a registered clinical counsellor who works with children, adults, and families. Nate was raised on the unceded territories of the WSANEC and Songhees Nations (Victoria, BC), and he gratefully explores Coast Salish territory all over Vancouver Island in search of nature, connection, and adventure.
As a BIPOC individual, Nate works from a systems-oriented, feminist perspective, developed over years of serving children and families exposed to domestic violence. He is Level 2 certified in Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and aims to add EMDR to his counselling toolkit.
His additional experience volunteering with ‘Power To Be’ and Juan De Fuca Search and Rescue allows Nate to serve the community in outdoor recreation programs and emergent situations.
Nate holds a Master of Counselling through City University and has a Bachelor of Child and Youth Care from UVic. In the future, Nate aims to specialize in anti-violence counselling with families and male-identifying adults, and he is passionate about supporting first responders (Military/Police/Fire/Paramedics) with trauma-related injuries.
Sarah Duncan (she/her) – MA, RCC – Clinical Counsellor
Cowichan & Victoria
Sarah is a creative, calm and respectful counsellor who feels privileged to have lived and worked on the traditional lands of the Quw’utsun people for over 15 years. She has worked in a variety of non-profit counselling organizations, VIHA, Cowichan Valley School District, Cowichan Tribes, and Child and Youth Mental Health. Sarah has an BA from Vancouver Island University in Child and Youth Care, and a Master’s degree in Counselling from City University.
As an avid outdoorswoman and someone who has integrated nature with her own healing path, Sarah understands how a healing journey that incorporates nature is an unquestionable match. Sarah values the infinite healing that can be done while engaged in a natural setting, be it out on a mountainside, in a local park, by the water or sitting in a favorite spot under a tree. Sarah offers individual, children, teens, and family counselling using safe, creative, and non-judgmental approaches. Sarah understands that we are complex beings linked to family, society, and community which all contribute to the creation of a system in which we learn how to navigate and make sense of our lives in the world.
Elise Gilchrist (she/her) – MA, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
Elise is an enthusiastic, warm, and playful registered clinical counsellor who approaches client relationships with reverence, humility, and care. Elise offers a flexible and integrative approach to counselling (Narrative, Experiential, Solutions-focused, CBT), and she infuses her personality and sense of humour into her client work.
Elise has years of experience facilitating outdoor adventure activities, leadership programs, and therapy groups with kids, teens, and adults. She has also worked in community health for over a decade, and has assisted others as they navigate illness, addiction, and mental-health concerns. These experiences provided Elise with many opportunities to develop meaningful relationships with individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
As someone who has personally found healing through her relationship with the non-human natural world, Elise acknowledges the therapeutic power of being in relationship with nature. In her work, she intends to team up with nature as co-facilitator to cultivate a carefully attuned relationship with each unique client and family unit.
Isla & Halle (left to right)
Halle (10 years) and Isla (2 years) are lovable and curious goofballs who enjoy exploring beaches and forests, chewing on sticks, and cuddling. Both Halle and Isla are great with kids, and they have very soft fur. They do not bark, but Halle might bark a occasionally to tell you that she wants to play!
Sarah Johnston (she/her) – MC, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Squamish & Online
Sarah connects with clients with warmth, curiosity, and acceptance, acknowledging each persons inherent worth and strength to overcome challenges. She is offering sessions both in person in Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish) and online to clients in British Columbia. She works with clients in their teens and adulthood who are facing transitions, anxiety, stress and relational challenges.
Sarah takes an ecological approach that considers mind, body, relationships and connections to the natural world. She draws together the client’s story (narrative therapy) with a body-based lens of somatic and nervous system-based approaches (polyvagal theory). Sarah takes a relational approach that is grounded in the importance of relationship and community in healing (attachment theory). She honours our inherent connection to the land through a nature-based approach, collaborating with the land to facilitate regulation, clarity, and authenticity.
Sarah spent seven years facilitating wilderness and adventure based therapy for youth and young adult men with addictions. She supported a deep process of change for clients through the intentional use of adventure activities, group therapy and individual sessions. Sarah completed an undergraduate degree in Outdoor Recreation and Leadership as well as a teaching degree focused on Indigenizing practices in education at Lakehead in Thunder Bay, ON. She went onto complete a Master of Counselling Psychology degree with City University where she focused on nature-based therapy and therapeutic climbing. Sarah’s passion for utilizing climbing as a tool for growth and empowerment prompted her to co-found Dirtbabe Collective, a grassroots organization impacting mountain culture through offering therapeutically framed experiences in combination with technical skill development and visual storytelling.
A third generation settler of Scottish, Irish and English descent, Sarah was raised where prairies meet mountains on treaty Seven Territory, home to Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina and Ktunaxa peoples.
She is blessed to now reside on Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish Territory).
Tensley Koontz (he/him) – MEd, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Cowichan
Tensley offers warmth, curiosity, and compassion, and his approach is grounded in building a trusting therapeutic relationship wherein space for transformation, healing, and meaning-making is held.
Intertwined with his own healing journey and upbringing in Alberta’s backcountry and the rangelands of BC’s Cariboo-Chilcotin, Tensley recognizes Nature as a valued teacher and support of wellbeing. His approach honours our interconnectedness with the social and physical environments around us and invites a collaboration with the land through experiential activities and play, mind-body awareness, insights from neuroscience, and attachment and family systems perspectives. Tensley works with adults, youth, and families to support them where they are at, offer tools to foster growth, and walk alongside them on their journey to rediscovering their inherent wholeness. Supporting his integrative counselling approach is specialized training in Nature-Based Therapy (NBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), and mindfulness-based interventions, including Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).
Tensley previously completed a BEd in Physical Education at the University of Victoria and has taken a path supporting youth and adults as a teacher and coach in BC and abroad, as a field instructor with Outward Bound Canada, a kayak guide, as well as working as a wildland firefighter. He is father to an effervescent daughter and is of German and Métis heritage. Tensley draws from his ancestral background and experience walking in different worlds, and he appreciates connecting with diverse peoples.
It is with gratitude and humility that Tensley practices on the traditional unceded territories and ancestral homelands of the Quw’utsun, MÁLEXEȽ, BOḰEĆEN, Ts’uubaa-asatx, Halalt, and Stz’uminus Peoples.
Kelly Nakatsuka (he/him) – RTC – Registered Therapeutic Counsellor
Greater Victoria
Kelly has taken a bit of a meandering path to the world of Nature Therapy. He is a lifelong lover and explorer of the outdoors, with a childhood split between rural Northern Alberta and the West Coast. His professional life has taken him from forestry research in virtually every beautiful nook and cranny of BC, to cooking in downtown Vancouver restaurants, to running a music festival, to a 13 year career at CBC Radio. The common thread through it all has been his passion for working with other humans.
Kelly has always believed in people, in their brilliance, and in their ability and inherent right to grow and heal and thrive. These days he is a registered therapeutic counsellor with a background in family systems, EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy), group facilitation, as well as nature connection work, along side both adults and children. He is a patient, curious, and deeply compassionate therapist who loves working with clients to discover their own healing path. Combining our innate ability to grow and heal, with the innately healing qualities of the natural world, has been one of the simplest and most profound experiences he has had as a therapist and as a human being. He his grateful to live and work on the unceded traditional territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) people, now know as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations, as well as the traditional and unceded territories of the W̱SÁNEĆ nations.
Jessica Neary (she/her) – MA, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
Jessica is a third generation English/Irish settler who grew up on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation and Williams Treaties signatories of the Mississauga and Chippewa Nations. She brings compassion, acceptance, curiosity and genuineness in her approach. Her intention is to stay present with your experience, and trust your process as it unfolds, offering guidance and insight along the way.
Jessica is a facilitator of a relational meditation practice called Circling where she supports people in mindful expression of their present moment experience. She has 6 years of experience working in outdoor day camp settings and in child care, with a focus on connecting children, and youth with nature and the arts. For 5 years, she supported adults in finding meaning in their work as a Human Resources Advisor. Jessica has a Master’s in Counselling Psychology. She is also trained in Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, and Nature-Based Therapy. She can offer tools from these orientations, as well as Internal Family Systems therapy, play therapy and the arts, using paints and other crafting mediums to encourage self-expression and processing.
Jessica works from a culturally sensitive, inclusive and trauma informed lens.
Sasha Routley (she/her) – MA, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
My path to counselling has grown through my life-long experiences of deep connection with other animals and the natural world. Throughout my life, I have learned there are endless and extraordinary ways that humans can experience authentic connection, deeply felt support and transformation, through our relationship with nature.
My approach to counselling is also guided by the science of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which has a significant influence on our emotions, thoughts and behaviours. Through a process of befriending our ANS, we can better understand how to take care of our selves and others.
Creating patterns of attunement and connection, supports our natural capacity to heal, show up authentically and navigate the complexities of our shared world.
Acknowledging my colonial relationship with the unceded land that supports my life, I am grateful to the Coast Salish Peoples, specifically the Quw’utsun, W̱SÁNEĆ, Songhees, and Stz’uminus First Nations.
I strive to grow my understanding and take action in support of social justice and Indigenous resiliency.
Sasha is a Registered Clinical Counselor, with BCACC.
And a certification candidate (Equine-Facilitated Mental Health) with the Professional Association of Equine Facilitated Wellness Canada.
Daniella Roze des Ordons (she/her) – PhD Candidate, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Online and Training facilitator
Daniella’s love for nature began in her childhood growing up in the Okanagan Valley, and since then, the land has become an important teacher and friend. Her strength-based practice recognizes inherent wholeness, empowers agency, builds resilience, and celebrates diversity. She engages relational and compassionate approaches that support others in navigating their challenges while honouring and living into their unique gifts. Daniella is committed to fostering reciprocal and healing relationships with nature and building just and sustainable communities.
Daniella is a PhD student within the Educational Theory and Practice program at Simon Fraser University with a focus on ecopsychology-informed education within a socio-ecological justice framework. She holds a Master of Contemplative Education and a diploma in Applied Psychology and Counselling. She draws on over 15 years of experience as an educator, facilitator, and ecopsychology practitioner, guiding nature-based education and therapeutic programs for both youth and adults. Daniella is the founder of Thriving Roots Wilderness School, has served as an instructor and researcher at several post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, and
presents to international audiences on ecopsychology and nature-based education.
Leanne Shafir (she/they) – BSc, MSW, RSW – Registered Social Worker
Greater Victoria
Leanne grew up in the territories of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabewaki and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations, also known as Toronto, Ontario. Growing up in a large city made it hard for her to access nature, and she found the natural world to feel uncomfortable, even scary at times. But through playing sports, music and family camping trips, she discovered her unique connection with the natural world. This in turn helped her learn how to navigate uncertainties, build confidence, and develop practical skills that she could apply to other areas of her life.
Leanne moved west in 2020, and there she finally discovered mountains! She began exploring nature in a whole new way and picked up activities such as rock climbing, snowboarding and hiking. These activities helped Leanne realize that she could work through challenges and fear with authenticity, showing her she was more resilient than she thought. Now, Leanne wants to share what she has learned and is keen to facilitate similar growth opportunities for her clients using nature, movement and mindfulness.
Leanne holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of British Columbia and is bilingual in French and English. She loves music, cooking and eating food and growing her own vegetables. As a proud member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, Leanne is dedicated to providing inclusive and gender affirming care, welcoming the exploration and development of all gender and sexual identities within her practice.
Trudi Smith (she/her) – MC, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
Trudi’s relational and kind-hearted approach is grounded in building trust and trusting that we can hold space for transformation, reclaiming pleasure, joy, satisfaction, and meaning making. Her approach is grounded in the belief that sensing our interconnectedness within more than human worlds (aka nature) is central to our sense of wholeness and wellbeing as humans.
In addition to a Masters in Counselling, she is trained in nature-based therapy, somatic approaches (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level 1) and expressive arts therapy. Trudi’s counselling approach is collaborative, where we work together, where a person is empowered as an expert in their own reality, and where experience is considered within the context of broader social worlds and how they shape us. Working with creativity, curiosity, and reflection we often make things: A session may include co-creating temporary eco-sculptures, or working with materials like clay, felt, stone, nature inks, paper.
Trudi previously completed a BFA in Photography at Emily Carr University, an MA in Environmental Studies, and a PhD in Art and Anthropology at the University of Victoria. She is of Scottish and mixed European descent and over the course of her life has experienced healing, growth and connection by wandering and making things within boreal forests, alpine meadows, and shoreline ecologies: The territories of the Mi’kmaꞌki, the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation, and the lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEC peoples.
Katy Winship (she/her) – MA, RCC – Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
Katy is a registered clinical counsellor who offers counselling to children, youth, and families. Katy seeks adventure in the wilderness wherever she can find it, and values the rich narrative metaphors these experiences bring to add meaning to our lives. As an outdoors-person with values in Indigenous ways of knowing, cultural humility, and decolonized practices, Katy understands the importance of unique personal contexts and ongoing learning to better support her clients and community. With movement and play in mind, she also helps clients create space for reflection, expansion, and exploration of self.
Katy brings many years of experience in youth work, wilderness therapy, and experiential education as a nature-based practitioner. Through her roles as an outdoors leader and volunteer, Katy provides engaging experiences to her clients to promote growth and learning. Katy also currently works as a Policy Analyst for Mental Health for the Ministry of Education, supporting the mental wellbeing of BC’s K-12 students. She maintains a position on the board of South Island Climbers Association, promoting equity and accessibility in the outdoors. She holds a Bachelors of Family and Social Relations, a Bachelors of Education in Outdoor and Experiential Education, as well as Masters of Counselling.
Teresa Winter (she/her) – RTC – Registered Therapeutic Counsellor
Westshore
Teresa (she/her) grew up in wild rose and coyote country, on the traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina, Stoney Nakoda, Cree, Anishinaabe, and Métis peoples. Raised in a large family that fostered nature connection through love of birds, tending land, and caring for animals, she cultivated her belonging while spending time in the forest exploring and discovering the wonders around her.
For the past 20 years Teresa has been providing a blend of land-based and mental health support programming. She is a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor with studies in relational somatic therapy, expressive play therapy, suicide intervention, and nature-based counselling. Teresa believes that everyone has the capacity to feel a sense of connection and aliveness, to heal, and feel a sense of wholeness. She loves supporting others to find their passion and connection to authenticity while pushing edges and discovering places and spaces of resiliency.
Over the past 4 years she has been consciously cultivating nature connection through mentoring children and youth in the ways of bird language, storytelling, and ancestral skills such as fire making, carving, basket weaving and plant medicine making. Teresa’s ancestry is of English, Scottish, French, and Germanic origins and she is known for her deep listening, compassionate nature, love of music, dance and playful spirit.
Osa
Osa, a 9-year-old Maremma sheep dog, loves to accompany Teresa during sessions and is famous for her skills as a regulating force.
Kostas Zolotas (he/they) – MA, RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
As a teenager, Ko was exposed to a variety of outdoor adventures through the magic of summer camps in the Rocky Mountains. While having wonderful and fun, positive experiences, he also found that he was also growing as a person. He noticed that while he was learning the hard skills of what strokes to use in rough waters, he was also learning the soft skills of how to manage fear and anxiety. As he learned to track and sneak up to animals, he learned self-regulation. With knots, came patience. Since this realization, Ko has focused on gaining skills, both hard and soft, to add to his toolbox to walk with others on their healing journeys. This has led him to work with children and youth over the last 15 years through a variety of approaches, from teaching fire by friction on the west coast, to trapeze in Montreal, and everything in between!
He is an enthusiastic, empathic, and playful member of the HNCS team, with a Masters in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria.
Youth Workers and Non-Registered Counsellors
Robin Fagnan (he/him) Child and Youth Support Worker
Greater Victoria
Robin brings a depth of experience based in three decades of work in areas such as experiential education, adventure-based learning, professional outdoor guiding, youth justice, counselling, and extensive work with people of many abilities. Robin has come to see that connection is the basic recipe for supporting people in re-framing life’s challenges into opportunities for growth. Connection between people and with the natural world’s capacity to connect us to something bigger than ourselves.
Robin has a practical approach centred on both the efficacy of nature connection and developing present moment awareness to develop practical tools. On the foundation of developing therapeutic rapport he focuses on the simplest ways of developing and maintaining momentum for individuals to move forward (and, FUN is an integral part of the process too!). As a person with Type 1 diabetes, Robin also provides support to youth and adults with the challenges of living with a chronic illness.
Heather Quaite (she/her) – Program Facilitator
Greater Victoria
Heather is Lekwungen, known today as Songhees Nation. Most recognize this area as the City of Victoria, where Heather has lived her entire life, the land where the people have hunted and gathered for thousands of years. She values the importance of learning about the land, rich in resources, traditional practices, and the careful management involved. Heather has enjoyed employment and learning experiences in daycare, summer camp and youth programs as a youth worker, and program coordinator. She also brings insight from her role as the Songhees Education Facilitator and Liaison, working in classrooms and sitting on various committees.
Heather has a diploma in First Nations Community Studies, and wishes to express gratitude from the knowledge gained working with children and families, educators, community members, and elders. Heather greatly appreciates her community and continues to lives on reserve with her family, which includes her partner and their daughter. She loves being outdoors with her family and the activities they take part in together, such as exploring, outdoor cooking, and camping. She especially loves being on or near the water.
Heather is a lead facilitator with the Guam Guam Specums program within SD61 schools.
Calum Ramsay (he/him) – MACP Candidate – Practicum Student
Greater Victoria
Calum helps people navigate life. During sessions, you can expect to build relationships characterized by trust, presence, and connection, both with Calum and with the natural settings where you’ll work together. Calum recognises who you are as a person and addresses your needs by integrating experiential learning, mindfulness, and your pre-existing strengths. This allows you and Calum to generate a combination of insight and action to move you toward your goals. Calum is committed to creating an experience with you through nature-based therapy that provides opportunities for meaningful growth, change, and acceptance.
Calum’s path to becoming a counsellor has been non-linear. After training as an engineer, he spent 12 years growing the decision-making skills of international rugby players at hundreds of competitions including the Olympics and Rugby World Cups. This work led to collaboration with experts from the NFL, NHL, and Super Rugby to advance his understanding of human behaviour under stress. Calum has also worked in the trades, facilitated over 400 hours of support groups, and is currently involved with BC’s response to cumulative effects on Treaty 8 territory. Calum spends his free time outdoors as often as possible where he is usually found on a bike, beach, or camping trip with his wife and dog.
Calum lives, with respect and humility, on the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.
Timber
Timber is a gentle and affectionate six-year-old flat-coated retriever mix. He may join in on sessions if they align with his overloaded nap schedule. Timber’s favourite hobbies are being lovable and picking blackberries directly from the vine.
Consultants and Supervisors
We offer advisement for counsellors in the modality of nature-based therapy. Our consulting associates are leaders in this growing field.
Sarah Frizelle (she/her) – MA, RCC – Clinical Counsellor
Greater Victoria
Sarah is a registered clinical counsellor who offers holistic counselling to individuals, couples & families. She supports change and growth through therapeutic processes that attend to mind, body, emotions and spirit. She specializes in anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, life transitions, family conflict and relationship issues.
In addition to office based sessions, Sarah offers nature-based counselling which blends her experience as a therapist with her 20 year experience as a wilderness guide and her practice of meditation and training in mindfulness-based stress reduction with her work as an educator. As a counsellor, Sarah guides with sensitivity and compassion, with the knowledge that a good therapeutic relationship can be like a compass in hand when feeling lost or disoriented – and can be one that supports a process of exploration and discovery. Sarah holds masters degrees in education and psychology and is in private practice in Victoria, BC.
Nevin Harper (he/him) – PhD, RCC – Clinical Counsellor
Nevin draws on more than two decades of experience as an outdoor skills instructor, wilderness guide, youth and family support worker, and counsellor. Nevin is also a researcher, author and professor at the University of Victoria. He presents internationally on topics of outdoor and activity-based approaches to therapy and human development. While born and raised in northern Canada, and having travelled and lived abroad, he has lived in the Coast Salish territory since 1995.
Nevin’s approach to counselling is diverse but centers on client’s stories of self and supporting their desires for change through building supportive, authentic and trusting relationships. Being outdoors and active are key ingredients in Nevin’s practice along with strengths-based, narrative and somatic approaches.
Angela Scott (she/her) – M.A., RCC – Clinical Counsellor
Angela Scott is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), and currently practices in the public field in Concurrent Disorders (Mental Health and Substance Use), and privately works contract-based individual therapy, group facilitation, research project support, as well as provides clinical supervision for MA students and counselling colleagues. Angela has worked with children, youth, and families for 15 years, in the areas of child welfare, trauma, family violence, justice, mental health, and substance use. As a clinical counsellor she focuses her practice in the areas of: trauma; abuse; anxiety and depression; impacts of residential schools and colonization; mood disorders; grief and loss; and substance use. With a specialized focus on Trauma-Informed Practice, Angela’s educational background includes an MA in Child and Youth Care and a BA in Social Sciences, from the University of Victoria.
As an Indigenous and European, mixed-racial woman (Ojibwe, Métis, Danish, English) she approaches her practice in a way that is best described as: response–based, person-centered, strengths-based, and feminist. She approaches her counselling and therapeutic practices with the intention to be in a good way, upholding dignity and respect for all people with whom she works alongside. She acknowledges with great humility and respect that the land on which she lives and works are the traditional unceded territories and ancestral homelands of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations; the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples represented by the W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout), W̱SIḴEM (Tseycum) and MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat) Nations; the SC’IA⁄NEW (Beecher Bay) Nation; and the T’Sou-ke Nation.
Practicum Students
Our dedicated and passionate practicum students are in the process of completing their Master’s degrees in either Counselling Psychology or Child and Youth Care. Their client work is closely supervised and supported by our directors, Dave and Katy, in addition to the ongoing learning and support from their educational institutions. Because of this learning process, we are able to offer sessions with students at a reduced rate of $30–60/hr.
Andrew Fawcett (he/him) – M.A. Candidate – Practicum Student
Greater Victoria
With 5+ years of clinical training and a decade in outdoor-based programs, Andrew is excited to integrate professional counselling with immersion in the more-than-human world!
As an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy (TWU) and Restoration of Natural Systems (UVic) student, he has a honed appreciation for our interconnectedness with all living things and the complexities inherent to being in a relationship. Andrew has additional therapeutic training with the Neufeld Institute (Intensive I & II, Hypersensitivity, and Making Sense of Marriage), Emotion Focused Family Therapy, Play Therapy for Groups & Families, The Neurobiology of Healing Through Play Therapy, and Neuroscience & the Satir Model in the Sand Tray.
Playing along the Columbia (Big) River as a child piqued Andrew’s interest in being outside and he continues to fuel this passion nowadays through forest bathing as a certified ANFT guide. Andrew also enjoys canoeing and scuba diving along with all that being a new dad has to offer 😊
Andrew looks forward to the opportunity of supporting you as we work and play outside together, and acknowledges that we do so on the traditional and unceded territories of the Songhees, Esquimalt, Tsartlip, Tsawout, Tseycum, Malahat, Paquachin, T’Sou-ke and Sc’ianew Nations.
Cilla Holmes (she/her) – RTC Candidate – Practicum Student
Greater Victoria
Cilla Holmes (she/her) is a wild-foraged ink maker, a deer trail wanderer, and a nature-based expressive arts geek. She grew up kayaking, drawing, and writing about seals and arctic sea smoke on the traditional coastal territory of the Algonquin and Penobscot people. Her nature-based work with youth and families emerges from twenty years of work in the expressive arts, and a lifetime of resourcing in nature.
Cilla loves to share the transformative power of timeless wanders and play in nature, and to guide connections with song and poetry, land-based weaving, bird language, and any wild art magic she can fit into a pack basket. Trust in our innate ecological belonging, creativity, and inner knowing lies at the heart of Cilla’s relationship to coming alongside others on their journeys of growth and healing. Cilla supports youth and adults to honour their own stories, to attune to their essential glimmers of joy and resilience, and to root into their own self-resourcing practices in nature and the arts.
Cilla’s current studies in Expressive Arts Therapy resonate with her ways of knowing as a parent, as a nature connection mentor, as a graphic artist, and as an expressive arts teacher. Since 2009, Cilla has worked with youth and adults in forest schools, in public schools, in community arts and literacy initiatives, and with young indigenous artists and poets at UBC summer camps. She has trained in nature-based therapy, wilderness skills and mentorship, somatic awareness and regulation, suicide and crisis counselling, trauma-informed grief-tending, literacy, and expressive arts education. Cilla holds a Certificate in Fine Arts and Design from Emily Carr University, and a BA in Literature from Brown University, and she completed the Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing at USM. Cilla is a sixth generation settler of Scottish, Irish, and Swedish descent, and she holds gratitude for loon song at dusk, and for each day she spends in relationship with Coast Salish lands.
Operations Team
Zahura Ahmed
Program Manager (she/her)
Zahura is a first-generation Bangladeshi-Canadian currently living on Lekwungen Territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. Having grown up on Treaty 7 Territory, she is grateful to have communed with the mountains, prairies, rivers, and now the ancient forests and ocean. Zahura has worked in community and international development for the past decade, and brings a trauma-informed lens and ethic of care rooted in a heart-centered approach to her work and life. She believes in the healing power of nature, and hopes to contribute to inclusive and meaningful group programming for youth in her role as Program Manager. Zahura loves hiking, cooking, and yoga, and her favourite role in life is being an auntie to 5 nieces and nephews.
Jennaka Clow
Intake Coordinator (she/they)
Greater Victoria
Jennaka Clow is honoured to join the team as Intake Coordinator and Youth Worker. As a grateful visitor on the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, she strives to deepen her understanding and responsibility to local Indigenous Communities and their land. A strong connection with nature has guided her through her personal and professional life. Jennaka has dedicated her endeavours to organizations that help strengthen community connections and that support youth and families in accessing our natural environment. With over 20 years of professional experience leading nature-based programs, facilitating wilderness expeditions, and as a certified kayak instructor and guide, Jennaka understands the incredible power of nature to help us overcome challenges, heal, and access our truest selves.
Taking that first step toward healing can be daunting, even at the best of times, and Jennaka is committed to meeting clients as they are. Celebrating Diversity, Inclusion and advocating for the LGBTQIA2S+ communities are fundamental in her approach. She holds a caring space and has endless respect for those with the courage to grow and make necessary changes in their lives. She looks forward to being your first contact in our organization and to assisting you with any path you choose. When not working tirelessly to support your goals, you may spot Jennaka in the wild: camping, hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking, or basking in the sun on a beach with her daughter.
Alison McLeod
Operations Manager (she/her/they)
Alison is passionate about community and the nonprofit sector’s role in bringing us together. She has a background in nonprofit management and business administration with a Diploma in Business Administration and is pursuing further studies in Nonprofit Management. She is a lifelong volunteer and currently sits on two boards as Treasurer, where she spends her time working on spreadsheets, governance, and community and mental health advocacy.
Alison grew up on the unceded territory of the Qualicum, Sna’naw’as, and Ko’moks First Nations (Qualicum Beach and Parksville) and has been an uninvited guest on the unceded territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations (Victoria) for 17 years. When she isn’t organizing community events, she spends her time practicing yoga, hiking, and swing dancing.
Emlyn Sheeley
Operations Assistant (she/her)
Emlyn is a musician and artist living in beautiful Victoria, BC. Over the last 10 years Emlyn has been teaching music (voice and piano) to children and youthful souls. Her music has provided incredible opportunities for her to work with artists from all over the world through Pacific Opera Victoria.
When she’s not singing she can be found doing all kinds of fibre arts, painting, and photography. As a lover of fall and winter, Emlyn embraces the moments when she can be outside in the cold (wearing a lot of knitwear!) and feel the crisp air work its magic!
Emlyn is so happy to be a part of Human-Nature!
Merry
Meriadoc Brandybuck, Merry for short, is Emlyn’s little Shihtzu companion. Named after a Hobbit in the Shire from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Merry lives up to his name as a little troublemaker, but makes up for it with the most sweet and gentle snuggles you could ever ask for.
Morgan Sheeley-Jennings
Administrative Assistant (he/him)
Greater Victoria
Morgan is a music teacher and performer who has lived his whole life in Victoria, B.C. As a music teacher, Morgan is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of musicians. He believes in fostering not only musical skills but also nurturing creativity and individuality in each student. He graduated from University of Victoria with a Music Performance degree, specializing in Classical Guitar. Outside the realm of music performance, Morgan is deeply engaged in the field of philosophy and mental health. Recognizing the interconnectedness of mind and music,
Morgan explores the profound impact of music on mental well-being.
In his free time, Morgan also enjoys reading, his favourite genres include Russian Literature, Philosophy, and Modern Classics. You can always imagine on a rainy day, he’s curled up with a good book.
Morgan is very excited to be a part of Human-Nature and is eternally grateful to everyone who has supported him in joining the team!
Melissa Taylor
Communications and Development Lead (she/her)
Melissa has a background in theatre and creative writing, and she has worked professionally as an actor and playwright across Canada. She has a passion for mental health awareness, education, and increasing accessibility to services. Since childhood, she has felt a deep connection to nature and the outdoors, which she credits to growing up on the West Coast in beautiful Lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Territory.
She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from the University of Victoria.
Board of Directors
Tessah Clark
Secretary (she/her)
Tessah is a settler living on the traditional lands of the Xwsepsum and Lkwungen peoples. She has 7 years of experience in the communication and non-profit sectors collaboratively planning, organizing, and coordinating complex projects that include multi-faceted stakeholder consultations, negotiations, and reconciling conflicts. She currently has her own company, Tessah J Clark Consulting. She holds a Master’s Degree in Intercultural and International Communication from Royal Roads University and a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Anthropology and a Minor in Applied Ethics from the University of Victoria.
She has a special interest in learning about cultural perspectives on well-being. She is passionate about health equity and volunteers with the Patient Voices Network and Island Health. In her downtime, she enjoys hiking with her dog, Molly, and doing yoga.
Iain Duncan
Member-at-Large (he/him)
Greater Victoria
As a newcomer to the Island and the lands of the Lekwungen speaking people, Iain brings a lifetime of experience in the social impact space. His experience ranges widely, from starting an off-grid environmental education centre in India to developing a region-wide community development program in the Amazon. He has been the chair of the board for a social entrepreneur incubator, a consultant on provincial public health policy, and a community organizer for anti-poverty initiatives for the urban poor in Toronto. Iain invests much of his time into public speaking, building and delivering service-learning programs, and serving as a professional facilitator.
He has worked with diverse organizations such as WE, CIDA, The United Way, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, as well as his own initiatives. Iain’s driver is finding ways to help our human and natural world to thrive, and through this work, helping others along their journey toward making their finest contribution. He is thrilled to have found a great match for that drive in the work of Human Nature Counselling Society.
Mark Halpert
Treasurer (he/him)
Mark and his family live in Victoria, BC and Los Angeles, California, where Mark leads Halpert CPAs, an accounting firm dedicated to serving non-profit organizations. He appreciates that his work allows him to support the efforts of many inspiring people and organizations.
Mark is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), registered in California and Alberta, and has worked with non-profits and small businesses since graduating from the University of Western Ontario’s Honours Business Administration (HBA) program. He volunteers in his children’s activities and is an amateur musician on a set of Indian drums called tabla. Mark is also the author of a memoir titled Saturn Return. He’s proud to support the mission of Human-Nature Counselling Society in the role of Treasurer.
*Mark will be officially commencing his Treasurer role as of May 2022
Kate Mitchell
Member-at-Large (she/her)
Greater Victoria
Kate Mitchell is of settler ancestry, was born on Treaty No. 1 Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and the Métis Nation, however, moved to the Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen Speaking Peoples at a young age and grew up here. She is currently working as the Human Resources Manager at the Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness Society. Kate completed her Bachelor’s Degree of Business Majoring in Human Resources Management and Leadership with a minor in Public Administration in June of 2018. Over the last 12 years she has worked in the health care sector in various HR capacities. When Kate is not busy working she can be found wrangling her husband, their dog and two cats, she enjoys spending time outside with loved ones, connecting with nature, and relaxing by the ocean collecting rocks. She is excited to begin her role as Board Member with Human Nature Counselling Services with her HR lens and is committed to promoting a psychologically and culturally safe environment in her work.
Michael Pardy
Chair (he/him)
Michael hails from Victoria, British Columbia, where he can be found poking around the forests, islands, and beaches of Vancouver Island. With over 35 years of experience guiding and coaching paddlesports enthusiasts across Canada, he’s still attracted to a life lived in and on the water. Over the years, he’s participated in the leadership of the Canadian outdoor field through a number of roles.
Since selling his training business in 2009, he has applied his skills and knowledge to post secondary education. In addition to integrating the principles of adventurous learning to business education at Royal Roads, he has also helped establish and run the new Adventure Education graduate program at Camosun College.
Pam Russ
Member-at-Large (she/her)
Greater Victoria
My name is Pam Russ, I am Nisga’a. My late father Luuya’as, Jacob Russ, was from Laxgalts’ap.
I respectively acknowledge that I live on Lekwungan lands.
I grew up in Coquitlam and still have family in Maple Ridge. We spent most weekends camping throughout the lower mainland and spent my summers at Cultus Lake. I moved to Victoria in 1994 to attend Camosun College and then UVIC. Like most others, I decided that it is too beautiful here to move back and have called Victoria home ever since. In 1997, I worked with the Indigenous Games in the volunteer department, we worked with thousands of volunteers. This experience started my education and career within the Indigenous community.
In 2000, I started working for the Victoria School district as an Indigenous District Counsellor. I have worked in more than a dozen schools with students from kindergarten to grade 12. I have had the opportunity to work with Human Nature Counselling through the Guam Guam Specums Program at three different schools. Over the last few years, we have taken many students out of the traditional school setting to help them connect with nature, each other and their community. I passionately believe in the power that this model of counselling brings to people.
In my “spare time” I like to sew, spend time with friends, get to the cabin as much as possible and occasionally I like to throw darts.
I am honoured to be a part of Human Nature Counselling Board and look forward to contributing to the good work that is being done.