Sheldon is an experienced psychotherapist and student affairs professional, with a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology. Having worked at three different Canadian universities as a counsellor, mental health educator, case manager and manager, Sheldon is passionate about supporting students meet their academic potential by obtaining balance in their life.
Sheldon has been the president of the Post-Secondary Counsellor’s Chapter since May 2021. He joined the chapter to connect and develop the support for post-secondary counsellors, and to understand the current climate of post-secondary counselling in Canada.
Danni Lei
President-Elect- Danni (she/her) is a registered psychologist, with a Master of Science degree in Counselling Psychology. Danni has been working at post-secondary counselling centres for the majority of her career and is currently working as a counsellor at Mount Royal University. Danni is passionate about providing counselling to undergraduate students navigating various life stressors and concerns, as well as sitting on several institutional committees and providing graduate student supervision.
Danni has previously been part of the CCPA’s Career Counsellors Chapter and is now excited to join the Post-Secondary Counsellor’s Chapter in the summer of 2023
Jeananne Robertson
Member at LargeJeananne (she/her) is a seasoned counsellor and student affairs professional, with a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology, Higher Education (UBC) and a Master of Education in Higher Education, Student Development and Student Services (OISE). In her current role Jeananne works collaboratively with graduate students to support students’ success through developing strategies to mitigate challenges and minimize disruptions to personal well-being and academic success. She recognizes that students and institutions are partners in post-secondary education and endeavors to advocate for systemic solutions to complement her more individualized student-centred approach to addressing barriers to success.
Jeananne has been a member of the Post-Secondary Counsellors Chapter since 2017, and joined the executive as a member at large in 2020 to participate in the community of practice and contribute to advocacy efforts on behalf of post-secondary counsellors across Canada.
Annelise Lyseng
Member at LargeAnnelise is a registered psychologist and has a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology. She has worked as a counsellor at a post-secondary institution in Alberta since 2016. Annelise believes strongly in the importance of providing accessible, strengths-based, trauma-informed counselling services to support students as they navigate their studies.
Annelise has been a Member-at-Large on the Post-Secondary Counsellor’s Chapter Executive since December 2019. She connected with the chapter to meet other Canadian post-secondary counsellors, learn about issues that are impacting counsellors across Canada, and contribute to the chapter’s research and advocacy efforts.
Denyse Lane
Member at LargeDenyse was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She holds Bachelors of Music and Music Education degrees (conjoint) and a Master’s in Education in Counselling Psychology from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Denyse is also a Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC). Denyse initially taught Music Education in the St. John’s Public school system for numerous years before transitioning to the area of Counselling. She initially began her work in the community non-profit setting in St. John’s before coming to Memorial University in the role of Wellness Navigator at the Student Wellness and Counselling Centre. Denyse’s role there is to assist local and International students who are studying at the undergraduate or graduate level. Her passion is connecting in a positive way with Post Secondary students at Memorial, and to help them navigate on a short-term basis in the area of mental health and other personal issues that may arise throughout their study. In addition, Denyse also assists students with referrals within Memorial or outside in the community as needed.
Denyse is currently a Member at Large for the CCPA Post Secondary Chapter and has served in this position since 2021.
Jessica Isenor
TreasurerJessica is a career counsellor and student services professional, with a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology. Having worked at five Canadian universities as a counsellor and counsellor educator. She currently works at the Nova Scotia Community College as a Manager in their Central Student & Career Services Office, working to deliver equitable, accessible, and meaningful career development opportunities for students and new graduates.
Jessica has been president of the CCPA’s Career Counsellors Chapter and now sits on the Post-Secondary Counsellor’s Chapter as their Treasurer since the Summer of 2021 to continue supporting our counselling community in their ongoing development and building of professional connections.
Forrest Maridas
SecretaryForrest completed a Clinical Counselling Psychology MA and graduate certificate in Art Therapy from Antioch University. In an over 20-year long career in case management and mental health, Forrest has been able to work with a large range of consumers.
She has a special interest in art therapy, trauma work and sex therapy interventions. Additionally, she has supported people with developmental delays, brain injuries, and those who identify as sexual and gender minorities. Settings for her work have included an inpatient addiction treatment centre, intensive youth group care and treatment foster care, as well as being a referred counsellor from the justice/probation office. Forrest works in Edmonton, AB with relationship and family counselling, youth and adults individually, as well as group treatment.
Forrest has worked as a counsellor at MacEwan University for 13 years. The Wellness and Psychological services department she is a part of, provides professional support to formulate individually-driven solutions to issues often revolving around personal, mental health, relationship, career and academic concerns. Post-Secondary mental health is so important to the future leaders of our world, Forrest is pleased to have a part in this community.”
Janis Campbell
Board LiaisonReports
Purpose & History
The Post-Secondary Counsellor’s Chapter was formed in September of 2016 to create a space and representation for post-secondary counsellors all across Canada. With the increasing demand for counsellors in the post-secondary field, including mental health, careers, learning skills and disability, and life skills counselling, the need for this chapter was clear. The objectives of this chapter are:
- To provide an opportunity for post-secondary counsellors to meet for discussion of critical issues in the area of post-secondary counselling.
- To provide a forum for ongoing information exchange and professional development (skill and knowledge based).
- To provide a forum for mentoring practitioners, researchers, and policy makers new to the field of counselling.
- To provide a means by which post-secondary counsellors can help one another to develop and obtain research support provincially and federally through increased collaboration.
- To serve as a direct link with the National Association, thereby providing for the presentation of mutually sought aims and objectives.
- To serve, with full collaboration and consultation with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, as a means to interact with government departments and/or other groups for the purpose of promoting the Chapter.
Constitution and Bylaws
The Post-Secondary Counsellors’ Chapter’s constitution outlines the fundamental principles and objectives of the chapter, while the bylaws explain the rules set for the members and describe the functioning of the chapter. All members are encouraged to review the constitution and bylaws as a chapter member. The constitution and bylaws can be found here.
Practitioner Research Grant
The Post-Secondary Counsellors’ Chapter awards an annual grant to members who are interested in completing research within their role. The application to complete is available here, and for transparency about the creation and assessment of this grant, the proposal and evaluation criteria are available in ‘Reports & Documents’ below.
Chapter Update – Spring 2022 Newsletter
Hello everyone,
Happy Spring! We hope that you’re doing well and that the busyness that comes with the looming end of term is manageable. We have some updates about the chapter below.
Annual General Meeting
You’re invited to our annual general meeting on Friday, May 13th at 12:00pm EST. We’re looking forward to virtually connecting with our members, discussing what we’ve done over the last year, and what we’re looking to do moving forward. We’ll be sending out the Zoom link closer to the day.
Executive Positions
We have a wonderful team of dedicated post-secondary counsellors and we would love to add a couple more! We have the roles of Secretary and President-Elect open at this time, and as the AGM approaches, we would love to hear from you about becoming involved in the chapter.
The time commitment for these roles is about one to two hours a month, with flexibility in creating, leading and supporting initiatives, programs, grants and research in the post-secondary counselling field. If you would like more information about the roles or what it’s like to be a part of the team, send us an email at [email protected].
Practitioner Research Grant
As the winter terms begin to wrap-up, we wanted to remind our members that they are welcome to apply to the practitioner research grant to fund any research they hope to do. The deadline for applications is June 30th and the application form can be found on Post-Secondary Counsellors Chapter webpage.
The Post-Secondary Counselling Chapter practitioner research grant is meant to showcase the value, importance, and results of applied research performed by post-secondary counsellors in the community and/or workplace. Projects ideally suited for this initiative would benefit from a small seed grant of $500 (in exceptional circumstances, $1000) over a one-year term.
Counselling and Psychotherapy Month
April is Counselling and Psychotherapy Month, and CCPA is excited to offer a number of webinars and events throughout the month. To learn about the events that will be happening and what CCPA has planned for the month, check out their webpage here.
Supervision Resources
From the survey that we had sent out in the summer, many participants noted the importance and value of ongoing supervision, but many noted that there is enough time or access to supervision in their roles. As such, we wanted to highlight the wonderful work of our colleagues at CCPA who are leading the understanding of teaching supervisors to provide meaningful supervision. To check out the resources that CCPA has available, visit their webpage here.
Reports & Documents
Contact
If you have any questions or comments, please email the executive team at [email protected].