Dr Gabor Maté

Gabor Maté M.D., C.M., is a Canadian physician (retired), public speaker and bestselling author, published internationally in multiple languages. His book on addiction, the award-winning In the pg. 5 Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, is used as a text in many institutions of higher learning in Canada and the U.S. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture, to be published in over 30 languages on five continents, has been and continues to be a #1 Canadian bestseller and, as of March 26, 2023, will been 18 weeks a New York Times bestseller.

After two decades as a family doctor and palliative care director, for twelve years Gabor worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with patients challenged by hard-core drug addiction, mental illness and HIV, including at Vancouver Supervised Injection Site, North America’s first such facility. His other interests encompass childhood developmental issues, ADHD, mind/body health, trauma and parenting. He is in constant demand as a speaker internationally and has addressed judicial bodies in Canada, the U.S. and Australia on the links between trauma, addictions, and dysfunctional behaviors. He has worked with many Indigenous communities around these issues.

He has received an Outstanding Alumnus Award from Simon Fraser University and an Honorary Degree (Laws) from the University of Northern British Columbia. For his groundbreaking medical work and writings, he has been given the Order of Canada, and the Civic Merit award from his home city of Vancouver.

A film based on his work, The Wisdom of Trauma, has been viewed by over 10 million people internationally and has been translated into twenty languages. It is shown regularly in many institutions, including schools and prisons, in Canada, the U.S., and abroad. www.thewisdomoftrauma.com. His therapeutic method, Compassionate Inquiry, has been, in the past three years, studied by over 3,000 health care providers in 80 countries. Gabor is a speaker much in demand internationally on addiction, stress and mind/body health, child development, trauma, ADHD and other topics related to his five best-selling books. He has been featured on some of the most popular podcasts, such as Joe Rogan, Tim Ferris, Jay Shetty, and others.

His next book, co-written with his son Daniel, will be Hello Again: A Fresh Start for Adult Children and Their Parents, based on their popular workshop.
www.drgabormate.com

Edward Mantler

A highly motivated visionary and an expert at building partnerships, fostering stakeholder engagement, and aligning strategic objectives, Ed has led innovation and improvement in both health care and mental health for over two decades.

As Vice-President of Programs and Priorities at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Ed is dedicated to promoting mental health in Canada and changing the attitudes of Canadians toward mental health problems and illnesses. By collaborating with stakeholders to improve access to effective, high-quality mental health services and supports, he leads the way to change, nationally and internationally. Ed also directs efforts to advance the Mental Health Strategy for Canada, with attention to reducing stigmas and increasing mental resiliency through innovative measures like Mental Health First Aid, The Working Mind/The Inquiring Mind, workplace mental health, student mental health, suicide prevention, and research into the impacts of cannabis on the mental health of Canadians.

Ed is accustomed to wearing many different hats. As a Surveyor with Accreditation Canada, he contributes to quality and safety in health care across Canada and internationally. Ed is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse, holds a Master of Science Administration degree, and is a Certified Health Executive.

Judy Atkinson

Of Jiman, Bundjalung, German and English ancestry, Judy Atkinson commenced a PhD after working in Queensland for the Aboriginal Coordinating Council, where she was confronted by the tragedy of colonial rule on her country men and women. She titled the outcomes of her PhD: Trauma Trails – Recreating Song Lines the transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia. She continues to search for solutions, a way forward for all Australians, spending the last twenty years working both in the academy (as Professor of Indigenous Australian Studies) and Aboriginal communities across Australia, confronting the tragedies of the past and a possible way forward, for all our children.

Kaye Phillips

A collaborative leader at heart, Kaye has been dedicated to partnering for people-centered quality healthcare services innovation and improvement for over 15 years.

As Executive Director, Global Programs at the Health Standards Organization (HSO), Kaye and her team lead and foster the experience and expertise of people, families, health professionals, specialists and policymakers from across Canada and around the world - to develop evidence-based standards, assessments and quality improvement tools to achieve safer, equitable, and higher quality care, locally and globally.

Kaye directs partnered initiatives that focus on quality mental health and addictions care and services for people and the workforce across the continuum of care, including the establishment of the new national Mental Health and Addictions standard and Suicide Prevention Program standard and Canada’s Improving Integrated Care for Child and Youth Mental Health collaborative.

Promoting mental health services integration, psychological health and safety and trauma informed care practices, transcends across her teams work through partnered initiatives such as the British Columbia Cultural Safety and Humility standard the new national standard for Long-Term Care Services and the forthcoming national standards on Corrections Services in Canada, Pediatric Pain Management, Cannabis Use for Medical Purposes: Inpatient Care Settings, and Integrated People-Centred Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation standard.

As a family care partner, Kaye holds her lifelong personal experience navigating Canada's mental health and addictions services close to heart. With a deep dedication and love for her family and the outdoors Kaye is humbled on the daily in her personal and professional journey-to embrace the values, tips and tricks of mindful presence and leadership.

Kaye holds a PhD from the University of Toronto's School of Social and Administrative Pharmacy and serves on Canada's national Mental Health and Substance Use Advisory Committee.

Neavin Broughton

Bio coming soon.

Tony Clarkson

Tony trained as a psychodynamic psychotherapist for six years in London. He is the Vice-President of PACFA (Psychotherapy & Counselling Federation of Australia) and a board member with the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network, where he also chairs the Clinical & Community Council.

Tony also co-chairs the National Mental Health Commission’s Self Stigma Technical Advisory Group, which contributes to the development of a National Stigma & Discrimination Reduction Strategy.

He currently works as the Principal Clinical Advisor at the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (Victorian Department of Justice & Community Safety), where he provides clinical advice for a state-wide gambling addiction service system.

He was previously Clinical Manager at Connect Health & Community and Executive Manager of Psychological Services at Better Place Australia. Tony continues to work in private practice as a psychotherapist with long term patients who present with trauma, addiction and relationship issues.

Ashley Gordon

Ashley is an Aboriginal Australian from the western-NSW community of Brewarrina, a descendent of the Gamilaroi and Barkindji people.

After a successful career in rugby league with the Newcastle Knights, Ashley is actively involved in the Gambling Help sector with extensive experience working with more the 200 Aboriginal communities throughout Australia. Ashley has vast experience in community education, awareness, help seeking and the delivery of successful programs for Indigenous peoples and communities.

Addressing the impacts of gambling in Aboriginal communities is his passion highlighted by the appointment to the federal Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling and the Expert Advisory Group for the Australian Gambling Research centre. A gambling counsellor with 20 years’ experience and six years has a gambling researcher with the Centre for Gambling Education and Research at Southern Cross University at Lismore. He currently joined the National Suicide Prevention Trial Evaluation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sub-Committee.

He is the Executive Director of NSW Aboriginal Safe Gambling Services, where he manages the GambleAware Aboriginal service, which targets Aboriginal communities and GambleAware organisations across NSW each year. He is also the First Nations Advisor for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Ashley has a long-term objective to be involved in the ongoing development and implementation of Gambling related policies and programs that improve the well-being of Aboriginal people. Since the gambling question has been placed in the 715 Health Checks, Ashley been focusing on training to Aboriginal Health Workers.

Dr Nikola Ognyenovit

Dr Nikola Ognyenovits is a Hungarian born Addiction Medicine Specialist Physician living in Brisbane, Australia. He has a strong interest in psychedelic science and its applications in substance use disorders, behavioural addictions and associated mental health conditions, including complex/developmental trauma, PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders.

Currently he is working as a Staff Specialist in Metro North Alcohol and Drug Service in Brisbane and in private practice.

After training with The Ketamine Training Center in the US in 2018, he has incorporated Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) into his private practice in Brisbane. Dr Ognyenovits completed training with the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy to be a research therapist in a Monash/MAPS PTSD trial. As a Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine at the University of Queensland he participates in medical education.

Dr Stuart Saker

Bio coming soon.