Research Interests

Experience in leadership/supervision and quality improvement of a graduate student community counselling practicum site, part of a multi-million dollar federally funded multi-partner early intervention mental health, violence-and-crime-risk-reduction, anti-gang initiative & situation table (Surrey SAFE program - Simon Fraser University/City of Surrey/Public Safety Canada).

Knowledge mobilization and education to Organizations, Academia, Professionals, Public, and the Media on the following subject areas:

• Trauma and Resilience: Trauma Informed Practice for Organizations/Systems/Staff in Health and Community Services; Trauma Therapies/Trauma-Focused Counselling-Therapy; Trauma-Informed Supervision; Prevention and Intervention of Compassion Fatigue, Burnout; Post-Traumatic Growth, Trauma-Informed Communities of Practice
• Technology & Innovations in Counselling-Therapy: consulting re development of Virtual Reality for Internal Family Systems trauma therapy (Entheotech Canada)
• Relationship Therapy: Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy
• Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Post-graduate training and expertise in Psilocybin-assisted individual, and group therapy, Safety & Efficacy, Psychedelic Integration
  - Gathering Groups (Facilitator), Abbotsford, BC
  - Therapsil (Trained), Victoria, BC

Mental health service research program development and consulting – experience in key aspects (staffing, barriers to implementation, fidelity, performance assessment, quality improvement) of setting up Community residential care facilities/homes, community counselling programs, counselling theories and skills.

Academic Positions

Practitioner Instructor, SAFE program (Surrey Anti-Gang Family Empowerment), Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education Simon Fraser University, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada (2019 - Present)

Educational Background 

PhD Student Educational Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC Note: Coursework Requirements completed, Comprehensive Exams and Dissertation remaining. Dissertation (Working Title): “Leaders in Care are Leaders Who Care”: Examining Perceptions and Practices of Youth Residential Care Staff in a Counselling and Residential Care Competencies Training Program in a Community Service Agency in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Qualitative Evaluation of CORE community complex care residential resources staff training model) (2018 - Present)

Counselling Psychology, MA,  Trinity Western University, Langley, BC (2013)

Psychology, BA, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC (2010)

Association Memberships

Professional Member, Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC #4610), Canadian Counselling & Psychotherapy Association, BC chapter member, Counsellor-Educator-Supervisor chapter member (2012 - Present)

Crime Victim Assistance Program (CVAP) Registered Service Provider (Level 3) (Feb 2015 - Present)

Awards and Honours

Community Impact Award – Recipient: SAFE Program – Kwantlen Polytechnic University (June 20, 2022)

The intent of the Community Impact Award is to recognize individuals and organizations who are strong partners of KPU and making a difference in regional communities of relevance to KPU. Since its launch in 2019, the SAFE program has supported 3,037 Surrey children and youth and 411 caregivers. (Collective award shared among all 11 partner agencies in the multi-agency initiative. Plaque located in SAFE Centre, Civic Plaza, Surrey).

Research

Research and Development Projects

Funding Received

SAFE Clinical Professor/SAFE Clinician (Practitioner-Instructor), SAFE Community Clinical Counselling program. Position and related program costs funded by Public Safety Canada/City of Surrey SAFE grant, $100,000 per year. (2019 - Present)

Continuous Work on Funded Research/Development Projects

SAFE Clinical Professor in Counselling Psychology (Principal Investigator), SAFE Community Clinical Counselling program. Position and related program costs supported by Public Safety Canada/City of Surrey SAFE funding, $100,000 per year. (2019 - Present)

Funding Requested, Under Review

Program Lead (Principal Investigator), Healing Pathways - Trauma-Informed Systems Implementation, Transformation & Mobilization Initiative (TI.SIT.MI) (A Community Mental Health Research & Service Collaboration). Position(s) / program supported by Public Safety Canada/City of Surrey BSCF (Building Safer Communities Fund), $195,500 per year. (2023 May - 2026 April)

Publications

Planned Submissions to Refereed Journals

Tatomir, R. (2022). COVID-19 Burnout and Beyond—A Binary Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Depression from Factors Related to Burnout in a National Sample of Healthcare Workers in Canada: Data from Statistics Canada 2021 Survey on Health Care Workers’ Experiences During the Pandemic (SHCWEP) [Unpublished manuscript]. Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University.

Additional Scholarship (aka non-traditional scholarship)

Invited Professional Presentations

Media Engagement

Additional Contributions

Government/Community Building

Teaching

Teaching/Research Assignments in 2021 and 2022

2021-2022: Practicum Site/Clinical Supervisor for Students in EDUC 801/802 & Other University-equivalent: Adler School of Professional Psychology: Vancouver, City University Canada

2021-2022: Backup Instructor for Clinic 799/800 (Covered multiple times when primary instructor(s) ill).

Program Development

SAFE Practicum Site program development. Expansion from individual clinician to multiple practicum students at multiple universities delivering not only individual therapy, but workshops and groups to public and professionals.

Professional Development and Learning

Additional Courses Taken Beyond Current Degree (PhD Student) Requirements:

Attended Hub Model/Situation Table training. Collaborative Risk-Driven Intervention: A Refresher Session for Hub-Situation Tables; Improving Confidence and Skill at Filter 4 Planning and Intervention Deployment – Dr. Chad Nilson, Consultant, Inaugural Research Fellow, The Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science and Justice Studies, University of Saskatchewan / Founder: Living Skies Centre for Social Inquiry. Host: SAFE / City of Surrey. Sep 21-22, 2022.

CCPA (Canadian Counselling & Psychotherapy) Conference. Theme: Revitalize Your Practice / Managing the Echo Pandemic of Mental Health Issues, May 20-22, 2022 (Virtual)
Contributor: An Update on the Regulation of Counsellors and Psychotherapists across Canada – Drs. Blythe Shepard, Glenn Shepard

Attended Sessions:

• Managing the Unmanageable: Growing Through Adversity (Applying resiliency training for Canadian military to increase resilience for health professionals) – Dr. Amir Georges Sabongui
• The Utilization of Action Research Approach to Re-energize Counselling Education and Teaching - Chao-Mei Chiang - Assistant Professor, National Taiwan Normal University, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling
• Building Resilience to the Effects of Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout through Self-care Planning: An Ethical Imperative - Michael Sorsdahl, Psychologist/Educator, Juvenation Wellness
• Sex Therapy: Are you Helping or Hurting? - Constance Lynn Hummel
  Psychotherapist, Constance Lynn Counselling, Coaching & Consulting; Dr. Teesha Morgan, Westland Academy of Clinical Sex Therapy
• Multicultural and Diversity Courses: A Comparison of Online and Site-Based Education Formats for Counsellors-in-Training – Melanie Person, Associate Professor, Gonzaga University; Nikki Roy, Certified Canadian Counsellor, Stillar Psychological Services

SHIFTBC 4th Annual Symposium, Surrey Civic Hotel on November 9, 2021 from 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM PST and November 10 from 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM PST. Sessions attended included Dr. Garth Davies of SFU, The Organization for the Prevention of Violence, and a variety of others covering topics related to CRV/VE, Hate-Motivated Violence, related Intelligence, prevention, and early intervention programs.

Shift is a risk-reduction and individual resiliency program led by the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.Shift is led by the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General specifically focused on providing support to individuals that are vulnerable to the process of radicalization to violence. SHIFT refers and supports community hubs to meet client needsfor multi-sectoral interventions/Integrated Case Management and disengagement, such as SAFE/CHART initiative in Surrey.

HSCI 826: Program Planning and Evaluation. Instructor: Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Snow. 2021 Summer. Submitted report to WHO – see section: Additional Scholarship (aka non-traditional scholarship)

Attendee: Safer Schools Together Gangs & Guns Training Symposium. The Gangs & Guns Training Symposium Is a Special Two-day Event Focusing on Prevention and Enforcement Strategies That Are Applicable to All Communities. Leading Experts from Across North America Come Together to Address the Emerging Trends of Gang and Gun Violence. (Feb 11-12, 2021).

Therapsil Training Program in Psychedelic (Psilocybin)-Assisted Psychotherapy. (Canadian Psychological Association approved, Health Canada-informed training).

Modules:

1. The TheraPsil Mission: Advocacy, Assessment & Referral
2. History of Clinical Research in Psychedelic Therapy
3. Neurobiology, Neuropharmacology, Drug Disposition, and Drug Interactions
4. Current Models of Consciousness
5. Preparation and Integration Sessions
6. The Medicine Session
7. Therapeutic Relationship
8. Psychedelic Therapy in Palliative Care
9. Observing Psychedelic Sessions
10. Complementary Therapeutic Modalities in Psychedelic Psychotherapy
11. Trainee Psychedelic Experience (total 60 hours)
12. Clinical Supervision (minimum 10 hours)

Other Teaching Focused Activities

Invited Speaker, Research Hub Writing Retreat: The “Grit”-y Road of Fierce Self-Compassion: Building Resilience Capacity During Our Thesis/Dissertation Writing Journey. Host: Tania Bakas, Research Hub, Faculty of Education, SFU, Surrey. March 16, 2021

Guest Lecturer, EDUC 870: Family Counselling, Instructor: Masahiro Minami
Topic: Emotionally Focused Therapy and Gottman Method for Couples and Family: Structure and Techniques. July 28, 2022.

Guest Lecturer, EDUC 862: Individual Assessment in Counselling, Instructor: Masahiro Minami. Nov 25, 2021.
Topic: Understanding/Formulating systems: On child abuse/neglect (Duty to Report).

Supervision of Graduate Students

M.Ed. Completed: Clinical Supervisor

Current Supervision (Clinical): M.A. or M.Ed.

Thesis Examiner

Comprehensive Exam Reader (not as senior supervisor)

Supervision of Research Assistants

Service

Service to Faculty of Education

Committee/Cognate member: Faculty of Education Counselling Psychology program review (2021-Present) ((In Progress) with Drs. Sharalynn Jordan, Gillian Smith, Patricia Nitkin, Alanaise Ferguson, Masahiro Minami, Krista Socholotiuk. (2021-Present)

Service to Professional Community

Agency representative, Leadership Group, Systemic Barriers subcommittee: SAFE (Surrey Anti-Gang Family Empowerment) / CHART (Children and youth At-Risk Table), Surrey, BC. (2019, July – Present)

Representative / Alternative Representative: FACTBC (Federation of Associations for Counselling Therapists in British Columbia) – multi-association advocacy organization to provincial government for regulation of counselling in BC since 2014 (formerly Task Group for Counsellor Regulation (Task Group, 1997). (2021, Sep - Present)

Past President (Sep 2022-2023), President (Sep 2020-2022), Director - Secretary (April 2019-2021), Director (May 2015-2019): CCPA (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association), BC Chapter. (2015, May - Present)