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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS | CONCURRENT SESSIONS
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
- Warren Macdonald, Inspirational Speaker
- Dr. Russell Kennedy, Medical Doctor, Professional Stand Up Comedian, Corporate Speaker, Author, Television Host, and Certified Yoga and Meditation Teacher
- Marg Bellman, AVP, Group Disability, Sunlife
Work is Healthy
- Dr. Roberta Neault, Professor, Athabasca University and President of Life Strategies Ltd.
Career Engagement: Overwhelmed or Underutilized? Find the Right Mix
- Jennifer Buchanan, Music Therapist
Music and Neurological Impairment – A Sound Connection
Warren Macdonald, Inspirational Speaker
 Opening Keynote Speaker
Wednesday June 13
Challenging times call for a powerful message. A message of hope and inspiration filled with the perspective, lessons and tools required when we are faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Warren Macdonald knows what it means to face adversity, to wake up to a whole new reality. In 1997 he lost both legs above the knee in a horrific backcountry accident; spending two days trapped beneath a one ton boulder...
Warren is a visionary who lives and breathes change management every day, He is routinely sought out as a keynote speaker and motivator by innovative, forward thinking organizations looking to foster "out of the box" thinking; the kind of thinking that led Warren to become the first double above-knee amputee to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak (19,222ft); the kind of thinking that empowers potential.
A powerful catalyst for change, Warren's presentation challenges the status quo by telling audiences what they need hear, not what they necessarily want to hear...
Warren's bestselling book, "A Test of Will" is the subject of the "Trapped under a Boulder" episode of Discovery's "I Shouldn't Be Alive" series. His documentary film "The Second Step" has been acclaimed worldwide, screening on National Geographic Television and winning eight international awards.
Warren has appeared on "Larry King Live", "The Oprah Winfrey Show", and "The Hour" with George Stroumboulopoulos. He has written articles for "CNN World Edition" (WWW), "Australian Geographic", "Speaking of Impact" and "Professional Speaker".
Warren's mission is to help you change the way you see the world, and your place in it.
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Dr. Russell Kennedy, Medical Doctor, Professional Stand Up Comedian, Corporate Speaker, Author, Television Host, and Certified Yoga and Meditation Teacher
 Closing Keynote Speaker
Friday June 15
Dr. Russell Kennedy is a practicing medical doctor, professional stand up comedian, corporate speaker, author, television host for pilots on the A&E / History Channel and W network, and certified yoga and meditation teacher. He has been described as a "funny, scientific spiritualist". Dr. Kennedy is intimately aware that spirituality is a scary word these days, but his definition does not have any religious connotation whatsoever, it simply means finding your inner self, something that many of us have lost in complying with the ever increasing demands of our frenetic environment. Dr. Kennedy has practiced traditional Western medicine since 1991 and in the last five years he has added aspects of Eastern medicine to his practice, especially in treating stress, anxiety and depression. He has a very firm grounding in science and Western Medicine, but acknowledges growing scientific evidence that Eastern practices decrease the perception of stress, boost immunity, lower blood pressure, and promote a sense of centeredness and well being. He believes that Western and Eastern forms of medicine have their respective strengths and weaknesses and his approach draws the best from each modality. He has often said "What's wrong with using both medication AND meditation?"
Dr. Kennedy holds degrees in Brain Science (Neuropsychology, University of Victoria, 1987) and Medicine (MD, University of Western Ontario, 1991). After graduation from medical school, he moved back to his hometown of Victoria, BC for internship and practiced emergency medicine & obstetrics until settling into full service family practice in 1994. He worked as a GP for 10 more years until he burned out of Family Practice and moved to Vancouver to become a stand up comedian (no kidding). He loves entertaining and helping people laugh, but found that comedy is based almost purely on judgment, and despite all the laughter, stand up comedians are often quite an unhappy and judgmental group of individuals. Dr. Kennedy likes to tell people that if you want to be a happier person instantly, just do this: drop your judgment of others, your environment, and especially yourself. In an attempt to balance the judgment he needed to observe the frustrations of human life to write and perform stand up, Dr Kennedy took up yoga in 2007 and found it so beneficial that he became a certified yoga teacher (CYT) that same year. He still teaches yoga / mediation and has a special interest in teaching stress reduction to the doctors of tomorrow at the University of British Columbia in the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry.
However, you don't have to be a doctor to be stressed, and Dr. Kennedy enjoys showing people from any background how to "maintain the brain". His talk "A Refill on Your Perception" is designed as an ultimately practical guide to calming the mind. It describes the scientific basis for stress and why the stressed brain actually produces more stress in a futile attempt to decrease it! Once you become aware of how the brain creates stress you can stop it before it gets out of control. Dr. Kennedy provides cognitive strategies to adjust the perceptions and attitudes we have around the stressors in our lives and how to use mind body techniques to create space around those stressors. "Space is the antidote to stress" and there are ways to use the brain's natural neuroplasticity to your advantage, teaching your brain to be more open. The more open your mind is, the less likely you will be a prisoner of old programs that likely created your stress in the first place! Dr. Kennedy believes that work life balance is attainable for all, and offers ultimately practical ways to get off of life's treadmill and get back in balance with our inner selves. He has blended his background as a professional stand up comedian with a mixture of science based western and eastern influences to produce a talk that is innovative and entertaining, with the ultimate goal of showing people how to instantly experience more fun and joy in their lives.
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Margaret (Marg) Bellman, AVP, Group Disability, Sunlife
 Work is Healthy
Thursday June 14
Sigmund Freud once said that love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness. Vocational rehabilitation, therefore, is a noble calling that affords practitioners the privilege of impacting the humanness of those to whom we provide vocational rehab services.
Research supporting the importance of work to our financial, social and psychological well-being abounds. But do we, as rehab professionals, always behave in a way that supports the assertion that work is healthy? We will explore this question by examining when, how and why our actions align or not align with the belief that work is healthy.
Margaret (Marg) Bellman works at Sun Life as AVP, Group Disability , and is accountable for health management services, organizational health consulting, alternate resolutions and vendor management. She has held a number of senior positions with other disability insurers and with consulting firms. Marg has a B.Sc. (physical therapy) and M.Ed (adult education).
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Dr. Roberta Neault, Professor, Athabasca University and President of Life Strategies Ltd.
Career Engagement: Overwhelmed or Underutilized? Find the Right Mix
Wednesday June 13
Are you struggling to help clients fully engage with their work? Stressed or bored in your own job? Thinking about next steps as you contemplate retirement? Career Engagement is a new model that helps to explain why some workers are overwhelmed, others are underutilized, and a few experience both concurrently. The Career Engagement model draws from a variety of theoretical foundations, in business, education and psychology, to take the mystery out of career success and job satisfaction. Join the co-developer of the model to learn how aligning challenge to individual/organizational capacity can keep careers on track for such diverse populations as youth, “second careerists,” people with developmental disabilities, injured workers, underemployed professionals, and immigrants. Learn how to coach disengaged individuals back to a place where they can contribute their very best.
 Dr. Roberta Neault is an award-winning career management specialist with over three decades of relevant experience in counselling, coaching, consulting, training, curriculum design, research, and writing. She is the recipient of the National Employment Counseling Association's Professional Development Award, the Canadian Career Development Foundation's prestigious Stu Conger Award for Leadership in Career Counselling and Career Development in Canada, and the Gold Medal and Diamond Pin for Leadership in Career Development. Roberta currently serves on the executive of the Career Development Chapter of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and recently completed her term as editor of the Journal of Employment Counseling. She teaches at several universities, both online and in-person, and has developed countless courses and programs.
Roberta's strengths lie in her professionalism, infectious enthusiasm for empowering individuals and organizations, and "hands-on" experience working with diverse groups of people. Her pragmatic "can do" attitude ensures that customized solutions are innovative and affordable. Equally comfortable with leadership/executive teams and individuals just entering the workplace, Roberta has lived/worked/travelled through more than 50 countries, supporting people from diverse cultures, educational levels, and employment experiences, across all stages of life. She brings vivid anecdotes, practical examples, and a wealth of resources to her workshops and consultations.
Author of Career Strategies for a Lifetime of Success, That Elusive Work-Life Balance, Beyond the Basics: Real World Skills for Career Practitioners, and several training "toolkits" for Personality Dimensions, Roberta continues to research and write extensively about topics related to career and life management. Her latest book was co-authored with Spencer Niles and Norm Amundson: Career Flow: A Hope-Centred Approach to Career Development.
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Jennifer Buchanan, Music Therapist
Music and Neurological Impairment – A Sound Connection
 Music Therapy opens doors to communication and gives feelings of comfort and hope to those
who need it. Music Therapist Jennifer Buchanan will address how music taps into children and
adults with acquired brain injury, autism and developmental disabilities. Based on 20 years of
clinical work this session will include video, stories and strategies that have proven helpful in
maximizing potential and enhancing the quality of life of these individuals and those around them.
Biography:
Jennifer Buchanan sings the advances of using music for health and learning. Over the past 20
years she has presented to thousands of professionals and educators, and has built a music
therapy business that serves over 1800 people per week through her dedicated staff at JB Music
Therapy (www.jbmusictherapy.com). She is a member of the Global Speakers Federations and
resides in Calgary, Canada.
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CONCURRENT SESSIONS
- Alberta Human Rights Commission, Government Of Alberta
Duty To Accommodate, and
Respectful & Inclusive Workplaces
- Carrie Anton, Paralympian Gold Medalist, Assistive Technology @ Work
Assistive Technologies
- Colleen Avery,WCG International
Canadian Veterans: Vocational Rehabilitation Management and Outcome Complexities
- Dr. John Berendt, Mandel & Associates Ltd.
Forensic Vocational Rehabilitation: Medical Legal Assessments
- Phil Boswell, CAVEWAS President
Vocational Evaluations: How To Differentiate Between The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
- Dr. Cary Brown, University Of Alberta
Understanding Sleep and its Relationship to Pain
- Champions Career Centre, Speakers tdc
Disclosure
- Ruth Clark, Fashion Moves Inclusive Designs
Clothing – It is much more than just retail therapy
- Dr. Jody Hawley, Simon Fraser University
Emerging Issues In Ethics
- Amber Laing, CBI Health
Cognitive Functional Capacity Evaluations
- Dr. Martin Mrazik, University Of Alberta
Concussion and Brain Injury
- Rhonda Ozcan, Great West Life
Strategic Mental Health Initiatives for Leaders: Limited Resources. Unlimited Results.
- Viable Calgary, a Prospect Project, Speakers tdc
Inclusion Through Collaboration: A Viable Approach
- Dr. May Wong, Carewest
Working with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
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Alberta Human Rights Commission
Education and Engagement
 The Alberta Human Rights Act protects employees in Alberta from discrimination on the basis of mental or physical disabilities. Employers are required to accommodate employees to the point of undue hardship. This workshop will provide an understanding of the duty to accommodate and undue hardship and provide suggestions on how to respond to accommodation needs in the workplace. Supervisors and employees will have a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities under the Alberta Human Rights Act in the duty to accommodate. This workshop will be an interactive session with time for questions and answers.
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Carrie Anton, Paralympian Gold Medalist, Assistive Technology Specialist
Assistive Technology @ Work
 In a digital age of gadgets, tweets, and mobilocity it can be difficult to sort out the frivolity to the function. We will delve into the latest Assistive Technology on the market, visit Accessibility issues and clean up the marketing clatter. You will leave with a strategy to help determine the benefits of AT for someone with a disability. There are a few key areas that disabilities can impact; vision, communication, cognition and movement. This session is a fun, practical and hands on introduction to what is available today to facilitate independence and increase functionality at work.
Carrie Anton has been in the Assistive Technology industry for over 20 years as a needs assessment specialist, technician and trainer. She has a wealth of knowledge and continues to learn and be a pivotal professional in the Canadian AT and Accessibility fields. Currently she is the Assistive Technologist and Accessibility Consultant for Athabasca University. Creating accessible websites, documents, forms and applications that are accessible for everyone has become her message and drives her value to ensuring accessibility. Carrie is also a Paralympic Gold medallist and is passionate about ensuring a quality sport experience for people with disabilities.
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Colleen Avery, RRP, CVP, Regional Manager, CanVet Vocational Rehabilitation Services, WCG
Canadian Veterans: Vocational Rehabilitation Management and Outcome Complexities
 Colleen Avery has worked in Vocational Rehabilitation since 1992, attaining her RRP in 2000. With 20 years of experience in this industry, Colleen has worked primarily in non-profit programs with a broad spectrum of unemployed people including single parents, people with multiple employment barriers, young people aged 15-30, and people with a variety of disabilities.
Colleen joined the WCG CanVet Team two years ago, on the national partnership with March of Dimes and IRC to provide vocational rehabilitation services to Canadian Veterans through Veterans Affairs Canada [VAC]. In addition to managing her own caseload, Colleen has had the opportunity to observe vocational rehabilitation management strategies across Western Canada, providing her with an opportunity to review processes from a large number of vocational rehabilitation specialists.
Through CanVet, Colleen has had the opportunity to work with Canadian veterans, VAC case managers, and CanVet vocational rehabilitation specialists to look for creative solutions to address the particular needs of Canadian Veterans. She will share some stories, and identify some of the strategies used to address the complex physical, mental health, and employment barriers faced by veterans, and some of the creative solutions that have become part of their back-to-work plans.
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Dr. John Berendt, Mandel & Associates Ltd.
Forensic Vocational Rehabilitation: Medical Legal Assessments
This presentation will outline comprehensive vocational assessments that are conducted in the context of litigation. Assessments that are conducted in medical legal and other settings in which secondary gain is present require additional attention to symptom validity concerns. Symptom validity scales (SVS) that are currently being used will be reviewed. Specific focus will be on the benefits and potential dangers of using these instruments, as well as what can and cannot be concluded on the basis SVS scores. The relevance of base rates in decision making in relation to SVS will be discussed.
In addition, an overview of the process of conducting vocational assessments will be provided which examines forensic clinical interview, testing and review of secondary source material. Domains of testing include cognitive abilities, vocational interests, disability perception, coping and behavioural management, and emotional functioning.
Finally, fallacies and pitfalls in conducting forensic vocational assessments will be reviewed. These include logical fallacies in assessments, language patterns that deceive, biases, ignoring base rates, and confusing retrospective and prospective accuracy. Factors that might influence assessment outcomes including relationships and interactions with referral sources will be discussed.
Dr. John Berendt, Ph.D., R. Psych., possesses over 19 years experience specializing in chronic pain rehabilitation and over 26 years experience in counseling and vocational assessment. He has worked in a variety of settings and roles, including adult education instructor, vocational counselor, mental health counselor, staff psychologist at a pain clinic, and assessment expert within a private practice. Much of his work experience has been within the area of vocational and rehabilitation psychology (e.g., with WCB and AISH clients), and he has conducted thousands of vocational and psychological assessments. He has been accepted as an expert in psychological and vocational assessment by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.
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Phil Boswell, CAVEWAS President
Vocational Evaluations: How To Differentiate Between The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
 This session will answer the questions:
• What is a Vocational Evaluation
• What is included
• What information can it offer an injured person
• How much does it cost?
• How should insurers evaluate what is reasonable in terms of content and cost
• What is the significance of aptitude scores?
Phillip holds a Master of Arts degree in addition to three undergraduate degrees. He is an American Board of Vocational Experts/Fellow (ABVE/F) and holds a Master’s Certificate Vocational Professional with the College of Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals. He also is a Registered Rehabilitation Professional (RRP #3289).
Phillip is well-known and respected as a volunteer in the vocational rehabilitation/ assessment communities. He sat on the National Board of Directors for VRAC from 2009-2011 and was a former member and chair of the ethics committee. Although Phillip is no longer a member of VRAC’s National Board, he remains involved and Chairs a Special Committee. Phillip currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Assessment, Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment Society (CAVEWAS). Phillip is also a member of the credentialing exam committees for CVRP as well as ABVE.
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Dr. Cary Brown, University Of Alberta
Understanding Sleep and its Relationship to Pain
 The relationship between disordered sleep and chronic pain is now clear and a growing volume of research supports that this relationship is bi-directional. This exciting insight highlights that addressing sleep problems also contributes to reduction of pain symptoms.
There are a range of evidence-based pragmatic non-pharmacological interventions for disordered sleep that service providers can implement with clients who have chronic pain. This workshop will introduce service providers to basic sleep architecture and outline a theoretical model for use to guide evidence –based best practice. Participants in the workshop will have the opportunity to practice evaluating a patient in an illustrative case-study and will be provided with resource information about the range of evidence-based non-pharmacological interventions relevant to an adult population. The workshop will be a mixture of didactic and hand-on discussion and application.
Dr Brown is a full time faculty member of the University of Alberta. She has practiced clinically as an occupational therapist, department manager, and academic in Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Cary teaches and researches in the areas of knowledge translation, health literacy, sleep, and chronic pain across the life span. She has numerous publications on these topics and presents regularly at national and international conferences. Caryannually teaches a graduate module in Sleep and Health and has received previous funding for research in the areas of disordered sleep in both children and persons with dementia. Her interest in disordered sleep is linked to her research activities in chronic pain, one of which received the Canadian Pain Society – Pain Awareness Award 2010 for Knowledge Translation activities.
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 Champions Career Centre
Disclosure
The prospect of disclosing a disability or medical condition to an employer is a big decision. Understanding the various facets of disclosure is key to ensure it is a positive experience for all people involved.
This session will cover
• What is a Disability
• Benefits of Disclosure
• For the employee
>Questions to Consider when Disclosing
>When, How and What to Disclose
>Rules for Good Disclosure
• For the employer
>Creating an Environment for Disclosure
>What do to when an employee discloses
• Accommodation
>Self accommodation vs. employer accommodations
>Role of the employee, employer, union
>Examples of accommodations
>Funding assistance options
• Resources
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Ruth J. Clark, Fashion Moves Inclusive Designs
Clothing – It is much more than just retail therapy
 Ruth will show a number of garments that demonstrate good and poor designs. Some of the garments included are commercially available from a variety of companies and some are demonstration garments only, including modifications for leg amputees, undergarments for Individuals with Ostomies, etc.. Time permitting, we will also cover Advanced textiles for Health and Safety, including video footage filmed at the Industrial Fabric Association International Conference in Charlotte, NC. The Design Exhibition was curated by Dr. Marie O’Mahony, Professor of Advanced Textiles at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia and visiting Professor at Chelsea College of Art and Design. A number of the exhibits, including one from a Canadian company, are introduced and described by Professor O’Mahony. This 10 minute video will stimulate significant discussion. There will be time for discussion and interchange of ideas.
The youngest of 5 children, Ruth Clark grew up with many clothes being altered to fit or made at home by her Mother. It was just assumed that the garments would fit or work for the person wearing them, not the person needing to try to fit into or ‘work’ for the clothing. As the family aged, a Grandmother and an Aunt needed to use a wheelchair full time and again, clothing was modified for better fit and easier dressing. It was just second nature.
During High School and during her early working years Ruth took as many sewing courses as possible, including Advanced Tailoring in Grade 12. During a 25 year career working in Public and University Libraries, the interaction with Design and sewing continued. Her last 10 years at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, B.C., she worked in Disability Services, including the Crane Library and Resource Centre which was established to provide library and other services to students with visual and other print disabilities. This provided an opportunity to become even more aware of the need for respectfully designed or modified clothing, for People with various disabilities.
Once again her mother’s influence was felt when Ruth returned to Kamloops and the family home in 1998 to provide full time live in care for her mother. Through the following 12 years, Ruth has provided in-home caregiving for a variety of people across a range of ages and conditions. While doing this she continued with her interest in Adaptive Clothing and had a number of Fashion Shows and Speaking engagements throughout the United States and Canada. Some of these included the Amputee Coalition of America (3 times), the International Association of Orthotics and Prosthetics, the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, the Fashion Technology students at Olds College in Olds, Alberta, Canada, a Marketing class at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. One of her largest audiences was at the International Pacific Rim Disability Conference, held by the University of Hawaii. A group of over 1000 conference attendees from 42 Countries joined in the fun as Ruth provided a light hearted look at the hows, whys and benefits of Adaptive Clothing.
Throughout each year many organizations raise funds to provide support and service to assist disabled children maximize education opportunities and grow successfully into adulthood. These children go on to be parents, bankers, lawyers, doctors, clerks etc. As they go into active, successful adult lives, who is creating stylish, appropriate clothing that function well with their disability?
Through Fashion Moves, Ruth is stepping forward to facilitate filling this void. Before a Lawyer who uses a wheelchair can purchase a suit designed for him to wear while sitting in a wheelchair, a store or internet site has to stock this suit. Before a store can sell fitted dress trousers for a leg amputee, someone has to design these trousers. Fashion Moves is stepping in to Teach the Designers.
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Dr. Jody Hawley, Simon Fraser University
Emerging Issues In Ethics
The services delivered by vocational rehabilitation professionals (VRP) has evolved and many practitioners are currently providing case management and disability management services as part of their professional practices. Case/disability management offers VRPs a unique and powerful role to play in the lives of their clients. Facilitation of clinical decision-making and service provision is often combined with direct or indirect control over the financial means for the client’s vocational rehabilitation. This combination can be an effective, as well as a potentially damaging, combination of roles in the client’s vocational rehabilitation service delivery. VRPs who provide case/disability management must deal with many other professionals who may make decisions that have ethical repercussions for the case. The VRP must deal with these decisions and/or parties in the process who have competing interests. VRPs then, must be prepared to exert extraordinary efforts to understand and comply with ethical standards involved in the vocational rehabilitation of the client. This requires a commitment to engage in the politics of practice, a commitment to promote the rights and interests of clients, and a commitment to the development of partnerships between client and all the stakeholders. This presentation will address some of these complex and challenging issues of current vocational practices. Clients’ rights, advocacy, multiple/dual relationships, multicultural perspectives, organizational culture, confidentiality and electronic communications will be examined in an interactive and collaborative presentation to assist participants to integrate the ethical obligations of the VRA code of ethics into their professional practices.
 Dr. Jody Hawley, CCRC, MCVP completed her doctoral degree in vocational rehabilitation and women’s studies. During her thirty years of experience she delivered vocational rehabilitation services on behalf of government, insurance industry and disability agencies. In the 1980s she established her own practice and developed innovative vocational rehabilitation programs for women with disabiities. Her current clinical practice is concerned with the vocational rehabilitation of psychological injury, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of workplace violence.
Jody is an instructor for the University of British Columbia’s graduate program in vocational rehabilitation counselling and the Rehabilitation and Disability Management program at Simon Fraser University. She is an experienced adult educator and has delivered many certificate and continuing education courses. Her writings and presentations include ethics, vocational interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder, working alliances, case and disability management and foundations of vocational rehabilitation.
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Amber Laing, Occupational Therapist, CBI Health
Cognitive Functional Capacity Evaluations
This session will describe the utility and process of Cognitive FCEs. Cognitive FCEs are a specialized type of assessment focused on identifying the impact of cognitive deficits on function. Cognitive FCEs differ from typical FCE protocols in that they not only address physical functional tolerances, but also take into consideration the impact of cognition, perception, communication, and psychosocial regulation on overall function. Cognitive FCEs are most commonly requested following a head injury or extended period of time off work due to mental illness, in order to determine if a client is functionally able to perform the cognitive, perceptual, and psychosocial demands of a job. Information yielded in a Cognitive FCE includes: capacity for pre-injury or alternate employment, return to work recommendations, treatment recommendations, rehabilitation potential, as well as highlighting cognitive functional strengths and weaknesses.
 Amber is a Registered Occupational Therapist at CBI Health who completed her MScOT at the University of Alberta and her BSc in Psychology at the University of Calgary. Amber works in Return to Work Services and Long Term Disability with CBI Health. Amber’s current areas of practice include exposure therapy for PTSD, treatment of chronic pain, and cognitive activation programming for clients with cognitive or motivational deficits. Amber is also certified to perform Cognitive Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs), a developing area of practice in the field of acquired brain injury and mental health. In addition to Cognitive FCEs, Amber also performs physical FCEs, ergonomic assessments, cognitive assessments, home assessments, and return to work planning. Amber also has previous experience job coaching individuals with mental health concerns and cognitive difficulties. Her research experience includes research on the relationship between depression and cognitive impairment, and research on the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities.
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Dr. Martin Mrazik, Neuropsychologist, Professor, University Of Alberta
Concussion and Brain Injury
 Dr. Martin Mrazik is clinical neuropsychologist and currently an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. He completed his PhD from the University of Georgia with specialization in clinical neuropsychology under the mentorship of Dr. George Hynd and Dr. Michael Ferrara. Together with Dr. Ferrara, Dr. Mrazik initiated the first ever concussion screening program among football teams within the Southeast Conference in the southern United States. After graduation, Dr. Mrazik became the Clinical Director of the Head Trauma Program and Chief Psychologist at the Millard Center in Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. Mrazik maintains a private practice in which he provides medical legal consultation regarding patients who suffered traumatic brain and psychological injuries. He is a member in good standing with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) for 16 years and maintains active membership with the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), American Psychological Association (APA), and Sport Neuropsychology Society (SNS). Dr. Mrazik serves as a consultant to the National Hockey League and Canadian Football League regarding sports related concussions. He has published a number of original research manuscripts in the scientific literature and has presented on sports concussions internationally including several keynote addresses. Dr. Mrazik is currently involved in several high profile research projects within Alberta related to sports concussions in minor hockey players. His biggest accomplishment is being a proud husband to his wife Marni and father to undoubtedly the cutest girls in the world, Madison and Mackenzie.
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Rhonda Ozcan, Great West Life
Strategic Mental Health Initiatives for Leaders: Limited Resources. Unlimited Results.
 Mental health issues can have a negative impact in your workplace and employers are increasingly being held responsible to provide a psychologically safe workplace by regulations and legislation1.
Three areas of concern are whether your organization:
- can identify and mitigate organizational factors that negatively impact the mental health and/or psychological safety of your employees
- has management that responds appropriately and effectively when resolving conflict or issues, managing performance, accommodating disabilities or other regulatory compliance where mental health may be an issue
- has processes in place to intervene when an employee appears to be experiencing mental health issues in a way that considers privacy, confidentiality and effectiveness
Few organizations have extra resources to apply to this issue and yet there is risk to organizations which do not address psychological safety. This session will provide you with insight, ideas and inspiration on how to work towards a psychologically safe workplace while managing limited resources effectively. It will inform you on how to leverage evidence-based tools and strategies that are made freely available to your organization. Valuable hard copies of resources such as leader’s guides, DVDs and samples of reports will also be provided. An opportunity to explore unique solutions to complex situations will be part of the Q&A throughout.
1Please see Dr. Martin Shain’s report Stress, Mental Injury and the Law in Canada at www.mentalhealthcommission.ca
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Viable Calgary, a Prospect Project
Inclusion Through Collaboration: A Viable Approach
 This session will discuss the Viable Calgary project and how we implement an industry-focused method aimed to increase the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce by changing the workplace, not the individual.
The goal of the session is to gain an understanding of an industry focused approach in aiding employers to increasing their capacity to hire and retain employees with disabilities and to foster an inclusive workplace by affecting change in industry perceptions and organizational culture.
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Dr. May Wong, Clinical Psychologist, Carewest
Working with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of the few psychological disorders that anyone can develop at any age. The risk of developing PTSD, however, is higher among certain occupational groups. Consider the challenges in establishing a return-to-work plan for individuals who have been traumatized and are psychologically compromised in their ability to function in many areas of their lives including work. The challenges can be even greater when the employee is returning to the workplace where the traumatic event(s) occurred, as that environment now holds reminders that can trigger the PTSD symptoms. Avoidance is one of the three symptom domains of PTSD. If the employee’s condition is undiagnosed and/or misunderstood, his/her efforts to avoid returning to the workplace can be seen as simply resistance to vocational rehabilitation interventions. A collaborative approach in return-to-work planning maximizes the potential for successful and sustainable vocational reintegration for individuals with PTSD.
This session will provide information regarding:
- Prevalence of PTSD in the general population and in the workplace
- Identification and diagnosis of PTSD
- Complexity of PTSD and co-morbidities
- Evidence-based treatments for PTSD
- A collaborative approach to vocational rehabilitation
 Dr. May Wong has been a clinical psychologist at the Carewest Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic since its opening in April 2006. She works on an interdisciplinary team that provides specialized mental health services to Veterans, Canadian Forces members, Royal Canadian Mounted Police members, and their families. As such, Dr. Wong has extensive experience working with individuals who have sustained work-related psychological injuries. Prior to her work at the OSI Clinic, Dr. Wong was a psychologist at Columbia Health Care for 15 years. In that role, she had the opportunity to work within interdisciplinary teams focused on occupational rehabilitation, as well as with vocational rehabilitation specialists assisting clients in their return to work. Dr. Wong brings the knowledge that she has gained through her years at Columbia Health Care to inform her work with efforts to reintegrate Veterans into the civilian workforce. She is a co-researcher with the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) Research Directorate in a project that aims to identify barriers and facilitators to Veterans’ vocational reintegration. In addition, Dr. Wong is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the University of Calgary Clinical Psychology Program and sits on the Program Council. She is a member of the Calgary Clinical Psychology Residency Program committee. Dr. Wong provides clinical supervision to University of Calgary Clinical Psychology practicum students, as well as to psychology residents.
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Thank you to our Sponsors
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Bronze Sponsors
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Additional Sponsors
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Refreshment Break Sponsor
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Accessible Shuttle Sponsor |
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Promotional Sponsor
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