Our Team

Victoria Huehn – CEO

Vicky was the CEO/President of Frontenac Community Mental Health and Addiction Services (FCMHAS) from 1982 - 2015.  

She developed the agency from a single service of supportive affordable housing as its sole volunteer to a complex, multifarious organization which includes a variety of intensive services with over two hundred staff members serving 3,000 clients. Under her guidance, FCMHAS received the Service of Excellence in 2007 from the Ontario Non-profit Housing Association.

She holds an honours degree in psychology, a Master of Public Administration and is a Certified Health Executive. She is involved in federal, provincial and local initiatives of service development and planning including the Mental Health Commission of Canada.  She sat on the Ontario Minister of Health and Long Term Care's Advisory Committee for the development of the ten-year Mental Health and Addictions Strategy. She was the co-lead of the national study on housing with supports - Turning the Key - a report of the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC).  She spent five years on the Service Systems Advisory Committee of the MHCC.  She is a board member of the World Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation.

She has been given the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal by the City of Kingston and the Rotary Cub Paul Harris Fellow award for her work. 

Email Vicky about CPRRP at vhuehn@psrrpscanada.ca

Chelsea Gauthier - Co-President

Chelsea is a passionate professional, who is formally educated in social work. She is guided by her personal experiences with mental health.

She has previously worked with the NE LHIN researching Recovery Oriented Practices and creating organizational competencies for implementation, as well as implementing Peer Support Navigator Programming into emergency departments throughout North Eastern Ontario.

Along with this, she sits on the Regional Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council for the NE LHIN. She currently serves as the Vice-President of the Ontario Chapter of PSR Canada and is working within her community to increase access to mental health and addictions services with a recovery-oriented approach.

Susan Boyce - Co-President

A Douglas College PSR graduate, Susan Boyce, is a mental health and addictions worker from Vancouver British Columbia where her work includes facilitating peer groups in CBT based recovery and wellness programs.

Susan brings her passion for community, communication and stigma-busting to her work with the PSRBC Board.

Heather Boyes - Secretary

Heather has a passion for rehabilitation and recovery and has worked in mental health leadership
roles in British Columbia for the past 35 years, most recently with Interior Health. Heather is a
recently retired Occupational Therapist with a Master's Degree in Leadership.
Heather has supported initiatives and participated on projects, committees and boards for CAOT,
BSCOT, COTBC and UBC School of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Heather
has been a member of PSR Canada since establishment.
Throughout her career Heather has embraced opportunities to promote hope, empowerment and
recovery with individuals, teams, and organizations.

Sheila Wignes-Paton - Treasurer

Sheila is the Executive Director for Phoenix Residential Society in Regina, Saskatchewan. She has worked at Phoenix for over 25 years and had been was the Manager of Mental Health and Acquired Brain Injury Services prior to becoming the Executive Director in 2018. In 1996 Sheila became the Supervisor of the Acquired Brain Injury Program, and was responsible for creating the program from its inception.

Sheila has a Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing and a Bachelor of Adult Education and Training (BAET) from the University of Regina.

She received her CPRP designation in 2007 and currently holds her CPRRP. She is also a Reality Therapy Instructor for William Glasser Institute. Sheila has worked in the mental health and disability fields her entire career.

Dr. Regina Casey - British Columbia

Dr. Regina Casey coordinates the psychosocial rehabilitation graduate program at Douglas College and manages the BC Advanced Practice website for mental health practice knowledge decimation (psyrehab.ca).

She is a Clinical Assoc. prof at UBC in the school of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and has worked in MH practice for over 2 decades.

Her current research Interests include- understanding how to implement Recovery-oriented PSR practice in Canada and how to integrate Social Business and recovery-oriented self-directed care approaches in low and middle-income settings.

Jean LaForge - Ontario

Jean Laforge has been the Executive Director of Mental Health Connections in Windsor, Ontario since its inception in 2004. Mental Health Connections provides Psycho-Social Rehabilitation Services (Recovery Strategies) to clients with mental health issues.

She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Windsor. Jean has worked in mental health for more than 20 years, previously being an Ombudsman at Canadian Mental Health Association. She participates on many Boards and Committees to advocate for persons with mental health issues.

She has been a member of PSR Canada since 2007. Jean has served on the Board of Directors of PSR/RPS Canada since July 2016 and recently became certified in CPRRP. Her goal is to empower vulnerable persons experiencing mental health issues and their families to have a more meaningful life.

Laurence Caron - Quebec

Laurence is Project Manager and Knowledge Broker (on stigma and disclosing) for Quebec's provincial group on stigma (Groupe provincial sur la stigmatisation et la discrimination en santé mentale) at the Association québécoise pour la réadaptation psychosociale (AQRP). Professionaly trained to be a Social Worker, he now uses his lived experience to enrich his work as a professional carer and through knowledge transferring activities throughout Quebec and Canada.

Laurence only recently began publicly disclosing his personal experiences with mental health problems, recovery, and with health care services after hearing an inspiring sentence, that said, “If only those in crisis disclose against their will and those who get better stop talking about it, we give the world a false message on what it is to be human, to have difficulties, and on the hope to overcome it and have a full and meaningful life.”

Michael Lee - British Columbia

An occupational therapist by training, Michael is a believer in psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery. He has worked on mental health practices for over 30 years, and always finds joy in supporting people do the things they enjoy doing.  He is an Professor of Teaching and the Associate Head of Educational Affairs with the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of British Columbia, with a strong passion for promoting student wellbeing through teaching. His areas of interest include youth and young adult mental health, productivity for adults with mental illness, use of psychotherapeutic techniques in enabling occupation, and using theatre and expressive media in advocating for equity, diversity and inclusivity.  In addition to advocating for psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery in Canada, he is also an ambassador in bringing evidence-based psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery to countries including China and other Asian countries.

Natalie Rich - Manitoba

Natalie has worked for The Canadian Mental Health Association Manitoba and Winnipeg proudly for the past 17 years in various roles. In her current role, Natalie manages The Rehabilitation and Recovery Services and The Employment with Supports Program. Natalie is certified as a CPRRP and in Psychosocial Vocational Rehabilitation from the University of Boston.

Natalie’s passionate to be a part of an organization and board that endeavors to build capacity in Psychosocial Rehabilitation practices, innovations with the goal of increasing accessible recovery-oriented supports, and services for all.

Judy Heffern - New Brunswick

Judy currently works as an independent consultant primarily in the areas of governance, operations and strategic leadership. Most recently she has been working with the Minister’s office at the NS DCS to assist organizations with the development and implementation of action plans to ensure compliance with their operational Agreements with the Department and, to build capacity within Boards of Governance.

Throughout her career Judy has worked in leadership positions in a variety of health care and community-based settings. Her areas of expertise include governance, leadership, strategic planning, quality improvement and safety/risk management, stakeholder engagement, negotiations, and financial management. Throughout her career she has been actively involved on local, provincial and national boards. 

She has a long work history as a CEO and Senior Director in four (4) provinces. 

She has experience includes, mental health & addictions, services for persons with disabilities, acute care and long-term care. She has worked in municipal, local and provincial political environments. 

Judy holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration, a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing, a Financial Management Certificate, and a Registered Nurse diploma. She has a Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. She authored the first 2 modules for the long-term care administrators’ certificate, focused on governance and leadership, for the Canadian Healthcare Association. As a long-standing national surveyor for Accreditation Canada, she has surveyed health care organizations across Canada to ensure that they maintained compliance with the accreditation standards of excellence.