Community Scholar, Meditation, Wellness, and Selfcare
Community Scholar
Susan (pronouns she/her) has an Honours BA in Psychology from the University of Windsor, and a MSW from the University of Toronto. Susan has worked with issues of mental health, abuse, and trauma for over 40 years at various levels from front-line to directorship. Over her social work career, Susan provided individual, family and group therapy, supervised and managed staff at all levels, developed, implemented, and evaluated programs, secured partnerships, lead community collaborations, and advocated for systems change.
Susan is an avid meditator and has been cultivating her meditation practice for over 30 years through retreats, daily practice, and study. She co-developed the Mindfulness Based Trauma Counselling Group Program for people who have experienced abuse and trauma. Susan completed the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification training program led by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. She also completed the Community Dharma Teacher Training through True North Insight. Currently, she leads a monthly 3-hour sangha in the GTA, as well as teaching weekly mindfulness and compassion sessions.
Much of Susan’s current energy is channeled into eco activism and supporting those doing this work. She is keen to bring the teachings on mindfulness and compassion to meeting the distress caused by environmental disruption and climate chaos. With a Community Fellow appointment, Susan co-leads the Wellness Impact Lab at the Dahdaleh Global Health Institute at York University. For fun, she performs with the Red Rebels Toronto.
As a white bodied person, Susan has particular interest in combatting white supremacy by engaging in the inner work of racial healing. Susan is grateful to make her home on Turtle Island, whose lands, waters, and ecological communities have been cared for by many Indigenous nations. She is a proud mother, grandmother, partner, friend, and dog person.
You may also be interested in...
Key Moments from the Trust and Political Sociology of Health Workshop
The "Trust and Political Sociology of Health" research workshop took place on April 4th at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University. This forum brought together senior and emerging scholars, practitioners, and students ...Read more about this Post
No Health Without Water: Wrapping Up a Year of Fieldwork in Freetown
Brian Waters, a PhD candidate in Geography at York University and a Dahdaleh Global Health Scholar since 2023, has successfully completed the final round of his twelve-month survey on household water insecurity in Freetown, Sierra ...Read more about this Post
Lassonde team developing new tool for detection of microplastics in water
Researchers at the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University are working to develop innovative methods for the detection of microplastics in bodies of water. Recently, a group of researchers successfully designed and prototyped an ...Read more about this Post