Advanced Trauma Training
Coming to Your Community

Carissa Muth, PsyD, RPsych (AB & BC)

Carissa Muth, PsyD, RPsych (AB & BC) is the clinical director of Sunshine Coast Health Centre and Georgia Strait Women’s Centre, inpatient mental health treatment facilities. In addition to her role teaching, training, and supervising counselling students, Dr. Muth designs and oversees program development at SCHC and GSWC. Dr. Muth’s previous experience includes over ten years in private practice as a clinical psychologist providing formal assessments and treatments to adults and adolescents. She specialized in the treatment of addictions, depression, anxiety, and trauma. Her research to date has focused on the intersection between attachment theory and addictions, primarily on the role of family relationships in the recovery process. Dr. Muth has presented at numerous conferences throughout the country educating professionals on current research and methods for treating complex client cases.  

Dr. Zuhra Teja, RPsych

Dr. Zuhra Teja is a Registered Psychologist in British Columbia with extensive work experience both internationally and in North America. She has worked as a consultant in conflict and post-conflict regions, and provided psychotherapy to refugee victims of torture. She has worked with organizations and institutions including the International Rescue Committee, University of Central Asia, and Oxfam UK. She has also been recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative for her work toward expanding the field of school psychology in Central Asia. Dr. Teja holds a PhD in School Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA in Special Education from the University of British Columbia. Her doctoral work, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for Canada, explored how refugee youth reason about moral issues. She is the author of the chapter School-Based Interventions for Refugee Children, published in the Handbook of Applied School Psychology by Cambridge University Press. She is the former Vice-Principal of the BC Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders. She is also founder and owner of Self-EDvocate, an Education and Diagnosis Center where she provides psycho-educational assessments here in Vancouver. In 2024, she was awarded Alumni of the Year by UBC’s Faculty of Education.

Maura Gowans, MSW, RSW

Maura Gowans is Dene from Tulita, NT, and has been honoured to live and work on the Traditional Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsawwassen, Tsleil-Waututh, Katzie, Semiahmoo, and Kwantlen First Nations for over 32 years, and in doing so is committed to supporting others in a good way to honour this privilege. Maura Gowans is a registered social worker and a member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, born in Yellowknife, NT. She is the proud mother of 5 boys and has worked in the non-profit sector for almost 25 years. Maura is certified in Indigenous-Focused Oriented Therapy, as well as in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy. Maura is currently attending Yorkville University online in the Doctorate of Psychotherapy and Counselling program. 

Maura is very passionate about preventive measures within the Indigenous Communities in terms of breaking cycles of abuse, addiction, and poverty, as well as working to keep families together. She works from a strength-based, trauma-informed, and anti-oppressive approach and is skilled in cultural sensitivity, narrative therapy, and solution-focused therapy. Maura is an active member of the community through social justice and advocacy, has participated in the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Coalition, the Women’s Memorial March, and the Pan-Canadian Voice Symposium, and is a Board Member for Central City Foundation and Espoir Society. Maura participates in ceremonies and believes that culture plays a crucial role in helping some individuals heal.