Our Team
The CBTm Team was created with the aim of reducing wait times and increasing access to Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) based programs for prevention and treatment of mental health and substance use problems to Manitobans. The CBTm Team offers training and support to facilitators through mentorship and operates as a centralized support, including assisting with adaptations and program updates. The CBTm Team uses ongoing centralized evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the CBTm program.
Program Leaders
The Leadership Team brings together members from psychiatry, psychology, and social work with expertise in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
The Team is committed to supporting the mental health community through the promotion and implementation of the CBTm Classes.
Dr. Sareen is Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, Medical Director for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) Mental Health Program and Provincial Co-Lead of the Mental Health Addictions Team for Shared Health. Dr. Sareen holds the rank of Professor of Psychiatry in the Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Sareen has published extensively in the areas of military mental health, posttraumatic stress disorder, homelessness, and First Nations mental health. He has extensive experience in providing cognitive behaviour therapy and
supervision.
Cheryl Maxsom is a Clinical Specialist with the CBTm leadership team and has been a CBTm trainer, facilitator and content creator since 2015. She has trained facilitators for the CBTm program from across Canada. Previously, Cheryl worked at the Operational Stress Injury Clinic in Winnipeg for 7 years, working with Canadian Armed Forces members, RCMP and veterans. Prior to that, she worked at 17 Wing Winnipeg for 10 years in the mental health department. She completed her Masters degree in Social Work at the University of Manitoba in 2001 and she has over 20 years experience as a therapist working with individuals, couples and families. She is has collaborated in research supported by grants from True Patriot Love and Bell Let’s Talk. Her Masters thesis was translated and used as a textbook for social work students in Lviv, Ukraine.
Dr. Kinley is a consulting psychologist with the Interlake Eastern Regional Health Authority (Selkirk) and Assistant Professor with the Department of Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Manitoba. She completed a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba. She has been providing CBT services for over 10 years to individuals across the lifespan. Areas of research include situation cognition and emotion, epidemiology of mood and anxiety disorders, and community program evaluation.
Dr. Shay-Lee Bolton is an early career researcher, epidemiologist, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba. She is the Research Coordinator for the Manitoba Population Mental Health Research Group led by Dr. Jitender Sareen. Dr. Bolton’s research expertise lies in the area of psychiatric epidemiology, suicide and suicidal behaviors, traumatic life events, at-risk populations (Indigenous populations, sexual minorities, public safety personnel, military), randomized controlled trials, and program evaluation. She has received 25+ local, national and international awards for her research. Most recently, Dr. Bolton was awarded a national-level research award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to evaluate virtual cognitive-behaviour therapy classes for mental wellness in public safety personnel using a randomized controlled trial design. She is also leading the evaluation of virtual and web-based CBTm classes.
Dr. Mota is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Clinical Health Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba. She is a Clinical Psychologist at the Operational Stress Injury Clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dr. Mota’s research focuses on understanding the psychological and physical impacts of trauma exposure in military, first responder, and general populations, and on studying resilience factors that mitigate the negative effects of traumatic stress. She has over 6 years of experience providing Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), including facilitating CBT classes and workshops.
Dr. Sala is a Psychiatrist at Health Sciences Centre and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. She serves as the Medical Director of Adult Mental Health for the Health Sciences Centre, the Medical Director of the Mood & Anxiety Disorders Program, and the Medical Director of the Student Mental Health Service at Bannatyne Campus. Dr. Sala has more than 15 years of experience providing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and has received specialized training at the Beck Institute. She has co-authored papers on anxiety and CBT and wrote a book chapter on comorbid anxiety disorders and physical health conditions.
Dr. Wong works in community mental health supporting individuals and families across the lifespan. Her research focuses on mental health interventions, mood and anxiety disorders, and program evaluation. Dr. Wong completed a PhD in Clinical Psychology, and has over 5 years of experience providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). She also specializes in offering CBTm Classes for youth and young adults. Dr. Wong was a founding member of the CBTm program.
Alumni Leaders
Dr. Whitney was a psychologist at the Operation Stress Injury Clinic of Winnipeg and an assistant professor with the Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University of Manitoba. With over 25 years of experience providing CBT, she has expertise in working with individuals, couples and families. Her research focuses on recovery from traumatic stress, effectiveness of therapy via interactive videoconference, and secondary traumatic stress in trauma therapists. Dr. Whitney was a founding member of the CBTm program.
Research Assistants
Kelsey Papineau,
BSc
Essence Perera,
BSc (Hons), MSc
Meredith Seager,
BSc
Danielle Schwartz
Uchenna Onwurah
MSc
Megan Arpin
BSc
CBTm Hub – Steering Committee Members
The CBTm Hub was established in October 2021 as a provincial collaborative team of facilitators and other professionals from different sites to address the need for increasing access to CBTm. The work of the CBTm Hub has been funded by the Manitoba Government in partnership with Shared Health. Additional members of the CBTm Hub are listed below:
Allan Dubyts
Ben Fry
Corey Mackenzie
Debbie Whitney
Heather Finnegan
Jane Moody
Ji Hyun Ko
Joanna Bhaskaran
Ken MacKenzie
Lori Ulrich
Oai Truong
Antonio Paletta
Brent Anderson
Dean Smallwood
Erin Knight
Irene Maendel
Jaye Miles
Jill H McConnell
Joanne Warkentin
Kristin Reynolds
Navjot Brainch
Rick Hawe
