About

I have a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Dean’s List, University of British Columbia, 1999) and a Masters’s Degree in Psychology (Antioch University, Seattle, 2001).

I am a registered clinical member of the Canadian Marriage & Family Therapy Association (2005), the American Association of Marriage & Family Therapy & the B.C. Association of Clinical Counselors (2002) (of which I am a Regional Representative). I am also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (2014) and a member of The International Coach Federation. I coach couples and individuals.

I have 35 years of experience working in the area of health care, family development, and family life transition. My early professional career included working as a health & fitness director for the YM/YWCA in New Westminster B.C. During my parenting years in 1982, I developed one of the first-ever women’s pre & postnatal fitness programs called the Mom & Me Network. I have two adult children: a son who is a Partner at DuMoulin Black LLP and a daughter who is the Corporate Controller at Pure Gold Mining Inc. She & her husband recently had a baby boy… which turned me from Muma Jo to Grandma Jo!  I also have two stepchildren with my husband, UBC Law Professor Joe Weiler. My stepson Patrick Weiler is our MP Sea To Sky, and my stepdaughter Berkley is a Mother of 3.

In addition to my private counselling practice, I often give public presentations and offer lunch & learns for program facilitators and corporations, government organizations, professional associations and non-profit organizations on various topics relating to successful strategies to thrive in your career and BE a wise heart.

The programs that I have developed and delivered in the area of work-life balance include subjects that relate to my own lifestyle specializations, including managing stress to engage in a loving life, sleep A’s to Z’s, emotional literacy and communication at work, and relationship building in a work team environment. I have written numerous columns about these subject areas for academic journals, periodical magazines & newspapers. I am currently writing a book on the ways we can keep love up and stress down. I published Break-Up Breakthrough & Learning to Love Again in 2014.

I am trained in Bowen Family Systems Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, and Existential Therapy, and Harville Hendrix trained me in the Imago Couples Therapy model.

My specialization during my Masters’s Degree in Psychology was Marriage & the Family. I did my professional internship work for Family Services of the North Shore.

I also have my Level 2 EMDR certification. I am an active clinical member of BCACC, CAMFT, AAMFT, ICF, Psychology Today, Goodtherapy.org, BC Therapists, Your Tango, & World Wide Who’s Who.

I am dedicated to serving my community through supporting projects for local non-profits such as Dress For Success, the Vancouver Aquarium, the Kay Meek Center, and the West Van Community Center. I had a leadership role in funding raising and creating greater awareness and community engagement on the North Shore for capacity-building projects for women in Ethiopia through the Canadian-based charity Partners In The Horn of Africa.

I was a volunteer board member for Hollyburn Country Club (2020-21) for XYBoom, a multi-generational non-profit organization that fosters multi-generational collaboration in the workplace (2012 – 2014). I was awarded by my professional association for Distinguished Service to BCACC (2016). I was a volunteer coordinator for the Counsellor Cafe for BCACC (2014 – 2016) educational symposia for Counsellors in this region, and I am an active member of the Division 4 Regional Counsel.

Family, Community, Caring, Play and Whole Hearted Living are core values that come first for me every day.

I also love to run and play competitive Inter-City tennis for Hollyburn Co. Club Div 1.2. My daughter & I are often doubles partners, and we ran the New York City Marathon in 2008, Maui Marathon in 2009, and with a girlfriend, the BMO Vancouver half in 2013 & 2014, & 2015. My other passions include skiing, cycling, bocce, dancing and photography. My clients are constantly inspiring me.

I can’t wait to see what you will do next!

  

In the present moment you might even transform the past.
– Thich Nhat Hanh