| Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D. is a Vancouver-based developmental psychologist with over 40 years of experience with children and youth and those responsible for them. A foremost authority on child development, Dr. Neufeld is an international speaker, a bestselling author (Hold On to Your Kids), and a leading interpreter of the developmental paradigm. Dr. Neufeld has a widespread reputation for making sense of complex problems and for opening doors for change. While formerly involved in university teaching and private practice, he now devotes his time to teaching and training parents, educators, and helping professionals. His Neufeld Institute is now a world-wide charitable organization devoted to applying developmental science to the task of raising children. Dr. Neufeld appears regularly on radio and television. He is a father of five and a grandfather to six. |  |
| Martin Brokenleg, Ph.D. is co-author of the book Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future and co-developer of the Circle of Courage model and provides training worldwide for individuals who work with youth at risk. He holds a doctorate in psychology and is a graduate of the Anglican Divinity School. He is a retired professor and was most recently Director of Native Ministries and Professor of First Nations Theology at the Vancouver School of Theology. For thirty years, Dr. Brokenleg was Professor of Native American studies at Augustana University of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He has also been a director of The Neighborhood Youth Corps, chaplain in a correctional setting, and has extensive experience as an alcohol counselor. Dr. Brokenleg has consulted and led training programs throughout North America, New Zealand, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. He is the father of three children and an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. |  |
| Maria LeRose, M.Ed. is an award-winning television producer, and a producer of Educational Videos. She holds a Masters in Education with a concentration on social and emotional learning and development. Early in her career Maria worked in a variety of Social Service jobs including Youth Worker and Mental Health Worker. She was also Coordinator of the first Child Abuse Prevention program in British Columbia. For 14 years Maria has been an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. She is a Communications and Education consultant with a variety of organizations including the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education – where she designs and moderates their annual Heart-Mind Conference. |  |
| Geneviève Brabant, MSW, RSW is a faculty member at the Neufeld Institute and a clinical social worker with over 15 years’ experience working as a child and family mental health practitioner (therapist) in the Ottawa area. In 2010 she launched her private practice, Le Repère Counselling Services (cflerepere.ca), with her partner and associate Mathieu Lyons, where she offers parent consultation and play-based therapeutic services to children and youth. Geneviève gives talks and presentations across Ontario on different course topics such as Preschoolers, Teachability Factor, The Art and Science of Transplanting Children, and The Science of Emotion. As a mother of three, Geneviève makes it her priority to incorporate her knowledge of the Neufeld paradigm into her daily parenting and relationships. |  |
| Eva de Gosztonyi, M.A. is a psychologist who has worked for over 40 years in schools across Canada. She is a member of the Faculty of the Neufeld Institute and also works with the ten English School Boards of Quebec, helping them to understand how best to interact with children with significant behavioural challenges. Eva believes that educators can foster the natural processes of development in their interactions and attachments with students in the classroom and in the school. In her presentations, Eva weaves together theory and practice, learning and behaviour, to help those who work with children apply Dr. Neufeld’s paradigm so that they can effectively help children and youth become the “best that they can be.” WWW.NEUFELDINSTITUTE.ORG/PERSON/EVA-DE-GOSZTONYI/ |  |
| Darlene Denis-Friske, M.A.(CP), RP, (Cert)OACCPP, CYW, CYD(Cert) is a child and youth counsellor, psychotherapist, and parent consultant within the Neufeld attachment-based developmental approach. She has worked in a variety of rewarding settings since 1988 including psychiatric hospital (crisis / intervention), school based work, community practice, and private practice. Darlene is currently a Registered Psychotherapist on staff with a busy Family Health Team in Pembroke, Ontario, and a faculty member with the Neufeld Institute. She has taken an active role in organizing and facilitating community talks, professional development, and training geared towards understanding the emotional, developmental, and attachment need of children; an area of advocacy work for which Darlene is both passionate and dedicated. WWW.NEUFELDINSTITUTE.ORG/PERSON/DARLENE-DENIS-FRISKE/ |  |
| Colleen Drobot, B.Ed., Dip. Special Education, M.A., RPC is a registered professional counsellor and parent consultant with a private practice in West Vancouver. She works with individuals, families, adolescents, and school districts. She is also an educator with over 20 years’ experience working with children in regular classrooms and in special-needs settings. She is an adjunct faculty member of the Neufeld Institute and has worked with Dr. Neufeld’s approach for many
years. Colleen is a mother of two teens and draws from her personal as well as professional experience to support parents and professionals in gaining insight, opening their hearts, and leading by their intuition. WWW.NEUFELDINSTITUTE.ORG/PERSON/COLLEEN-DROBOT/ |  |
| Patti Drobot, B.SC., OT, RPC is a registered professional counsellor, parent consultant, and presenter with an educational background in rehabilitation medicine. Her past experience is in psychiatric occupational therapy where she has worked in both hospital and community settings for 20 years. A faculty member of the Neufeld Institute, she currently works as a counsellor in Vancouver. Patti’s greatest professional passion is working with Dr. Neufeld. Her greatest personal passion is being the mother of her two children. |  |
| Deborah MacNamara, Ph.D. is a Vancouver-based clinical counsellor and educator with more than 25 years’ experience working with children, youth, and adults. She is on faculty at the Neufeld Institute, operates a counselling practice, and speaks regularly about child and adolescent development to parents, child care providers, educators, and mental health professionals. She is also the author of Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschooler (Or Anyone Who Acts Like One) which provides a 360-degree developmental walk around the young child. She continues to write, do radio and television interviews, and speak to the needs of children and youth from a developmental science-based approach. Deborah resides in Vancouver, Canada with her husband and two children. |  |
| Tamara Strijack, M.A. is a Registered Clinical Counsellor working on Vancouver Island and a faculty member of the Neufeld Institute. She has worked with children and adolescents in various roles over the last twenty years – as mentor, counsellor, youth leader, program director, group facilitator – and is herself a mother of two wonderful teenage girls. She also works as a parent and teacher consultant, helping adults make sense of the children in their care. Connection, relationship, and attachment continue to be central themes in all of her roles, both personally and professionally. |  |