SHIFT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Counselor
- Operations Director & Counselor / Facilitator
Amanda Leith launched SHiFT - Recovery by Acorn in Spring of 2019, opening an exciting new chapter in the 25-year legacy of Acorn Food Dependency Recovery Services. A member of the Acorn team since 2015, Amanda is an addictions counselor and a recovering food addict.
Amanda's passion for recovery from food addiction helps to produce life-changing results with her clients. Her sharp sense for what needs to be addressed first in an individual's life in order to overcome food addiction guides her practice. The message that she brings to those struggling is one of hope.
Amanda is an addiction counselor, a certified food addiction counselor, FAI/ACORN certified food addiction professional and CENAPS-trained Advanced Relapse Prevention Specialist (ARPS), with a background in drug and alcohol addiction counseling and group facilitation at a Vancouver-based non-profit residential treatment center for women. She sits on the board of directors for the Food Addiction Institute.
Job Titles:
- Professional Food / Accountability Coach
Andrea has travelled a life long road from food addiction to recovery. Her journey began with an early and tormented love affair with food, including stops along the way such as a 20 year career in professional baking. In 2018 Andrea reached a fork in the road. Choosing to set foot on the path to recovery, Andrea was ultimately led to become a certified Food Addiction Counsellor.
Andrea's role includes coaching clients individually and while her professional training is invaluable so too is her intuitive, compassionate approach. Andrea‘s honesty, empathy and humour intersect with her personal experience in food addiction to create a point from which she can provide effective, supportive guidance to (and through) recovery.
Andrea's culinary experience remains a part of her professional repertoire. She is now devoted to entirely abstinent cooking, which she eagerly shares with the SHiFT community.
Andrea is currently working on adding a certificate in nutrition to her credentials.
Job Titles:
- Counselor / Facilitator
- Member of the Counselling Team at SHiFT Recovery
Gina is the newest member of the counselling team at SHiFT Recovery. She works individually with Shift clients to support their abstinence and to uncover and heal beliefs and behaviors that surface throughout recovery.
For the last twenty years Gina has worked in the helping field in a variety of environments with diverse populations. She has guided clients using Art Therapy as a way to process emotions with people living with HIV and AIDS at The Dr. Peter Centre, and with adults with developmental disabilities for Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living.
Gina spent years as a Coach, counselling people with negative body image and food addiction at Vital Body Weight Loss Clinic. This latter work and her lived experience with addiction, led Gina to work as a Group Facilitator and provide individual counselling in Addiction Treatment in private practice. Some of that work included facilitating intensive non-residential treatment programs for women suffering from drug misuse disorder, for Sage Counselling and Addiction Services.
It is the combination of Gina's lived experience, humor and wisdom that make her sessions collaborative, healing and joyful. She believes that everyone has the possibility for hope, resilience and liberation whether they are suffering from addiction, grief and loss, negative body and self esteem issues, co-dependency and the myriad of pain that is part of a life.
Gina has a BFA from ECUAD, Certified in Compassionate Inquiry with Gabor Mate, Addictions Counsellor, Certified Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention-UCSD, Certified Mindfulness Instructor.
Karen Gormley is a grateful recovering food addict who, after her early retirement from her job as a finance manager at a Fortune 1000 company, pursued her dream of working with Food Addiction recovery.
In addition to 15 of experience in peer support groups she has completed both the SHiFT Professional Training Program and the INFACT Food Addiction Counseling program and is certified by the European Certification Board as a food addiction counselor. And has been part of the SHiFT team since 2019.
Kurti s is a Digital Marketing Strategist with a background in video production and a passion for storytelling. He joined the SHiFT team in November 2020 as a Marketing Lead, and has helped tr ansform our digital presence as well as being the driving force on our marketing team.
While working remotely, Kurtis leads an active lifestyle in his picturesque ski town of Whistler, BC. On any given weekend, you can find him mountain biking, hiking, camping, skiing and fly fishing. His energy, stories and photos from recent adventures are a hot topic on team meetings and we always look forward to hearing them.
Mary Foushi co-founded Acorn Food Dependency Recovery Services in 1994, creating one of the world's first professional treatment programs for food addiction. A recovering food addict herself, Mary has 30 years of stable recovery and is maintaining a 200-lb weight loss.
Her personal commitment to recovery and a rich knowledge of the 12 Steps shine through the work that she does with people struggling with food addiction. With honesty, wisdom, and a grounding in practical action, Mary keeps her clients focused on recovery at all steps of the process.
Mary holds a degree in Human Services with a specialty in Addiction Studies. She is a CENAPS-trained Relapse Prevention Specialist and a certified food addiction professional. Mary facilitates groups, workshops, and Acorn Intensives throughout the world. She is co-author of Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model of Professional Support - The Acorn Primary Intensive.
Raynea has managed the SHiFT office since 2011, coordinating SHiFT - Recovery by Acorn food addiction treatment programs and overseeing registration. She assists clients with any logistical needs to ensure that their treatment experience runs smoothly.
Often the first point of contact for SHiFT Recovery by Acorn clients, Raynea brings warmth and ease to an otherwise daunting process. Her commitment to supporting others helps those struggling with food addiction to feel at home in their treatment program.
Raynea holds an AAS degree in Computer Information Technology and Networking. Her background is in executive support, previously serving as registrar and admissions director for public and private schools.
Job Titles:
- Group Leader
- House Manager
Tina Selinsky, M.Ed., is a graduate of the ACORN Professional Training and served as secretary and treasurer of the Food Addiction Institute for over 5 years. Tina has facilitated ACORN groups and operates Sugar Free Place, a recovery home dedicated to supporting people's abstinence. Tina has been active in a Twelve Step community for 30 years and is committed to putting abstinence first, absolutely!