Category: Compassionate Inquiry Founding Facilitators

Meet the Founding Facilitators of the Compassionate Inquiry Professional Training Program. Under the leadership, stewardship and direction of Sat Dharam, the Founding Facilitators collaborated in the development and delivery of the Compassionate Inquiry course. With Sat Dharam and Gabor, the Founding Facilitators launched the program and trained the next generation of facilitators and practitioners who now use Compassionate Inquiry as a therapeutic modality. We are grateful for their dedication and meaningful contributions.

Sheila Ann Tyacke (Siri Dharma)

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner
Sheila is a certified Compassionate Inquiry practitioner.  She has been a facilitator of the online training since its inception in 2019.  She co-leads the Safety and Connection course that is part of the online training, where the focus is on creating safety in Compassionate Inquiry sessions. Sheila and Vimalasara Mason-John are the officers in the Integrity and Equality Office, where their function is to be part of resolving any disputes or conflicts that may arise in the context of the training.   Sheila is trained as a lawyer and is an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in the United Kingdom. She teaches Kundalini Yoga for addiction recovery in South Africa when she isn’t occupied with training and mentoring young lawyers.  She has training in Family Life counselling and Addiction counselling and is the lead trainer in South Africa of the Beyond Addiction program.  She has training in nonviolent communication.  Sheila considers herself a highly-sensitive person and has a deep interest in ensuring that highly sensitive people are welcomed and safely held in the online training course as well as in private mentoring sessions. 

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Email: ci.siridharma@gmail.com

Dave Petersen

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner

Dave initiated his healing journey in 1985, when he began participating in sacred ceremonies with elders from Cree, Lakota and Shushwap First Nations. He trained as a Child, Youth and Family Support Worker, and assists high risk youth and families, including those with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. He is certified in community development training, non-violent crisis intervention, suicide intervention, case management facilitation, conflict resolution, and participates in story-telling, restorative justice circle facilitation, and land based programs. He leads sweat lodge ceremonies, traditional healing circles, and engages in sun dance and pipe ceremonies. Since 2013 Dave has been exploring the healing potential of plant medicines.

In 2015 Dave and his family accepted an invitation to make their home in the Ross River Dena Territory (Yukon). He is learning from and working with Dena elders and community members to heal trauma related to colonialism, and to create culturally guided and trauma-informed practices and services.

In April 2019 Dave was certified as a Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner.

Location: Ross River Dena Nation, Yukon
Email: ciwithdave@gmail.com

Sanjog Kaur

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner
Sanjog is from Quito, Ecuador. She is a therapist, anthropologist (NYU), translator and interpreter. She has translated Dr. Gabor Maté’s work and videos into Spanish in support of both the Beyond Addiction program and the Compassionate Inquiry training. She is a Kundalini Yoga Instructor (KRI) and lead trainer in the Beyond Addiction program and has been facilitating diverse groups of people for over ten years in this discipline. She’s also trained in Brainspotting, IFS (level one) and Art Therapy. Her past experience of having an eating disorder inspired her to use Kundalini Yoga and the Beyond Addiction program to recover her connection with Self and improve her quality of life. Sanjog is currently serving to create a community of yogis that can improve the understanding and treatment of addiction in Spanish speaking countries using the Beyond Addiction program and Compassionate Inquiry.

Location: Quito, Ecuador
Email: ci.sanjog@gmail.com

Dr. Wendy Harris (Livtar Kaur)

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner

Dr. Wendy Harris (Livtar Kaur) is clinical psychologist and a KRI Level II Certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher and International Trainer for Beyond Addiction: The Yogic Path to Recovery. She is also the Director of the Addiction and Recovery Specialization at Antioch University in Los Angeles where she trains therapists in a compassionate, multi-dimensional approach to understanding and healing the pain and trauma that seeds self-defeating patterns. Along with her passion for supporting clients in gaining insight to heal core issues for sustainable recovery, she is dedicated to bridging the gap between Kundalini Yoga, academia, clinical settings, and the community.

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Email: ci.wendyh@gmail.com

Sat Dharam Kaur ND

Co-Executive Director, CEO, Facilitator and Practitioner

Sat Dharam is a naturopathic doctor and author and has supported Dr. Gabor Maté in structuring the Compassionate Inquiry approach so that others can learn it. She has published three books on women’s health. She created the Beyond Addiction program, a yogic path to recovery, as well as the Healthy Breast Program, which are both taught internationally. She trains people in Kundalini Yoga and has a private practice in Owen Sound, Ontario. She combines naturopathic medicine with Compassionate Inquiry, yoga, breathing practices and meditation to support others in healing and integrating mind, body and spirit.

Location: Owen Sound, Ontario
Email: satdharam@compassionateinquiry.com

Sat Charan Simran Kaur

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner

Sat Charan Simran is a KRI Certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher, a professional Beyond Addiction Instructor, Trainer,  and Mental Health lead.  She is a Registered Social Worker, with training and 30 years experience in counselling in the areas of addiction, mental health, and trauma.  She currently has a private practice in Vancouver.

Website: www.healingjourneywithsimran.com

Location: Vancouver, BC
Email: ci.satcharansimran@gmail.com

Dr. Maria Egervari (Manjeet Adi)

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner

Maria (Manjeet Adi) is an MD trained in Hungary and an ND in Canada. She uses counselling in her naturopathic practice and in working with LOFT community services with older adults who have mental health and addiction issues. She is an associate trainer in the Beyond Addiction program.

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Email: ci.manjeetadi@gmail.com

Vimalasara (Valerie Mason-John)

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner

Dr Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John M.A (hon.doc) is an award-winning author of 8 books, including her debut fictional memoir Novel, Borrowed Body, and  Detox Your Heart, Meditations for Emotional Trauma, and Eight Step Recovery Using The Buddha’s teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is co-founder of the secular 8-week course Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery MBAR and is one of the new leading  African Descent Voices in the field of Mindfulness Approaches for Addiction. She is the current president of the international organization Buddhist Recovery Network, which promotes Mindfulness and Buddhism as a complementary approach working with addiction, craving, recovery, and abstinence. Valerie has been working in the field of inquiry over the past 15 years, as a trainer in conflict resolution and restorative justice, and as a guide with Liberation Unleashed, and a mentor in Direct Pointing. She lives in British Columbia.

Location: British Columbia
Email: ci.vimalasara@gmail.com

Rhonda Nelson

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner

Rhonda is a Registered Professional Counselor (RPC), Master Practitioner in Clinical Counseling (MPCC), and Qualified Clinical Supervisor (MPCC-S). She is a CI Founding Facilitator, Mentor in the CI Mentorship Program and in Private Practice, Certification Reviewer, and Plant Medicine Integration Specialist. Compassionate Inquiry is the foundation upon which she works, integrating other somatic modalities including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Hakomi, and Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT). All have been instrumental in her own healing of addiction, and mental and physical illness, which also informs her work with others.

As a Clinical Supervisor to professionals in private practice, Rhonda’s approach is present and attuned, direct, and compassionate. She provides experiential supervision, which invites a supervisee to safely explore trigger(s) and potential clinician block(s) as they arise from time to time. The process supports a reflective process without judgment (self- or other), leading to effectively informing the clinician’s work with others. Rhonda is dedicated to utilizing her skills and training to support therapy clients and professionals in the field.

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Email: rhonda.bridgewaterhealing@gmail.com

Lara Longo

Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner

As a psychotherapist and trauma therapist, my approach is informed by Compassionate Inquiry. I am a Compassionate Inquiry Founding Facilitator and student of Dr Gabor Mate, EMDR Consultant in Training and Clinical Supervisor. I integrate various trauma therapy modalities including EMDR, IFS, Poly-Vagal Therapy, Trauma Sensitive Yoga – Meditation, Art Therapy and Ancient Wisdom Teachings. I support clients through a range of challenges and concerns (emotional, mental, relational and spiritual), and have a special interest in the treatment of complex and intergenerational trauma with adults. I also support clients with medicine work preparation and integration. I have worked alongside Indigenous community since 2007 as a helper and counsellor, my approach to psychotherapy has been strongly influenced by these connections. I am passionate about personal change and awareness; this intention forms the foundation of my work with clients and community.

Location: Annan, Ontario
Email: ci.laralongo@gmail.com