Board of Directors

Naseema Siddiqui
President, Chair of the Executive, CHAIR OF PUBLIC POLICY

Naseema has over 25 years of experience providing a wide range of psychological services to children and adults who are developmentally delayed and behaviourally challenged. She offers extensive assessment, counselling and treatment services. Provided consultation services to clients, parents, teachers, physicians, Public Health Nurses etc. Consulted with general practitioners and other medical specialists regarding psychological conditions including dual diagnosis and pharmacological concerns and questions. Conducted workshops on Change Management. Presented at the Canadian Cancer Society (Ontario Division) Annual meetings workshops on Stress Management and Stress and Dealing with Change. She currently Chairs the Ontario Coalition of Mental Health Professionals. Naseema is a Certified Member of the OACCPP.

Richard Isaacs
Vice-President, Chair of GOVERNANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT

Richard is a Certified Member of the OACCPP.

Richard serves the OACCPP as Chair of the Ethics Committee; as well as Vice President and chairing the Governance and Risk Management Committee.

He is a Psychotherapist/Counsellor maintaining a private practice in Brampton, Ontario.

Robert Rea
Vice Chairman for Risk Management

Bob has had many long years as a Clinical Psychologist providing psychological assessments and behavioural therapy to developmentally delayed and autistic spectrum disorder clients and their families. He has over the years also supervised a multitude of psychometrists and behavioural support workers which he continues to do as a private Psychological Consultant.

Marina Riker-Kucic
VICE-PRESIDENT, Chair of Membership

Marina’s career began in Croatia working in the field of vocational rehabilitation. Her curiosity about human behaviour evoked her interest in assessments and her love for people guided her to the field of psychotherapy. Since moving to Toronto she has studied Psychometrics at York University and is also a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of Toronto.

For the last 12 years, Marina’s work has focused on vocational assessment and counselling of unemployed women at the YWCA Toronto. She integrates Gestalt Therapy and a Life Skills approach by helping to awaken hidden talents in each individual. Her strengths rest in her ability to create an environment within a group or in a one-on-one context that allows individuals to discover their potential when making meaningful career and life choices. Marina is a Certified Member of the OACCPP.

John Marai
Board Chair, Chair of Certification

John Marai has a long history in the field of counselling and assessment mostly in the Employee Assistance field. He holds a Masters degree in both theology and psychology. He received additional training in Gestalt and Family Therapy. John has been a long standing member of OACCPP and has served on the Board in many capacities, such as President, Secretary and Treasurer. His recent portfolio is chairing the Certification Committee. John is a Certified Member of the OACCPP.

Penny Kawasaki
Board Secretary, Chair of Nomination

Penny Kawasaki has a private practice called Learning Support Services. Her company provides specialized psychological assessment services across the age span (children, adolescents and adults) in the area of Learning Disabilities and Attentional Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She consults with parent groups, school boards, colleges and universities, and does individual counselling related to disability issues. She has over 25 years of clinical practice in the Eastern Ontario region, as well as the Toronto area. She recently retired from Algonquin College, in Ottawa, where she was employed as a counsellor for the past nine years. Penny is a Certified Member of the OACCPP.

Gisela Wood
Treasurer, Chair of Finance

Gisela Wood is a counsellor and psychotherapist with over 20 years experience. She began her career in the field of substance abuse as a group facilitator and counsellor working with recovering individuals and their families. She has designed and conducted a variety of workshops and courses that focus on communication skills development for people in support professions such as hospital staff, pastoral care givers and social workers, as well as for individuals experiencing personal difficulties. Gisela is a Certified Member of the OACCPP.

Stephen Douglas
Chair of Professional Development

With offices to serve clients in both Toronto and Burlington, Stephen Douglas, M.A., CCC, provides effective counselling for individuals who wish for help to address issues of anger, anxiety, depression, and stress, including addiction. Stephen also provides support and direction to couples who struggle with issues of communication, intimacy, or infidelity. Through his applied research at the University of British Columbia Stephen developed a valuable model to improve our understanding of coping behaviour in response to conflict. A founding member of the Gestalt Experiential Training Institute in Vancouver, Stephen's integrated approach to psychotherapy incorporates key principles of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Transactional Analysis as effective means to reduce stress, alleviate chronic anger, anxiety, or depression and build loving, I-thou relationships. Stephen is a certified clinical member of both the Canadian Counselling Association and the OACCPP. Stephen has been helping clients experience emotional change through individual and couples counselling, groups and workshops since 1991. Stephen is a Certified Member of the OACCPP.

Robert Rea

Michael Solby

More than 25 years in corporate performance improvement intervention and private practice psychotherapy gives Michael a broad range of therapeutic approaches. He holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Toronto and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England. Michael credits his special drama training for much of his expertise in applying Psychodrama as a successful treatment modality. He is the originator of Co-centrics ®, a proprietary change model to improve employee performance that has been implemented as a business driver for a number of U.S. and Canadian corporations. In addition to his Certification by OACCPP, Michael is accredited as a certified member (CPT) of the International Society for Performance Improvement, the leading international association dedicated to improving productivity and performance in the workplace and representing more than 10,000 international and chapter members throughout the United States, Canada, and 40 other countries.

pam zuker

Pamela has worked as a counsellor, psychometrist and researcher in the mental health field for more than ten years. She graduated with a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology in 2000. While pursuing her studies, she completed a one-year externship in the Trauma Studies Program at the Adler School under the supervision of Dr. Susan Rosenthal. It was there that she developed a keen interest in working with adults who suffered from PTSD and other concurrent disorders.

After graduating, Pamela then worked in private practice under the supervision of a registered psychologist providing long-term counselling to adults who suffered from PTSD, OCD, depression, anxiety and other Axis I disorders. She then transferred her clinical skills in counselling adults in private practice to the hospital setting where she began working as a Research Coordinator in the Mood & Anxiety program at Sunnybrook Hospital. While there, Pamela coordinated and assisted in various research studies looking at the pharmacological effects of medication on patients suffering from Bipolar Disorder and Psychotic Depression. She then moved on to working as a Research Analyst in the Neuroscience Department at CAMH where she coordinated two large-scale research studies on the genetic factors contributing to Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. Recently Pamela worked as a Psychotherapist under the supervision of a registered psychologist providing clinical assessment and short-term counseling to individuals involved in motor vehicle accidents. She has been a certified member of OACCPP since 2005 and has recently joined the OACCPP Board as a Director-At-Large.