Jacqueline is the founder and director of Breathe Mindfulness Centre and has worked as a Clinical Psychologist providing psychological assessment, counselling and other psychological services to the community of HRM for more than 29 years. She is a faculty member of the Atlantic Contemplative Centre and Past-President of the Association of Psychologists of Nova Scotia (APNS).

Given the therapeutic benefits of contemplative principles and practices on emotional and mental well-being, she has undergone extensive personal and professional training in the areas of mindfulness, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, mindful eating, and mindful self-compassion resulting in being amongst the very few in the Atlantic provinces to obtain certification in these areas. She is also a RYT 200 Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher.

Jacqueline has had the privilege of being taught by some of the originators of western mindfulness-based therapies including Dr.’s Jon Kabat-Zinn, Zindel Segal and Christopher Germer. Admittedly, however, Jacqueline’s greatest inspiration and learning have come from her own personal practice of mindfulness, meditation and self-compassion – which continues to positively transform her relationships with herself, others and the world and reinforce her intention to offer this extraordinary opportunity to others.

Jacqueline is the founder and director of Breathe Mindfulness Centre and has worked as a Clinical... Read More

Dr. Michelle Tougas is a Registered Clinical Psychologist who works with youth and young adults, 12-25 years old. Michelle encourages her clients to build lives that emphasize caring for the mind and body. Her work focuses on striving toward value-based, mindful living.

Michelle aims to guide improvement in daily function and self-compassion for youth and young adults with Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Emotion Dysregulation, Depression/Low Mood, Interpersonal Communication Struggles, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Sleep Disruption, and Trauma. To support her clients and reach desired outcomes she draws from evidence-based therapeutic modalities, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), and Family-Based Therapy (FBT).

In addition to counselling and therapy, Michelle provides ADHD, Psycho-educational (Learning), OCD and Eating Disorder assessments for youth and young adults. With a focus on harnessing strengths, these comprehensive assessments are intended to gain personalized understanding and valuable insights into the unique challenges individuals face to develop meaningful strategies and effective interventions which foster academic success, a more engaged life and greater emotional well-being.

Michelle’s favourite sound is the rustling leaves on a windy day. Her calm place is down by the river, wrapped up in a cool breeze surrounded by forest. She enjoys crunchy foods and loves the smell of supper cooking.

Dr. Michelle Tougas is a Registered Clinical Psychologist who works with youth and young adults, ... Read More

Clara Whitman is a Clinical Social Worker from the Annapolis Valley who works with youth (14+) and adults. With over a decade of experience in social work, she has been privileged to connect with clients of all ages and stages of life in her work with families and individuals. She has a particular affinity for working with those impacted by trauma, including traumatic stress, PTSD, c-PTSD, developmental and intergenerational trauma.

Clara comes from a family of scientists which has fueled her curiosity to understand not only not just how therapy is delivered, but why and how it works. Her perpetual critical thinking inspires her to pursue ongoing learning, not just from clinical practice trainers, but from some of the top researchers in developmental science, attachment, and neuropsychology. It is through this mindset of curiosity and critical thinking in which Clara approaches the specific struggles and goals her clients bring to sessions and develops tailored approaches to work with each that blend the best-fit ideas and tools from multiple therapeutic modalities.

In practice, Clara draws from evidence-based therapies that include elements of mindfulness and self-acceptance, such as Emotionally Focussed Therapy (EFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Relational Psychodynamic Therapy, and Somatic Therapy. She also integrates elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Narrative Therapy. Clara is further trained in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), an eye-movement therapy designed to offer relief from symptoms of trauma and anxiety in a shorter number of sessions.

Clara views mindfulness practices as unique in their power to intentionally interrupt our nervous system’s default feedback loops, creating pauses in the mind’s continuous assignments of meaning to what it senses. Within these pauses exists the possibility to take conscious control over the meaning we connect to events, people, self, and the actions we choose to take.

Clara Whitman is a Clinical Social Worker from the Annapolis Valley who works with youth (14+) an... Read More

I discovered the world of meditation after I became unwell in my 20s. At the time, I was living at 100 miles an hour and my body was begging for a break. It was only when I allowed my mind to rest through meditation that I realized this.

I started by using various Mindfulness Meditation apps such as Head Space and Waking up. The relief I experienced from doing a short meditation every morning was substantial and after a few weeks, I could see the benefits becoming engrained in my everyday experience.

Eager to get to the root of the practice, I signed up for a silent Insight Meditation retreat. I found this incredibly difficult and incredibly rewarding. The health benefits I experienced afterwards were too great to ignore and within a handful of months I found myself on another silent retreat. These retreats became part of my yearly schedule and after every one, I became increasingly convinced that meditation is a powerful healing practice for physical and mental well-being.

I discovered Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course when speaking to a friend of mine about meditation and health care. At the time I was only vaguely aware of Mindfulness Meditation being used to treat patients in the healthcare system.

After investigating more about the 8-week MBSR course, I was keen to sign up for one. On completion I thought it was brilliant. It took Mindfulness Meditation and crafted it into a structured, accessible course that was relatable for many.

My experiences with mindfulness meditation, and specifically the MBSR course, lead me to pursue and obtain certification from Mindfulness UK to teach the 8-Week MBSR course. Teaching the MBSR course in the UK has been incredibly rewarding for me as is sharing Mindfulness Meditation with others. I am looking forward to continuing teaching in Nova Scotia, helping people realize that whatever they are dealing with has the potential to be transformed into something bearable, workable and perhaps, surprisingly positive.

I discovered the world of meditation after I became unwell in my 20s. At the time, I was living a... Read More