Mental Health Worker in Peer Support
PHD
Mental Health Professional

Mary Anne holds a PhD in Social-Organizational Psychology and is a certified Leadership Coach, Third- Party Neutral Mediator, Facilitator, Training and Development professional, Social Scientist, and retired Registered Nurse.

For more than 40 years, her career, both in psychology and as a Registered Nurse, has focused on assisting and supporting individuals and groups deal with a variety of life challenges. Indeed, her doctoral research focused on the impact of uncontrollable stress on health.

A central theme throughout Mary Anne’s long and varied career is her enduring interest in health and its complex interrelationships with the challenges life delivers, and how we respond and support each other through these times. Mary Anne firmly believes that support systems are an integral part of recovering and maintaining health at individual, social and organizational levels.

Mary Anne has delivered clinical and professional services in the private sector, hospital settings, correctional settings, and the federal public service, most notably through its Executive Counselling Services, a confidential and anonymous service for senior officials in all federal departments across Canada.

Mary Anne has additional training and experience in leadership development, competency assessment, mediation, leadership coaching, as well as certificates in cultural diversity training. She has extensive experience and skills in helping individuals and organizations create and maintain healthy work behaviours and cultures.

Since 1999, she has been the Managing Partner of The Nelson Group, an Ottawa-based firm specializing in assessment, executive/ management coaching and organization development. She has served as a Special Advisor to the Board of Directors, the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (CICR), St Paul’s University.