Central Ontario Branch

The Central Ontario Branch includes the regions of Toronto, Peel and York.

Board Members (Collective)

Nicole Best
Jessica Diamond-Gonzalez
Jazmine Juarez
Kacper Kalin
Marco Posadas
Ashley Quinn
Lisa Redgrift (Ryerson University Student Representative)

Central Ontario Branch’s Annual General Meeting

Guest speaker: Dr. Ana Bodnar

Dr. Bodnar will introduce the concept and practice of mindfulness meditation and discuss how this approach can be useful in working with a wide variety of clinical issues, including anxiety, depression and other issues. Research findings on the efficacy of mindfulness in clinical settings will also be presented.

Dr. Bodnar is a clinical psychologist and a yoga and meditation teacher who has been in practice for over 15 years.  She combines clinical psychological practice with a spiritual and creative perspective in her individual and teaching work. Dr. Bodnar offers professional training for mental health staff in the Clinical Applications of Mindfulness. She provides individual psychotherapy, public workshops, professional training seminars, and teaches in the Graduate Counselling Psychology Program at the University of Toronto. Dr. Bodnar has conducted research and presented at conferences in Cuba, Sweden, Mexico and New Zealand and worked as a Clinical Consultant for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for 8 years.  She is on the faculty of the new TAPE program with the Toronto Institute for the Integration of Mindfulness Meditation and Psychotherapy (TIIMMP), which is launching its new programs in January 2010.

Thursday, February 11 @ 5:30 pm

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
Room 548, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Corner of Bloor St. and Bedford Rd, at the St. George subway stop

networking  - door prizes – light refreshments

PLEASE RSVP by February 5th to: oaswcentral@bellnet.ca

Upcoming Branch Initiatives

• The date for the 2010 OASW Day With The Jays! has been set: Saturday, June 5th against the New York Yankees!  Ticket information will follow in the spring.
• We are in the early planning stages for a 1-day workshop to take place in the spring looking at a variety of issues related to the internet i.e. online counselling, social networking, online addictions, privacy, liability, etc.
• We are looking at creating a Branch Facebook page.

Recent Branch Initiatives

• We negotiated a special discount for Central Branch members and friends on tickets to the 2009 One of a Kind Show and Sale, held at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto. 
• A discounted rate was negotiated for tickets to The Power of Women held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

• Central Branch once again participated in the annual Pride Parade. This year's theme was “Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.”  It reflects the spirit of celebration and solidarity, and speaks to Pride Toronto’s commitment to support queer rights for all queer communities, wherever they live. Our group braved the rain to march proudly with the OASW banner.
• We negotiated a deal for deeply discounted tickets for Central Branch members to the musical production “Jersey Boys” as part of their Everyday Heroes promotion.  Members were able to access tickets for just $20 to attend the show at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in North York.
• Central Branch joined the I Am a Witness campaign, committing to follow media coverage of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal regarding current treatment of First Nations children.  We also registered our public support of Jordan’s Principle, a child-first principle to resolving government jurisdictional disputes.  We communicated information about this initiative to members in our Branch and encouraged them to support the campaign themselves.

Newsletter

To view the recent newsletter, [click here].
To view the March newsletter, [click here].

Contact Information

Branch Manager: Tracey Nesbitt
oaswcentral@bellnet.ca
416-923-4360
Central Ontario Branch Office
410 Jarvis Street, 2nd floor
Toronto, ON M4Y 2G6