Our Team

Our Team

Our team consist of seasoned professionals with deep roots in the community.

Both senior partners, Jamie Vossos and Kathy Luoma, are natives of North Bay. They have each invested in the community professionally – via professional therapeutic services, education and committee work as well as personally via coaching hockey and ringette.

Jamie Vossos established the practice in 1989. In 1995 he was joined by Kathy Luoma thus forming Vossos / Luoma Counseling Services. We are celebrating our 25^th year of service and look forward to many more years of practice.

Terra Nevrencan has been a part of our team since October of 2003. She brings with her valuable experience and an approach that encompasses compassion, respect, and professionalism.

Sharon Langley joined the team in 2019. She brings with her years of experience in the Mental Health field with a caring and engaging approach built on respect, compassion, and mindfulness.

Our team has gained experience working in a variety of agencies and institutions including mental health and addiction, child rehabilitation and protection, academic, legal and health care institutions. We work to provide the highest quality of service and how we succeed is in the experience we have gained over the years and the continual support of one another while doing our work.

HISTORY:
Kathy has been a Senior Partner with Vossos Luoma & Associates since 1995. She has over 30 years of experience in counselling, therapy and play therapy. She has developed expertise in the areas of: children/ teen mental health, helping people heal from trauma/ loss, working with family systems and couples.

Previously Kathy has worked with The Office of the Children’s Lawyer, Children’s Mental Health Services and has Supervised Clinical programs within the Child Welfare system as well as supervised Students in the Social work field.

THERAPY DIRECTION:
Kathy uses her knowledge of attachment relationships, neuroscience (how our brains develop and are wired) as well as an extensive training history to work with individuals from the ages of 4 and up as well as their families to create meaningful change. Her work focuses on helping people identify patterns of interaction, cycles of stress and responses to difficult situations and provides clients with goal focused strategies for change.

TRAINING/ THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES:
Within her work she utilizes many approaches that are geared to the clients’ personal experience and goal areas. Some of these areas include: CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), Mindfulness (group and individually trained), Attachment Theory, the Neurosequential Model of Brain Development, Polyvagal Theory, Trauma Informed Therapies, Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy concepts, Brief-Solution Focused Therapy, Somatic Therapy approaches as well as Play Therapy/ Theraplay approaches.

BELIEF:
Kathy believes that therapy provides an opportunity to grow, develop and heal. Her approach is supportive and engaging, allowing those she is working with to determine the depth of the work they wish to do. In healing trauma and dealing with stress and loss, the importance of healing the mind as well as recognizing the role our body has in storing and experiencing emotion is a key tenet of the work. Kathy helps clients explore problem areas at a level that respects where they are at in their life and what goals they wish to achieve.

Introduction
What exactly is Self-Care? How do I care for myself If I only have
time to care for others?
Life is a delicate balancing act and sometimes we forget to prioritize self.
Do you feel overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety ?Are you grieving for
the loss of someone you love or the end of a relationship?
Sharon can offer professional supportive counselling by introducing
coping strategies to improve mental health and adjust to the
challenging changes in life.
For the past 28 years ,Sharon has worked as a Clinical Social Worker
providing individual, couple and family therapy.

Background and Training
Educational Background: Includes a Degree in Social Work /Degree in
Education (Certificate in Special Education) and Degree in Social
Justice.

Training Background: For over 28 years Sharon worked as a Clinical Social Worker /Psychotherapist in two hospital settings (North Bay Psychiatric Hospital and North Bay
Regional Health Care Centre). In that time, she worked with a diverse patient
population helping individuals and their families with anxiety, depression, family relationships, substance abuse. She worked collaboratively with a consultation team specializing in Seniors Mental Health.

It became apparent that the continuum of wellness involved a solid connection of mind and body. Sharon studied Mindfulness Stress Reduction and received her training with Dr.W Knight and the late Michael Stone (Buddhist Monk).She has brought Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Cognitive Thought Pattern techniques into her therapeutic practice. Sharon is a certified Yin Yoga teacher and the utilization of movement and breath work are embraced in therapy and in her own meditative practice.

Vulnerability is an act of bravery. Talking about life challenges can be daunting and overwhelming but when done with the right support and approach it can be extremely rewarding.

Andrea is a registered Social Worker with an undergraduate degree in Gender Equality and Social Justice and a Master’s degree in Social Work.

She has the privilege of walking alongside you in your journey to vulnerability and ultimately resiliency. Using a strength-based approach, Andrea can support you in meeting your full potential in trying times.

Andrea works with many age groups, from children, youth, and their families to adults. She has a specific insight into perinatal mental health which spans the breadth of reproductive health and wellness.

Andrea utilizes evidence-based therapeutic modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and Trauma treatment. Andrea has worked extensively with individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, behavioral struggles in children, peer and family relationships, and traumatic experiences.

The therapeutic process may include expanding emotional awareness, exploring coping strategies for adversity and distress, and working to differentiate who you are from what you have experienced. Andrea is passionate about creating a solid therapeutic relationship and walking alongside you in the journey of counselling.

Perspective on Therapy
Life is a remarkable journey filled with moments of happiness, excitement, connectedness, wonder, and love. But the universal truth of being human is that at some point, we will all experience psychological pain, because with life also comes anxiety, sadness, anger, grief, failure, and loneliness.
Andrew believes that therapy is a safe space where you can learn effective ways to respond to these difficulties in order to get more out of life.

Education/Therapeutic Approaches
Andrew is a Registered Social Worker with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Social Work, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice (Criminology).

Andrew is formally trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Andrew also relies on other evidenced-based modalities, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing, and Solution Focused Brief Therapy. In addition to the above modalities, Andrew is certified in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).