Jonathan Epp
MA Counselling Psychology, Registered Provisional Psychologist, Therapist

Jonathan holds a Masters’ Degree in Counseling Psychology from Providence Theological Seminary where he was educated in an integrated approach to counseling, which allows him to draw from a variety of methods to tailor a session to the unique needs of the individual. Jonathan believes in creating an atmosphere of warm acceptance, non-judgement and unconditional positive regard for every individual he encounters, regardless of what a person may be seeking therapy for. Jonathan has completed 2000+ hours of supervised counseling with individuals, couples and families in a variety of settings. He is also involved in speaking engagements about various psychological topics in the community and enjoys teaching introductory courses at Red Deer College on a part-time basis. Jonathan is provisionally registered with the Alberta Psychologist and a part of the Psychologists Association of Alberta.

Charity Hamm
BA Psych, Counsellor, Trained in Therapeutic Play

Charity Hamm is a sexual assault counsellor specializing in the fields of sexual violence, play therapy and criminal justice. She holds a psychology degree from the University of Calgary and completed her certificate in therapeutic play in 2014. Charity believes in supporting her clients where they are at in their healing journey. Charity’s goal is to ideally work herself out of a job – to help her clients develop the tools, skills and strategies to cope with the trauma they have faced.

Charity’s compassion is a driving force in her desire to help all individuals. As a mother herself, she understands and empathizes with the difficulty many of our parents face when they need to use our services for their children. She has worked at CASASC for fourteen years. She has worked in the non-profit sector for over twenty years, helping individual of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. She maintains a close working relationship with the Crown’s office, RCMP, Child Advocacy Centre and a multitude of other supporting agencies.

Charity is currently accepting new clients.

Amanda Kaplan
RPN, Community Outreach Counsellor

Amanda recently joined the CASASC team and is a graduate from the Psychiatric Nursing Program from MacEwan University. She is excited to be part of the Family Intervention and Outreach Programs. Amanda has worked in Acute Inpatient Psych, Geriatric Mental Health, Crisis Response, Short Term Therapy, Assertive Outreach, Home Care, and Forensic Mental Health. Her position as a front-line worker has also given her the knowledge and experience of working with all ages across the life span – a diverse clientele varying from mental, physical and emotional developmental stages.

Amanda describes herself as a lifelong learner and continues to expand her modalities in attachment-base theory and working closely with families, adults and children who have been affected by sexual trauma. She has a passion for helping clients learn to dissect their current concerns and breaking it down into smaller more manageable tasks. She strives to help client’s find strengths within themselves and prioritizing what needs to be done in order to live their best life possible. She has always advocated, had a huge heart for helping anyone in need no matter the circumstances or paths her client has walked.

Mark Ballantyne
BA Soc, Child Counsellor

Bio coming soon

Mark is currently accepting new clients.

Jamie Prowse Turner
PhD, Registered Provisional Psychologist, Therapist and Clinical Coordinator

Jamie has a Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan in cognitive development and a Post-Masters Certificate in Counselling from Athabasca University. She is currently in the process of registering as a practicing psychologist. Her expertise is in the areas of Cognitive Development and Trauma.

She has counselled at CASASC since December 2017 and specializes in adolescents and adults, recent and past trauma, depression, anxiety and interpersonal conflict. Her goal as a therapist is to provide an environment that is safe and comfortable for healing by motivating clients to make changes in their lives to become happier and healthier.

Jamie is LGBTQ+ affirming

Tara-Leigh Blankenstein
RSW, MSW, MALM, Therapist

Tara-Leigh has graduate degrees in Social Work and Leadership and Management with a background in Psychology. Her career has been in forensic psychiatry and corrections providing therapeutic intervention to individuals having perpetrated in areas such as sexual offending, domestic violence and complex mental health. Tara-Leigh has worked with youth through to geriatrics, all genders and in individual and group treatment modalities, and couples support work. Tara-Leigh currently provides therapeutic intervention to survivors of trauma. Her integrative approach is not limited to attachment theory, mindfulness, neurobiology, and a strengths perspective. Her areas of interest are not limited to sexual abuse within religious groups, survivors of torture, male survivors of abuse, institutional/organizational abuse, clinical consultation and supervision.

Tara-Leigh is both a sessional and part-time instructor with the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work’s Learning Circles (Edmonton Division) and with the Red Deer College’s Justice Studies Program and Social Work Diploma Program. It is her privilege to coach and mentor upcoming practitioners within these faculties as they integrate knowledge into practice with individuals with whom we intersect in our various roles.

Tara-Leigh is LGBTQ+ affirming and accepting new clients.

Lara Alhmidat
Educator

Lara is a member of the CASASC public education team. She faciliates the No Secrets program for kids Kindergarten to Grade 4. She is also a Trained First Responder to Sexual Assault and Abuse.

Lara has always been passionate about children and helping them succeed. She also believes that childhood should be cherished and considered sacred. Through No Secrets, her passion and dreams continue to grow stronger, knowing that she can help and affect change. Her goal as an educator is to be able to educate every child in Central Alberta and Canada about their bodies and how to be safe around people.

Bailey Martineau
Dipl. Early Learning and Child Care, Educator

Bailey graduated from Mount Royal University with an Early Learning and Child Care diploma. As an early childhood educator, she worked for nine years at a preschool. Bailey is also a certified kids yoga teacher and opened her own business where she taught children the basics of yoga in a fun and high energy environment.

Bailey’s certifications and specializations include: Early Childhood (Level 3), Ages and Stages certification, Little Warriors certification and High Five Principles of Healthy Development. Bailey is a member of the CASASC public education team. She facilitates the No Secrets program for kids Grade 5 to Grade 8. She is a Trained First Responder to Sexual Assault and Abuse.

Kailee Mears
BA Soc, Educator

Kailee has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Calgary. She has over four years of experience in the human services sector through volunteer experiences around Red Deer and Calgary. Kailee has been a SART team member and remains a volunteer on the help line. Before joining CASASC, Kailee was an educational assistant at the elementary level with Red Deer Public School District for two years.

Kailee is certified in ASSIST suicide prevention, Non Violent Crisis Intervention, AHS Trauma Informed Care and AHS Mental Health for Educator topics regarding sexuality.

Kailee is passionate about working with children, women, LGBTQ+, and Indigenous populations. Her pronouns are she/her.

Michele Kercher
Volunteer Team Lead

Michele has worked with CASASC in a team leader capacity for the last five years, and previously volunteered for 18 years. Currently, she acts as the team lead for the crisis lines. She has over 35 years of experience in volunteering with non-for-profit organizations and people with disabilities. Her program goals are to ensure the safety and well being of those who contact CASASC for support. From a trauma-informed perspective, Michele coordinates and works with the team to ensure all those in need are assisted with their healing process.

Michele is extremely passionate about helping those in need. Through dedicated and learning along the way, the volunteer program has received several awards and nominations. Knowing that she may be able to have a positive effect in someone’s life is what she strives for in her professional and daily life. Michele has an overwhelming sense of pride to be able to work alongside such an amazing group of people and to be able to teach others to grow with their knowledge and feel the same sense of pride.

Sadia Khan
Police, Court and Community Support Worker

Sadia has worked in various positions responding to disclosures since 2010. Currently, Sadia works at CASASC as the Police, Community and Court Support Worker. She provides support in a non-judgmental setting to empower individuals to make informed choices to ensure their well-being and comfort throughout the difficult process regardless whether they choose to report or not.

Sadia’s experience in her current role is of understanding, building and making the connections of sexual violence that takes various forms. She is privileged and humbled to be in this position and looks forward to making relationships and connecting with people. Sadia helps to address many of the fears and dispel myths about the criminal justice process which is essential to a survivor’s willingness to participate. She is a certified facilitator for the First Responder to Sexual Assault and Abuse Training through AASAS and has completed the Court Preparation and Court Accompaniment Training.

Sadia is deeply invested in serving the community. She is passionate about connecting people of all backgrounds – women, men, gender non-conforming people, indigenous and immigrants, of diverse faiths, abilities and ages. Sadia continues to embody these principles to amplify voices using education, mobilization, dialogue, engagement and collective action.

Sadia is accepting new clients.

Patricia Arango
MA, Executive Director

Patricia was born in Columbia and is a psychologist with a Masters’ Degree in Social and Community Psychology. She has dedicated her life to helping others. In Columbia, she created a non-profit assisting women, kids and undeserved people. She was an Advisor to the Colombia Human Rights President and National Director of Indigenous Communities and Education. Upon her arrival in Canada, she became a Registered Psychotherapist where she focused on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Solutions Focused Therapy.

In 2014, Patricia accepted the role of Executive Director for CASASC, where she continues to successfully tackle challenges. She has proudly implemented preventative programming, including the No Secrets program, the #iRespect campaign and the Family Intervention Program. She also initiated the text/webchat option of the 24 hour crisis line.

Patricia works tirelessly for her community and has proven to be an exceptional leader, pioneer and innovator with a devoted compassion and empathy for those in need.

Cathy Schelske-Bluett
Administrative Assistant

Cathy was born and raised in Southern Alberta. She moved with her family to Red Deer in 2010. Her professional background is in administration and accounts receivable in the private sector. She has been a volunteer board member with the Red Deer Community Band Society since 2015. Cathy thoroughly enjoys supporting other non-profit organizations in Red Deer along with the Royals membership. She is a new member to the CASASC admin team as is truly honoured to put her skills to work in support of the larger community in Central Alberta. She is excited to join the team and expand her awareness of the services and supports the Centre offers the region.

Erin Willmer
BA Psych, Administrative Assistant, SART Team Lead

Erin is a recent graduate from the University of Calgary with a degree in psychology. After spending seven years at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary as a Medical Laboratory Assistant, Erin decided to switch gears and return to Central Alberta to pursue a career in the helping profession. While gaining experience in the event industry as well as the private educational system, Erin joined the CASASC team in 2018 on a volunteer basis. She became a part of the administration team in early 2020 and is excited to expand her knowledge and improve her skills in a new environment. She is currently the team lead of the in-hospital support team.

Stefn Dodman
BA Psych, BA Soc, CPHR (Candidate), HR Specialist

Stefn is a graduate of both the BA Psychology and BA Sociology programs offered through the collaborative degree program between the University of Calgary and Red Deer College. Stefn is a CPHR Candidate member with CPHR Alberta.

He has spent the greater part of the last decade as member of the Canadian Armed Forces. As an Officer of Cadet Instructor Cadre (CIC) branch, Stefn believes its an honour to serve the youths of Central Alberta. Since 2013, Stefn also served an adult instructor/directing staff for the Regional Cadet Support Unit – Northwest, based out of Winnipeg, MB.  Stefn currently serves as the Training Officer for 24 “Red Deer” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron.

Prior to joining CASASC, Stefn worked in the both the private and public sector with experience in municipal government, police administration, and human services. He currently supports CASASC with organizational development, employee relations, performance management, and payroll & benefits administration.