MEET THE TEAM
Donna MacLeod
Donna graduated as an Occupational Therapist from Dalhousie University in 1991. She worked in Halifax for 23 years and moved back to her home province of PEI in 2014. Her experience includes working at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre for over 10 years on multi-disciplinary teams providing treatment on the Spinal Cord Injury service, in addition to working with clients who experienced a stroke, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, amputation and on the burns/plastics and orthopaedic services. Since moving to PEI 9 years ago, Donna has been working in the area of private practice assisting clients with chronic pain, concussion, brain injury and mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and psychological trauma, including PTSD. Donna provides services as an Occupational Therapist (OT) and in the role as a Clinical Care Manager for Veterans experiencing PTSD.
As the owner of Stratford Occupational Therapy, Donna thrives on working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and continues to be inspired by client’s resilience and growth following significant life-changing events. Donna thrives on working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and continues to be inspired by client’s resilience and growth following significant life-changing events.
Donna is thrilled to have the opportunity of incorporating her passion for making pottery into her work with clients as a sensory, grounding and mindful modality for mental health and trauma treatment. Not only is the experience of working with your hands in clay to create pottery mind easing for clients, but Donna also enjoys making pottery as a creative outlet as well. She loves nature, going on adventures, gardening, baking, and spending time with her family.
Charlotte Carlaw
Charlotte is a Registered Occupational Therapist who graduated with her Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy from Western University. Her professional experience includes working within a forensic mental health inpatient hospital setting, an outpatient mental health clinic, and a multidisciplinary rehabilitation clinic with a focus on return to work programming. Charlotte’s clinical practice has involved the assessment and treatment of individuals with barriers affecting their mental health, social interactions, and cognitive performance.
Charlotte has experience working with individuals with chronic pain, traumatic brain injuries, concussions, and mental health conditions including trauma-related disorders, depression, and anxiety. She has training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, in-vivo exposure therapy, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. Charlotte provides services as both an Occupational Therapist as well as a Clinical Case Manager. Charlotte’s therapeutic approach is strength-based and she believes that participation in self-care, leisure, and productive occupations can be transformative and healing. In her spare time, Charlotte enjoys being in nature, spending time doing yoga, cooking/baking, painting, and reading.
Stephanie Rainnie
Stephanie has enjoyed working as an Occupational Therapist in PEI for the past 25 years. Her post-secondary studies began at St Francis Xavier University where she obtained a Bachelors of Science in Physical Education. During her studies, Stephanie volunteered in an Occupational Therapy Department and immediately fell in love with the work. She obtained her Occupational Therapy degree at Dalhousie University in 1996 and has since worked in a wide range of practice areas. Those areas include rehabilitation, return to work, injury prevention, ergonomics, long term care, palliative care, geriatrics, home safety, and mental health.
Stephanie holds additional training in Chronic Pain Management, Aging in Place, Dementia Care, Injury Prevention and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She takes a keen interest in collaborating with individuals in their home and work environments to help them achieve their occupational goals. She sees it as a privilege to work alongside people as they develop or restore their engagement in desired and needed activities throughout their lives. Stephanie and her husband have three children and live in Charlottetown.
Sophie Tonet
Sophie is a Registered Occupational Therapist who started her career in physical health but happily stumbled into working in mental health by accident. Originally from Cape Breton, NS, Sophie completed an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology from St. Francis Xavier University, and then went on to complete her Masters in Occupational Therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University. She has a history of working in oncology and orthopedics and then transitioned to working primarily with first responders to support them through their experience of trauma and return to work.
She holds training in pelvic health, Cognitive Behavioural, Acceptance and Commitment, and Prolonged Exposure therapies and is able to provide services as a Clinical Case Manager. Her professional interests lie in the intersections between trauma, women's health, and sexuality/intimacy. Sophie maintains a practical yet dynamic approach to treatment and believes in supporting clients to access their own strength within. In her spare time, Sophie enjoys hiking, rock climbing, craft breweries, and reading and her rescue dog, Sola, is never too far from her side!
Daniel MacLeod
Daniel has been working as an Occupational Therapist on PEI for over 4 years. He completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2016, before obtaining a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy from Dalhousie University in 2018. Daniel has worked as an OT in several practice areas, including school-based pediatrics, acute care, restorative care, injury prevention, program development, and inpatient mental health. Daniel brings additional training in workplace ergonomics, safe patient handling, management of patients with bariatric needs, motivational interviewing, and dialectical behavioral therapy.
Daniel seeks to develop strong therapeutic relationships with his clients, in order to collaboratively set and achieve occupation-based goals. He has worked with individuals of all ages to overcome diverse barriers that impact their ability to participate fully in their lives. Daniel enjoys spending time at the beach with his husband and golden retriever, playing piano/guitar, and cooking. Daniel also currently serves as the Co-Spokesperson of the PEI Occupational Therapy Society which allows him to network with therapists all over the province and country.
Jess Findlay
Jess is an Australian trained Occupational Therapist with 13 years experience in a variety of OT areas of practice, including pediatrics, palliative care, acute care, case management, return to work rehabilitation and mental health. She graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from the University of Sydney, Australia. She has lived in Canada for 11 years, however moved to PEI 3 years ago from British Colombia to find a ‘home’ away from home. Jess is driven by understanding the uniqueness of neurodiversity particularly in children and how this impacts their way in the world.
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Jess has additional training and experience in Sensory Processing, Autism/ADHD, Self-Regulation and Coaching in health care. Jess’s therapy tends to be guided by her sense of developing connection with others, attunement to individual sensory and nervous system needs and engaging adults and children in their own therapeutic process.
In her spare time Jess can often be found at a beach (even in the winter), attempting to dance, enjoying time with friends, and learning how to become more of an “Islander”.
Alana Murphy
Alana is a Registered Occupational Therapist who began practicing as a clinician in 2015. She completed her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Acadia University, where various volunteer opportunities allowed her to work with community members in achieving function-based goals. This led to her obtaining her Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Alberta. Alana has worked in school, clinic and community settings with children and adults. She holds training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, In Vivo Exposure and Progressive Goal Attainment. She is passionate about holistic care which includes a person’s individual environment, relationships and meaningful occupations. In her spare time, Alana enjoys playing sports, yoga, reading and cooking.
Starting in September 2024
Shelley Carmicheal
Originally from Cape Breton Nova Scotia and a graduate of Dalhousie School of Occupational Therapy in 1990, Shelley has 34 years of experience working as an occupational therapist in physical rehabilitation, continuing care and adults and senior’s mental health both in a hospital and community-based setting. Most of her experience has been in the mental health, providing both in hospital and community-based services to adults and seniors. Shelley has a special interest in helping people with mental health challenges particularly depression, anxiety, psychosis and psychological trauma. Her focus is on improving coping skills and quality of life. Shelley has extensive experience working individually with clients and as a group facilitator and has specialized training in CBT, CBT for insomnia, DBT, mindfulness, anxiety and trauma informed care. Shelley uses a strength based, behavioral activation approach to help clients expand existing skills and develop new ones. She seeks to help clients recover and feel hope using individualized plans to meet their unique needs. She has chosen PEI as her home for more than 30 years and loves the Island way of life. When not working, Shelley enjoys being outside no matter the season, spending time with family and friends and exploring new places.
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Starting in October 2024
Stephanie Gillis
Stephanie is a registered Child and Youth Care Worker who graduated from Holland College and continues her studies towards obtaining a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sociology, at the University of Prince Edward Island. Stephanie has a passion for working with youth and has worked with a variety of ages and abilities in various facilities, most recently at a Provincial Group Facility on PEI. Stephanie has been trained in trauma informed care, non-violent crisis intervention, and applied suicide intervention skills training. She also has a keen interest in learning about behavioral/mental health conditions and interventions and continues to expand this knowledge via training and post-secondary education.
Stephanie works at Stratford Occupational Therapy as Office Administrator as well as assisting with therapeutic group activities. Stephanie believes that developing new behaviors through movement and mindfulness strategies can work to restore individuals to improved wellbeing. She also believes that compassion and connection are pillars in therapeutic care.
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Stephanie has a keen interest in art and nature, she often is pondering a new art endeavored or exploring PEI’s beautiful nature landscape with her husband, friends, or family.
Jodi Phillips
Jodi is a registered Master’s level clinical social worker with over 33 years’ experience working in both public and private sectors, federal and provincial government agencies, crown corporations and not for profit organizations. In addition to her BA, BSW and MSW degrees, she is also a graduate of the UPEI School of Conflict Resolution, and the ICA International Association of Facilitators Institute giving her certification as a mediator, negotiator and facilitator. She is Certified in DBT, CBT, CT-PTSD, ITTM (Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model Clinical Therapist Certification), Somatic Therapy, TF-CBT, ASIST (suicide assessment/intervention), CISD (critical incident stress debriefing), the ASI Way Cognitive Behavioural Emotive Therapy, Men & Healing Psychotherapy for Men, Male Centred Trauma Therapy Certification, Response Based Therapy, and currently is working towards her Sensorimotor Psychotherapy certification. Jodi has also attending training with the PESI Psychotherapy Network and MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. She served for five years on the PEI Social Work Registration Board, being Chair for part of that tenure.
Jodi has also served on many government research and advisory committees, Indigenous Affairs Secretariat Policy Analyst, and was an original table member of the PEI BRIDGE- A multidisciplinary professional panel tasked with screening and responding to provincial situations of acutely elevated risk. Her training and clinical experience involves working on multidisciplinary teams involving responding to individuals and communities in crisis where mental health and risk assessment, de-escalation, and coordination of care were essential components of the work environment to ensure best possible outcomes.
Working with and alongside various first responder professionals, Jodi also grew up surrounded by family who were in the military, RCMP, and paramedicine, giving her firsthand knowledge of how these very essential services impact the individual and their families. She has now dedicated her life and professional career providing therapy to this population and people with complex PTSD, understanding the nature and the unique challenges that this clientele faces during active service, pre and post release/retirement, and transition back to civilian life. Jodi is passionate about her work, utilizing all her education, training and work experience to provide the best possible care assisting Veterans and people with complex trauma, multiple diagnosis, pain and other chronic medical conditions achieve a sense of well-being in their lives.
Jodi has spent many years in the martial arts world, training and competing in Muay Thai, Kickboxing, MMA and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu where she is currently a brown belt. She has incorporated the benefits of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu into many projects involving Veterans and continues to do so.