Ted (Edmund) Robinson
Providing Exceptional Service That Compliments and Exceeds Public Care
My professional entry into the mental health field followed my B.A. in Human Development and Social Relations, working at Dunn Mental Health Centre, providing concurrent disorder services in 1992. Since then I have worked a variety of positions in mental health throughout the USA and Canada, including coordinating psychiatric admissions for a homeless outreach program in NYC, providing a full range of mental health care in a variety of settings, ranging from correctional facilities to homeless outreach, and have provided professional testimony in a variety of legal settings.
For graduate education I initially attended New York University, eventually completing my M.Ed. in Counselling and Family Services at the University of Oregon. My research interests have spanned from the mundane such as the stroop effect, to treatment modalities for those suffering from psychedelic induced anxiety (experiencing a bad trip) and work around post psychedelic use integration.
Since moving to Canada over 14 years ago, I have worked primarily for the local health authority in a variety of roles, including crisis services for adults and youth, concurrent disorder treatment, individual and group therapy. I currently facilitate youth transitioning from adolescent mental health to adult mental health services on the North Shore.
After years of requests from many people to open a private practice, I have decided to open a limited, small practice, taking advantage of the virtual options that developed during the pandemic. I will offer high quality counseling and consultation that is designed to be time-limited and targeting specific treatment goals, and should be less expensive and time consuming than long term, open ended counseling services.
I currently live and work in the community of the North Vancouver, British Columbia. I live with my daughter and rescue dog Rosie. We actively enjoy the natural resources as well as the diverse cultural activities. During the summers I volunteer providing crisis and mental health services at music festivals.
Concurrent Disorder Clinician
I draw on decades of experience and education to provide a wide range of services to a multicultural population using individually tailored interventions based on evidenced based approach that is grounded in a trauma informed process.
Work Experience
Having graduated from Earlham College in Indiana, following a capstone research project in Western Europe focusing on marijuana and prostitution in an evolving political environment. My first professional jobs were as a substitute teacher focusing on special education settings, followed by a positions as a case manager/ counsellor providing a variety of services to a primarily chronically and persistently mentally ill population, including what was then called dual diagnosis (now concurrent disorders, the treatment of mental health and substance use issues at the same time).
While enrolled in the graduate psychology program at New York University I worked as an outreach worker for a program that was a collaborative effort of the local hospital, transit system and police. My role included outreach, consultation with law enforcement, as well as coordinating psychiatric admissions for the program to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital in lower Manhattan.
During this time I completed a Master’s in Counselling, Family and Human Service at the University of Oregon. The bulk of my employment was with the local counties that administered public mental health. For over seven years I provided counselling, assessment, case management and consultation for the juvenile justice system, both within locked facilities as well as in the community. In addition I worked for the local emergency department providing assessment and intervention for mental health presentations in adults as well as children. For some time I worked as a recreational therapist in a locked psychiatric home, supervising outings in the community. I also worked for a mental health court program serving adults.
It was during my time there that I founded a non profit organization, Harmony Event Medicine (HEM), that provides medical and crisis services to large gatherings such as music festivals. It was during this time that my research and clinical focuses began to include more interventions regarding psychedelics, with my master’s thesis focusing on treatment for adverse trips, and my work at HEM while in the field addressing those currently experiencing adverse effects from psychedelics (aka “bad trips”). While I did step down as president of the board of directors when moving to Canada, I continue to volunteer almost every summer.
After obtaining a permanent resident card I relocated to Canada in order to work in a universal health care system, and to have the same care regardless of circumstances, as well as for better job security. I landed in Vancouver and have resided in the Vancouver area ever since. I have worked for the local health authority as a member of an urgent child and adolescent response team, as a group therapist providing primarily CBT and DBT, and as an outreach worker for a multidisciplinary team that offered a home based alternative to psychiatric hospitalization. More recently I have worked in a local emergency department providing rapid assessment and intervention for mental health and substance use issues to youth who presented there, as well as coordinating mental health services for a local paediatric unit. Currently I coordinate mental health services for complex concurrent disordered youth on the North Shore who are transitioning from adolescent mental health to adult.
It is due to significant demand that I have elected to open a small practice catering to those who have the means to afford to access my high level of knowledge and who would not be able to access it via the public health care system.