Meet Our Team

Debra Rodrigues| Jo-Anne Fiore | Wendy Ross | Patricia Soltysiak | Maheen Sayal | Ayse HitchinsTina Hinsperger | Bronwen Bruch

 

DEBRA RODRIGUES

R.S.W., Hons. B.A., B.S.W.,  Acc. F.M (OAFM)., FDRP Med. (FDRIO), EAP Med., A.C.A., C.P. Med., C.R.P., Certified Elder Mediator (FMC), C.R.P

York University Instructor, Director of PCCS Mediators & Counsellors, Mediator, Supervisor ( Counsellor, Mediator, VCR Practitioner, Supervisor, Trainer, Facilitator)

Debra Rodrigues

Ms. Rodrigues never stops growing as a professional. Ms. Rodrigues is professionally quoted for many magazines and newspapers and has appeared on television/radio programs as an expert. Ms. Rodrigues developed and delivers training on the Voice of the Child for practitioners to learn how to meet and interview children and complete Voice of the Child Reports. She has written numerous articles including:

Rodrigues, Debra, & Brochu, Gail. (2020). Voice of the Child Reports.  Ontario Family Law Reporter. Vol. 33, Number 8 Cited as 33 O.F.L.R., 97-104

Ms. Rodrigues developed and teaches a comprehensive three-day course on “Learning to Meet and Interview Children for Voice of the Child Reports in FDR: 12 Step VCR”.  She spoke about this topic at the 2019 FDRIO conference and earlier at the Alternative Dispute Resolution Conference, hosted by the George Hull Centre.

Ms. Rodrigues has presented on Parenting Coordination at the Peel Lawyers’ Association and at the Ontario Courts of Justice Conference. She developed and/or delivered training curriculum/presentations for the Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, Seneca College, the Peel District School Board, Children’s Aid Societies, Family Mediation Canada, Ontario Association of Family Mediators, and FDRIO, as well as for other public and private organizations. She taught the Child Protection Mediation course and provided expert FDR consulting services for a Children’s Aid Society.  

She also provides internships and supervision for mediators, family mediation at four Courts, and is a senior mediator providing several different types of mediation in her practice.  Ms. Rodrigues provides Separation & Divorce, Family, Elder, Child Protection, Workplace and Family Business Mediation. In 2016 she became a Certified Elder Mediator and completed the coursework for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. 

She co-developed and presented a Model of Structuring Mediation Internships, and, provided province-wide training to child welfare workers, police officers and mental health therapists through the Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse and training for the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies. Ms. Rodrigues also conducted province-wide clinical audits of 13 Child Welfare Agencies under the Ministry of Community and Social Services including as clinical audit supervisor.

She completed a 10-month internship in family therapy and has undergone much subsequent training as a counsellor including Brief Solution Focused, ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), EMI, Cybercounselling, MBSR and MBCT.  Ms. Rodrigues provides counselling for individuals, couples and families, and has run many therapeutic groups in the past.  She completed training in family arbitration, Capacity Assessments and Parenting Capacity Assessments. One of the first Parenting Coordinators in

Ontario, and she provided services as a clinical Investigator for the Office of the Children’s Lawyer for 14 years.  She is an Accredited Child Protection Mediator with the Ontario Child Protection Mediation Roster and an approved Family Group Conference Coordination Coordinator.  She has conducted many workplace mediations, 

facilitations and training that involve a wide variety of issues. She particularly enjoys working with family-owned businesses. Ms. Rodrigues is also a Certified Employee Recognition Professional. Ms. Rodrigues was President of the Board of Directors for Distress Line Peel, participated on the Standards Committee for OAFM in relation to the  Voice of the Child, and assists OAFM by participating on their Trainers Committee. Ms. Rodrigues is a member of OAFM, OASW, OCSWSSW, AFCC, FDRIO, FMC,

Phone: 905-567-8858, Email: drodrigues@pccs.ca | LinkedIn

  • 34 years of experience
  • Director of PCCS Mediators & Counsellors – 28 years
  • Professional Registered Social Worker
  • Accredited Family Mediator – 25 years
  • Voice of the Child Trainer and Specialist
  • Instructor at York University, Post Graduate Family Mediation Program
  • Past President of OAFM Peel-Dufferin Chapter
  • Workplace Mediator
  • Certified Elder Mediator
  • FDR Consultant and Trainer
  • EAP Accredited Mediator
  • Child Protection Roster Mediator (Ontario Child Protection Mediation Roster)
  • Child Protection Mediation Trainer 
  • Court Mediator – Milton, Brampton, Orangeville (past), Guelph, Hamilton
  • Supervisor of Mediation Interns
  • Counsellor – Individuals, Couples, Families, Groups, MBSR and MBCT
  • Qualified Capacity Assessor (past)
  • Counsellor – Individuals, Couples, Families, Groups
  • Qualified Capacity Assessor (past)
  • Clinical Investigator for the Office of the Children’s Lawyer (14 years)
  • Parenting Coordinator
  • Collaborative Family Professional and Child Specialist
  • Custody and Access Assessor (Past)
  • Professional Trainer
  • Family Group Conference Coordinator (Past)
  • Facilitator of Permanency Planning Meetings (Past)
  • Designed and Lead Cooperative Parenting Groups (Past)
  • Therapeutic Reconnection Counselling (Past)
  • Therapeutic Supervised Access (Past)
  • Parenting Capacity Assessments – Trained
  • Arbitration – Trained
  • Certified Recognition Professional
Debra Rodrigues currently provides:
  • Mediation – Family Issues, Elder Issues, Separation & Divorce, Parenting Plans, Workplace Issues, Child Protection, Court Mediation Services, Child Protection Mediation Trainer for Ministry of Children and Youth Services
  • Consulting, ADR, curriculum development and Training on ADR processes and practice for public and private organizations
  • Consulting and Training on Employee Recognition for public and private organizations
  • Counselling for Individuals, Couples, Families, School Board Employees (over 16 years), private client referrals, as well as EAP’s
  • MBSR and MBCT Counselling and Group Counselling
  • Facilitation of permanency planning meetings.
  • Coordinates Family Group Decision Making Conferences
  • Workplace mediation and conflict resolution services, conflict assessment, EAP services (clinical and presentations) and professional training.
  • Child Protection Mediation, Ontario Child Protection Mediation Roster
  • Milton, Brampton, Guelph, Hamilton Court Mediator
  • Internship supervisor in family mediation towards accreditation from OAFM.
  • Certified Recognition Professional – Consulting and Training

Jo-Anne Fiore (Accredited Mediator, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Commissioner)

BA, CFP, RRC, FDS, Acc. F.M. (OAFM), Commissioner of Oaths

Jo-Anne FioreMs. Fiore is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and Accredited Family Mediator. Her role is to assist our clients in achieving the best possible financial outcome.

Jo-Anne Fiore is a 25 year financial professional who has seen firsthand the financial devastation that can occur through separation and divorce when decisions were being guided by emotions rather than information. Jo-Anne earned a BA in Economics from York University, is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Registered Retirement Consultant (RRC) and Accredited Financial Divorce Specialist (FDS) with a certificate in Family Mediation from York University.

Jo-Anne has chosen to focus her extensive financial knowledge in the area of Separation and Divorce as it relates to property division and settlement. She encourages financial literacy at a time when it is most critical. As an educator, she brings clarity to the many complexities of family finance and helps clients develop an understanding of all the financial variables that will affect their lives not just today but tomorrow as well. She takes clients through the maze of Pensions, RRSPs, TFSAs, Matrimonial home issues, stock portfolios, family businesses and beyond. It is a life planning approach that strives to secure the future of everyone involved. She helps to analyze various settlement options while keeping everyone’s interests in mind and developing settlements that are mutually beneficial. As a Speaker she holds workshops for those who are in need of information about separation and divorce and want the guidance that can help empower them into good choices.

Ms. Fiore recently became a Commissioner of Oaths.  A Commissioner of Oaths is a person authorized to take your oath or solemn affirmation when you sign an affidavit or a statutory declaration. A Commissioner does not certify that the statements being made in the affidavit or statutory declaration are true, but only certifies that an oath or solemn affirmation has been administered properly.  A Commissioner of Oaths must administer the oath or declaration in a way prescribed by law, which requires that you be physically present before the commissioner of oaths.  The Commissioner of Oaths must be satisfied concerning the authenticity of your identity and signature prior to the signing of the document. Your signature is confirmed by comparing it to that on a piece of existing identification.

Email: info@pccs.ca

Wendy Ross (Counsellor, Accredited Mediator)

BA, MSW, RSW, Acc. F.M., Cert. Elder Mediation

Wendy Ross is a registered social worker who has 40 years of experience. In the early part of her career, she worked with seniors living in the community as well as in various health care facilities. She also facilitated several groups for families of those who had Alzheimer’s Disease, and was a member of the Toronto Alzheimer’s Family Support Group Committee. Additionally, Ms. Ross’ counselling and psychotherapy experience includes working with patients admitted to in-patient and out-patient hospital programs. Ms. Ross has also provided critical incident debriefing for a national Employee Assistance Program, in addition to the counselling she has provided for PCCS since 2008.

Ms. Ross has helped people with a wide variety of problems including abuse, bereavement, loss, life stage adjustments, separation and divorce, relationship problems, trauma, crisis situations, and mental health and/or addiction problems. This includes working with individuals who have anxiety and depression and which may include substance abuse.

Ms. Ross also provided health care coordination and management for multiple mental health and addiction programs at a large multi-site health care corporation for thirty one years, developing and implementing hospital and regional services as a member of the mental health and addictions leadership team.

She has chaired many committees over her career for the benefit of helping individuals and their families as well as the community. She has extensive knowledge about community resources that can be of benefit to clients. Her leadership positions include developing hospital and regional protocols for child abuse, woman abuse, and crisis intervention, as well as for mental health and addiction programs, and she has detailed knowledge in these areas.

She was also instrumental in developing and chairing the mental health and addiction committee addressing diversity, the committee for risk assessment and prevention, and the Family and Consumer Program Advisory Committee. Additionally, Ms. Ross was a member of the Hospital’s Global Health Team and travelled to India with a health care team in 2016 to work with various hospitals and their patients.

Ms. Ross is an accredited family mediator as well as an accredited elder mediator. She is also a coach for York University in their Family Mediation Program.

Ms. Ross is currently a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers, the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, as well as the Ontario Association of Family Mediators.

Email: info@pccs.ca

Patricia Soltysiak (Counsellor)

M.S.W., R.S.W.

Trish Soltysiak is a professional social worker who has been working in Children’s Mental Health for close to 10 years. Ms. Soltysiak is known for her warm, empathic therapeutic style and her commitment to clinical excellence. She has dedicated her professional life to counselling clients with mood and anxiety disorders, addictions, grief/loss, trauma, life transitions and relationship difficulties. In the early part of her career, she worked with children and youth in various settings including education, corrections, group homes and child welfare.

After completing her Master’s in Social Work with a Specialization in Children and Families and Addiction Studies, she provides individual and family counselling. As well, Ms. Soltysiak has extensive experience in group development and implementation with a focus on psycho-education, mindfulness-based practices and social and emotional development. She developed a martial arts program for at-risk youth and a mindfulness-based group for transitional aged youth.

Ms. Soltysiak utilizes various treatment modalities including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and Mindfulness practice.  She employs a strength-based perspective.

Ms. Soltysiak is a member of OASW and OCSWSSW. She is also actively involved in various Committees in the community with a focus on children’s mental health.

Email: info@pccs.ca

Maheen Sayal

M.S.W, R.S.W

Maheen Sayal is a Registered Social Worker. She earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts with distinction from University of Waterloo, and a Masters of Social Work from University of Toronto while in receipt of the prestigious University of Toronto Fellowship. She has also completed certification in clinical hypnosis, solution focused counselling and online counselling.
With over 18 years of clinical experience in diverse settings, Maheen has worked with children, youth, adults. couples and families on a wide range of issues. She specializes in the experience of anxiety, depression, stress management, addiction, anger management, grief and adjustment issues, chronic illness, life transitions, relationship issues, separation and divorce, and trauma.
Maheen utilizes a variety of therapeutic methods to help clients achieve their goals, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Clinical Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Techniques, Multi-systemic Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy and Solution Focused Therapy.

Email: info@pccs.ca

 

Ayse Hitchins (Mediator)

B.A., Acc. F.M., CP Med. (Ontario Child Protection Mediation Roster), Certified Elder Mediator

Ayse HitchinsSince 1991, Ayse Hitchins has worked with many diverse groups in different parts of the world, as both a professional trainer and mediator. The training she provides is designed to serve the individual and collective needs of the clients to achieve success.Ms. Hitchins delivers training that is interactive, educational, and interesting. She draws upon her world travels to make the training experiential.

Ms. Hitchins has mediated well over a thousand cases and currently also serves as a mediator for the Courts in Brampton, Milton and Hamilton. She is accredited by the Ontario Association of Family Mediators and is a family, workplace and child protection mediator for PCCS.

Besides training and mediation, Ms. Hitchins enjoys serving her community. For the past 27 years, she has had the opportunity to live in many different parts of the world and continually serve her global community. Her mission is to teach others about “cultural sensitivity”. Ms. Hitchins is also an author having written a book called Worth of a Soul published by Seagull books.

Ms. Hitchins is a mediator and trainer.

Email: info@pccs.ca

Tina Hinsperger (Accredited Mediator)

B.Sc., B.S.W., R.S.W., Acc. F.M. (OAFM), Certified EM Candidate

Tina Hinsperger is a professional social worker with 22 years of experience. Her skills include facilitation, coordination, investigation, assessments, and counselling. Her areas of specialty include parenting, separation and divorce, and custody and access issues.

Ms. Hinsperger has worked in various capacities including as a clinical investigator with the Office of the Children’s Lawyer for eleven years, coordinator of the supervised access program in Dufferin County for eight years, private custody/access assessor, child protection worker for child protection services, counsellor in the criminal justice system, and as a facilitator for groups in the child witness preparation program.

Ms. Hinsperger is an accredited family mediator through the Ontario Association of Family Mediators. She provides mediation for the Courts in Orangeville. Ms. Hinsperger also facilitates parenting courses and workshops on a regular basis and has written articles for community newspapers on parenting issues.

Ms. Hinsperger is currently a member of OASW and OCSWSSW and is a past member of OCCSW

Ms. Hinsperger is a mediator in Orangeville, Ontario.

Email: info@pccs.ca

 

Bronwen Bruch, BMath, CPA, CMA, CFDS, AccEM

Bronwen Bruch comes to the divorce arena with a much needed conciliatory style to resolving conflicts. Her knowledge of taxation, financial planning, mediation, and collaborative procedures provides clients with a thorough evaluation of the financial ramifications of separation settlement options.

Her 25 year career as a professional accountant started in large corporations like IBM Canada Ltd and TransCanada Pipelines Ltd.  This was followed by running her own business, “Number Crunchers”, where she provided accounting and personal tax services. For the last decade of her accounting career, she was employed at a small CA firm providing services to personal tax and small business clients, as well as working on small audits.

She used her non-judgmental personality, her passion for conflict resolution, and her many years in the Accounting field, to become a Financial Divorce Specialist, Mediator and Collaborative Financial Professional.  She has since presented at numerous conferences.

Email: info@pccs.ca

 
Our Professional Network
  • Social Workers and Mediators
  • Consultants and Trainers
  • Facilitators
  • Family Group Conference Coordinators
  • Psychologists and Psychological Associates
  • Mediation Systems Designers for Businesses
  • Life Coaches
  • Leadership & Professional Development Coaches
  • Financial Consultants
  • Certified Divorce Financial Analysts
  • Employee Recognition Programs and Administration
  • Arbitrators
  • Online Therapists