Spitzer takes over as executive director of on Jan. 21, assuming the mantle from the recently retired Denis Costello, who stepped down as executive director just before Christmas. Spitzer senses she is taking over at an agency that works smoothly and works well.
鈥淒enis has really created a wonderful culture of collaboration,鈥� said Spitzer, who has a long and varied career as a psychotherapist and marriage and family therapist. 鈥淚 sense very much that people feel supported to do their best work and to be innovative, and also an atmosphere of clinical excellence.鈥�
Spitzer is winding down a private Toronto practice providing therapy for individuals, couples and families to take on the role. She has clinical expertise in several areas with a special interest in depression, anxiety, trauma, loss, life transitions and their impacts, and has more than 15 years experience working with couples, including time working with . She is also on the faculty at the University of Guelph, teaching in the graduate program in couple and family therapy, and is past president of the .
It鱿鱼视频app an impressive resume that caught the eye of the board of directors at CFS.
鈥淲e are confident that Brenda鱿鱼视频app experience, knowledge and integrity will be a great asset for our agency, and she will continue to advance our mission in our local communities,鈥� said Marlin Taylor, president of the agency鱿鱼视频app board of directors.
Spitzer said she thinks her experience working on the frontlines, doing board and advocacy work and mentoring other therapists while also running her own practice, will help her lead Catholic Family 鱿鱼视频app.
鈥淭here is a lot of different ways to support clients and communities, so for me this is a great opportunity to bring all the different pieces into one place,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to putting my focus at the agency and sinking my teeth into the work there.鈥�
That said, Spitzer is not about to reinvent the wheel and drastically change how things are run. After all, the agency has been in existence since 1922 as a non-profit counselling agency and has delivered services to all in need, Catholic and non-Catholic.
Most things 鈥渁re working extremely well,鈥� she said. Her aim is to keep Catholic Family 鱿鱼视频app 鈥� a member of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto 鈥� focused on its people doing their best work in serving the community.
鈥淧art of being in a leadership position is managing a system where there鱿鱼视频app a lot of different pieces that need to be co-ordinated, where you don鈥檛 want people working in silos, where you want to foster a culture of innovation without losing sight of the mandate and the values that anchor the work,鈥� she said.
That work, she said, is of utmost importance in an age when people are feeling more disoriented. It could be the current political climate and the chaos south of the border, but Spitzer sees an agitation in people who are 鈥渘ot feeling grounded in things that are safe and important.鈥� It鱿鱼视频app where an agency like Catholic Family 鱿鱼视频app can be of service, she said.
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