Our Leadership Team
Dr. Pia Pechtel
MPhil, PhD, DClinPsy
Pia is a clinical psychologist (UK-registered) and researcher with over 18 years of working with sexual abuse.
Pia received her PhD in Psychology in New Zealand where she helped to develop evidence-based national therapy guidelines for sexual abuse. She then joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School in the US to study the impact of trauma on the brain before completing her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Exeter (UK). She worked as a registered clinical psychologist in a sexual abuse specialist clinic for youth and led a research programme at the University of Exeter to identify neural mechanisms of self-harm after sexual abuse.
Pia is passionate about combining clinical psychology and developmental neuroscience to better support young people who experienced trauma and who find high-risk behaviour helpful. She currently works as a Consultant Psychologist for the Child Advocacy Centre Kelowna and volunteers her time as a Research Director for Youth Mental Health Foundation to support parents whose children self-harm.
Deanne Leung
B.A., M.Ed., R.C.C.
Deanne is the founder and clinical coordinator of Stepping Stones Counselling Group in Kelowna, BC.
In recent years, Deanne returned to her hometown and created Sage Cottage, a nature-based, rural trauma therapy practice in Armstrong, BC.
Deanne has practiced as a therapist with children, youth, and families for over 25 years. She has provided canine-assisted therapy for 20 of those years. Deanne’s therapeutic practice is rooted in neurobiology and understanding how experiences and relationships shape our brains. Her extensive training and experience in play and expressive therapies, EMDR, NMT (Child Trauma Academy), and Satir Family Systems Therapy, provide her with a vast and varied therapeutic tool kit.
Deanne specializes in trauma and attachment work with children and teens. She has developed groups and programs for trauma and attachment repair as well as for children who have lost a parent to death.
Deanne’s playful approach and dynamic presentations have been appreciated, locally, nationally, and internationally by a variety of audiences including therapists, teachers, social workers, judges, healthcare professionals, and supporters of healthy brains and communities.