Amanda Leith – Operations Director & Counselor/Facilitator
Amanda Leith launched SHiFT – Recovery by Acorn in Spring of 2019, opening an exciting new chapter in the 30-year legacy of Acorn Food Dependency Recovery Services. A member of the Acorn team since 2015, Amanda is an addictions counselor and a recovering food addict.
Amanda’s passion for recovery from food addiction helps to produce life-changing results with her clients. Her sharp sense for what needs to be addressed first in an individual’s life in order to overcome food addiction guides her practice. The message that she brings to those struggling is one of hope.
Amanda is an addiction counselor, a certified food addiction counselor, FAI/ACORN certified food addiction professional and CENAPS-trained Advanced Relapse Prevention Specialist (ARPS), with a background in drug and alcohol addiction counseling and group facilitation.
Click here to read Amanda’s story of recovery from food addiction.
Christine Gaggin – Accountability Coach
Christine Gaggin is the newest member of the SHiFT team. She is a nurse practitioner and has spent 25 years working in multiple roles as a clinician, counselor, coach, and educator including 15 years caring for people with lifestyle related diseases like obesity and diabetes gaining expertise in nutrition and lifestyle medicine. She also has experience providing multi-faceted treatment to patients suffering from alcohol, drug and tobacco use disorders and more recently food addiction.
In addition to her clinical work, she has leadership experience including the Director of Nursing for a large accountable care organization of 150,000 patients, Program Director of a Diabetes Clinic and most recently as the Chief of Medicine in Primary Care.
What her resume does not reflect is her secret 30-year battle with food addiction and bulimia. After trying innumerous treatments over the past 30 years without any sustainable recovery, she came to SHiFT in the Spring of 2023 in end stage food addiction exhausted and hopeless.
Karen Gormley – Accountability Coach
Karen Gormley is a grateful recovering food addict who, after her early retirement from her job as a finance manager at a Fortune 1000 company, pursued her dream of working with Food Addiction recovery.
In addition to 15 years of experience in peer support groups, she has completed both the SHiFT Professional Training Program and the INFACT Food Addiction Counseling program and is certified by the European Certification Board as a food addiction counselor. Karen has been part of the SHiFT team since 2019.
Tosca Lindberg – Accountability Coach
Tosca is a gratefully recovering food addict who has been led to help others suffering from food addiction. As a certified teacher, she served as an educator in the public school systems in Rochester, NY and Guam for the past 30 years. Most of those years were spent working with at-risk students who struggled with learning difficulties and adverse childhood experiences. She has a deep passion to provide support for hurting people and a keen eye for identifying needs. Her awareness of the importance of mental health and her personal experience with addiction and recovery have inspired her to make this change in her career path. She is certified as a Food Addiction Professional through the International School for Food Addiction and Treatment (INFACT). She is fun-loving and adventurous and enjoys being active in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
Gina Miller – Counselor/Facilitator
Gina is the newest member of the counselling team at SHiFT Recovery. She works individually with Shift clients to support their abstinence and to uncover and heal beliefs and behaviors that surface throughout recovery.
For the last twenty years Gina has worked in the helping field in a variety of environments with diverse populations. She has guided clients using Art Therapy as a way to process emotions with people living with HIV and AIDS at The Dr. Peter Centre, and with adults with developmental disabilities for Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living.
Gina spent years as a Coach, counselling people with negative body image and food addiction at Vital Body Weight Loss Clinic. This latter work and her lived experience with addiction, led Gina to work as a Group Facilitator and provide individual counselling in Addiction Treatment in private practice. Some of that work included facilitating intensive non-residential treatment programs for women suffering from drug misuse disorder, for Sage Counselling and Addiction Services.
It is the combination of Gina’s lived experience, humor and wisdom that make her sessions collaborative, healing and joyful. She believes that everyone has the possibility for hope, resilience and liberation whether they are suffering from addiction, grief and loss, negative body and self esteem issues, co-dependency and the myriad of pain that is part of a life.
Gina has a BFA from ECUAD, Certified in Compassionate Inquiry with Gabor Mate, Addictions Counsellor, Certified Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention-UCSD, Certified Mindfulness Instructor.
Barney Reason – Counselor/Facilitator
Barney Reason is an experienced therapist, coach and facilitator with a solid foundation of personal and professional experiences. Having started his recovery journey in 1987. Barney has faced and overcome many challenges, which have equipped him with wide resources to help clients from diverse backgrounds and issues.
With a globally recognized food addiction treatment professional qualification, Barney has worked in the addiction field in both residential facilities and one-to-one settings, specializing in providing therapeutic solutions to addicts and their families dealing with trauma.
He played a crucial role in establishing Mankind Project in the UK in the early 1990s, where he remains a Trustee. Barney was also the first non-US man certified as a leader in the Mankind Project’s The New Warrior Training, where he acquired skills that he still uses today.
Throughout his journey, Barney has held significant responsibilities, such as managing a multi-campus facility in the US for individuals, from all over the world, seeking personal and spiritual transformation. Besides the addiction field, Barney has created numerous organizations, primarily in financial markets, media, and property, where he earned a reputation for development and coaching.
Barney is an enthusiastic and passionate individual dedicated to inspiring people to improve their lives, along with their families and communities.
Tina Selinsky – Group Leader/House Manager
Tina Selinsky, M.Ed., is a graduate of the ACORN Professional Training and the INFACT Food Addiction Counseling program and is certified by the European Certification Board as a food addiction counselor. She served as secretary and treasurer of the Food Addiction Institute for over 5 years. Tina has facilitated ACORN groups in the past and currently hosts many of the SHiFT Strong Support meetings. For many years, Tina operated the Sugar Free Place, a recovery home dedicated to supporting people’s abstinence. Tina has been active in a Twelve Step community for 30 years and is committed to putting abstinence first, absolutely!
Raynea McCumber – Operations Administrator
Raynea has managed the SHiFT office since 2011, coordinating SHiFT – Recovery by Acorn food addiction treatment programs and overseeing registration. She assists clients with any logistical needs to ensure that their treatment experience runs smoothly.
Often the first point of contact for SHiFT Recovery by Acorn clients, Raynea brings warmth and ease to an otherwise daunting process. Her commitment to supporting others helps those struggling with food addiction to feel at home in their treatment program.
Raynea holds an AAS degree in Computer Information Technology and Networking. Her background is in executive support, previously serving as registrar and admissions director for public and private schools.
Kurtis O’Brien – Marketing Lead
Kurtis is a Digital Marketing Strategist with a background in video production and a passion for storytelling. He joined the SHiFT team in November 2020 as a Marketing Lead, and has helped transform our digital presence as well as being the driving force on our marketing team.
While working remotely, Kurtis leads an active lifestyle in his picturesque ski town of Whistler, BC. On any given weekend, you can find him mountain biking, hiking, camping, skiing and fly fishing. His energy, stories and photos from recent adventures are a hot topic on team meetings and we always look forward to hearing them.