Dr. Sohail, psychiatrist, poet, and writer, has a wide range of interests and passions. He received his degree in medicine from Khyber Medical College, Pakistan in 1974, and completed his residency in Psychiatry at Memorial University, Newfoundland in 1982. From 1983 to 1995 he worked in psychiatric hospitals in Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Ontario. In 1995 he left the hospital to open the Creative Psychotherapy Clinic in Whitby, Ontario.

 

He has presented papers at professional conferences in various countries:

 

• Mystery of Love  -Atlantic Psychiatric Association 1982
• Therapy With People Suffering from Schizophrenia   - Canadian
• Psychiatric Association, Winnipeg, 1992
• Therapy With Couples -International Conference on Divorce, Israel, 1993
• Therapy With Immigrants -World Psychiatric Conference, Rio de Janeiro, 1994
• The Revolving Door: Encounters With The Chronically Mentally Ill   -  Ontario Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, 2000
• Breaking the Cycle: Encounters With Domestic Violence in the Muslim Community - Canadian Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, 2000

 

He has written several books on various aspects of therapy:

 

• Therapeutic Encounters ( Psychotherapy)
• Schizophrenia: Accepting A Challenge
• From One Culture To Another  (Therapy With Immigrants)
• Strangers Care  (Group Therapy)
• Mixed Marriages: A 21st Century Phenomenon
• Encounters With Depression
• Growing Alone - Growing Together  (Therapy With Couples)

 

He has also published a collection of poems and short stories:

 

• Pages of My Heart (Poetry)
• Breaking the Chains (Short Stories)
• A Broken Man (Novella)

 

In the past five years, his company, Darvesh Films Canada, has made several documentaries on mental health issues:

 

• Intimate Encounters (Mixed Marriages)
• Mixed Messages (Children of Mixed Marriages)
• Encounters With Depression
• Growing Alone - Growing Together (Therapy With Couples)
• The Revolving Door: Encounters With the Chronically Mentally Ill
• Breaking the Cycle: Encounters With Domestic Violence in the Muslim Community

 

Books by Dr. Sohail:

 

• From Islam to Secular Humanism (2001)
• The Myth of The Chosen One: Serial Killers (2002)
• The Art of Living in Your Green Zone (October 2002)
• Whether through the written word or the moving image, Dr. Sohail has always been interested in sharing his humanistic philosophy about people suffering from mental illness and emotional problems, with other professionals, family members and the community at large. He also believes that learning is a life-long process, and that working together is better than working alone.

Bette Davis completed a Bachelor of Nursing in 1984 and later in 1993 received a Master of Nursing, both specializing in Mental Health / Psychiatry. Through the Master’s Program Bette was awarded a substantial grant to pursue her graduate research focused on developing and designing an advanced educational program for nurses. Her intense exposure to the theory and practice of therapy began, however, in 1979 when she was presented with the opportunity to be one of the members of the coveted Day Hospital Treatment Centre at the Waterford Hospital, St. John’s, Newfoundland, a program that was innovative in its design and intensive in its therapeutic programs even by today’s standards.  Dr. Sohail was also a member of this team and during that foundational experience they became close friends and colleagues.

 

Bette has worked for over thirty-five years as an individual therapist, clinical teacher, senior manager and group leader. Through this time she has designed and conducted effective communication and interpersonal relationship courses, initially for nurses and other health professionals, and later for staff and managers in the private and public sector.  In the early ‘90s, Bette’s growing interest in designing healthy workplaces was shaped by requests to develop and implement programs tailored to the needs of various work environments. Most notably in 1997, while in the position of Professional Practice Coordinator for the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, Newfoundland she was invited to lead the development of a workplace program to address the mounting stress of 2300 nurses across a newly reorganized seven hospital organization.  Bette later replicated this highly rated program across another health care organization.

 

Having lost contact for the better part of a decade, Bette and Sohail reconnected in 2001, following an invitation for Bette to join Sohail in writing a book on relationships entitled, Love, Sex and Marriage: Intimate letters between two psychotherapist friends. Very early in that process, they were delighted to realize another area of mutual interest.   When Bette explained her special interest in workplace wellness, they knew that they wanted to write the third book in the Green Zone Books Series, The Art of Working in Your Green Zone. This book focuses on assisting employees, managers and business owners to cope with stress in the workplace, strengthen productivity, reduce absenteeism and enhance quality of work life.

 

After conducting workshops and seminars in Newfoundland, Bette brought her wealth of knowledge and experience to Ontario to develop seminars based on the Green Zone Books Series, thus helping organizations and institutions to deal with their challenges and build healthier workplaces across the country.

 

Bette currently works collaboratively with Dr. Sohail at Creative Psychotherapist Clinic in Whitby, Ontario. They offer a combination of individual, relationship, family and group Psychotherapy tailored to individual needs. To learn more about the Green Zone Living Concept and the Green Zone Book Series visit her website at www.greenzoneliving.ca