Jamie Villenuve

About Me

I have been working the frontlines of a major trauma hospital as a Spiritual Care Practitioner for the last 17 years where I counseled people who were facing life changing illness, making end of life decisions,  and walking the road of grief and bereavement.

Before working at the hospital I spent 5 years working in the field of mental health and addictions.

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I graduated from York University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Art in Women’s Studies.  After graduating I went on to study Expressive Art Therapy at the International School of Interdisciplinary Studies (ISIS) before moving onto the University of Toronto where I graduated in 2006 with a Masters of Theological Studies.  In 2007 I did a year-long clinical residency at the University Health Network where I studied to become a certified Spiritual Care Practitioner. In 2012 I had the privilege of traveling to Sonoma County, California to study in a year-long Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program lead by Chris Zydel.

A few years later, in 2015, I traveled back to Carmel Valley, California where I studied and became an Initiated Bone Diviner learning to read the “Stones, Bones, and Cowery shells” based in the Dagara tradition. I have had the honour of studying under the direction of Reda Rackley who was taught by Malidoma Some, an Elder from West Africa in the country of Burkina Faso. In 2023 I entered into a 2nd year of training where I continued to deepen my integration of this tradition.