About - Pegasus Recovery Solutions
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About

Pegasus Recovery Solutions was founded in 2007 to provide comprehensive services to people dealing with substance abuse.

We recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to addiction recovery, so we offer a range of options to fulfill individual needs and circumstances.

The team at Pegasus has extensive experience in treating substance use disorder and the skills to provide the right level of support and direction throughout every step of the recovery process.

Treatment Team

Sue Donaldson / RSW, CCAC, ICADC, CEC

Director, Counsellor, Interventionist

Sue has worked as a counsellor, life coach, interventionist and consultant in addictions and mental health since 1995. She has helped thousands of people to transform lives of suffering in addiction to thriving in recovery. She is well regarded for her expertise, commitment, integrity and professionalism in the addictions treatment field in Canada and the US.  She has excellent, long-standing relationships with many other service providers and all of the component parts of addictions treatment in both the public and private sectors so she is able to consistently ensure that people get the right help at the right time. Sue’s professional associations include the British Columbia College of Social Workers, Canadian Association of Social Workers and Pennsylvania Certification Board.

Alice Houston-Mais / MSW, RCC

Program Facilitator

Alice graduated as a BSW from the University of Victoria in 1982 then completed her MSW at the University of Calgary in 1992.  Alice has specialized on studying the treatment of addiction and trauma in individual, group and family therapies.  She developed a family therapy model that combined systemic and structural family therapies with ideas from twelve step recovery.  

Alice is a Certified CBT practitioner through the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.  She also trains and supervises CBT practitioners and teaches CBT at the University of Victoria. 

In recent years Alice received extensive training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and worked in substance use and mental health at  Island Health in Victoria while also providing clinical supervision and comprehensive training in CBT to Island Health staff.  She now brings her wealth of skills and experience to the Pegasus team, where she is facilitating the Recovery Foundations program which is centred on CBT and DBT  for relapse prevention and sustained recovery.  

Personally, Alice has thrived as a sober person for the past thirty-six years.  

Doug Hilton / MSC, RCC

Counsellor

Doug Hilton is a Registered Clinical Counsellor; he has been working in the field since 1992. Over time he has specialized in working with children, teens, adults and seniors in small communities and bigger centres. Doug has worked exclusively with trauma, addictions including problem gambling, behavioural issues and psychiatric conditions.

Doug utilizes his training in EMDR, EFT, Hypnosis in his work with clients. He is also a certified Chi Kung instructor (since 1994) and practitioner. Chi Kung is Chinese medicine through the use of meditation, massage and movement. He studies with Grandmaster Mantak Chia in his training centre in Thailand. He combines his various counselling methodologies and Chi Kung to provide a holistic service that works on mind, body and spirit.

Doug and Master Chia have co-authored a book entitled EMDR and the Universal Healing Tao. The book teaches people about the connections between depression, anxiety, trauma and addictions and describes a new treatment and self-help technique to address those issues. Doug is also the Clinical Service Provider for the BC Responsible and Problem Gambling Program in Victoria. Problem gambling services are provided free of charge.

Emily Donaldson-Coulter / BSW, RSW, CPRC

Continuing Care Coordinator & Program Facilitator

Emily graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelors in Social Work and is scheduled to begin a Masters program next year. She is a registered social worker with the BC College of Social Workers, and currently fills the role of Continuing Care Coordinator and outpatient group facilitator. Emily brings with her personal knowledge of addiction and recovery, having been in abstinent recovery and an active member of the local recovery community for over ten years. Emily practices from a holistic and relational paradigm that is rooted in an empowered and strengths-based approach, and tends to prioritize moving forward in life and recovery rather than looking back. Emily recently completed the Certified Professional Recovery Coach Training through the International Association of Professional Recovery Coaches (IAPRC) and is excited to offer individuals this service and the tools to thrive in recovery. When she’s not working, Emily spends her time taking care of her two small children, investing in her own recovery and spirituality, and enjoying time outdoors.

Esther Nowelle / BA (Psych), CCAC

Counsellor & Continuing Care Group Facilitator

Esther graduated from the University of Victoria with a BA in Psychology in 2018. She is also a Canadian Certified Addictions Counsellor (CCAC) Candidate and CSA. Through a previous role at a Sober Living Home, Esther was inspired by the guidance she and her residents had received from Lucy Price and Sue Donaldson.

Esther is now delighted to be a member of the Pegasus Team under the leadership of these strong and empowering women. Through a strengths-based and spiritually-driven approach, cultivated from a centre of courage and renewal, Esther helps recovering individuals to discover their values and nurture their own unique healing potential. The transformation and growth Esther sees in her clients at Pegasus inspires her on a daily basis.

Esther credits her volunteer role as an Advanced Case Worker with Restorative Justice for growing her passion in helping individuals to repair harm while moving through significant and transitional moments in their lives. Through this lifeline organization, Esther gained experience and training in supporting people with trauma, PTSD, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, depression, codependency, substance abuse disorders, and complex behavioural issues. As a long-time resident of Victoria and lifetime lover of the West Coast, Esther enjoys spending time near the ocean and in nature, noting both as sources of healing on her personal path of long-term recovery. In her spare time, Esther enjoys being the best Auntie to eight nieces and nephews, volunteering, relaxing on the beach, and being of service in her recovery community.

Workplace Testing Team

Nicola Donaldson / CSC

Clinic Manager

Nicola joined the Pegasus team in 2011 and currently manages all aspects of office administration, as well as the workplace and occupational testing under Pegasus Workplace Solutions. She possesses a wealth of personal knowledge regarding long-term abstinent recovery from substance use disorder, and is also the resident IT expert, bookkeeping and accounting wizard and general administrator extraordinaire. Nicola was born and raised on Vancouver Island and is eternally grateful to be able to raise her three young children here as well.

Lisa Aubrey / BSW, RSW, CCAC, CSC

Monitoring Program Director

Lisa received her Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Northern British Columbia (2000) and a postgraduate certificate in Substance Abuse Counselling from the University of the Fraser Valley (2006). An experienced counsellor, case manager and facilitator, Lisa spent 20 years in rural and northern social work, primarily in mental health, addictions, domestic and sexual violence, and criminal justice.

As the director of the Pegasus monitoring program , Lisa is DATAC and DOT certified in biological monitoring.  She is passionate about her role in assisting people in maintaining their abstinence and integrating recovery. In a lifetime filled with adventures, Lisa believes that living and working in recovery has been the greatest one yet.