Leza holds a Master of Arts in Addiction Counseling: Advanced Practice from the prestigious Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies, Minnesota, USA (MAAC-AP April 2023). She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Prince Edward Island and a Social Work degree from Dalhousie, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is a Canadian Certified Addiction Counsellor (CCAC) and Registered Social Worker (RSW: Ontario – psychotherapy).
Leza has engaged in varying levels of human services throughout her career, serving the people of Prince Edward Island. In July 2019, she embarked on a four-year professional journey to explore, engage with, and acquire international gold-standard practices in treatment for mental health and addictions. This journey led her to Paris, France, at a safe injection site and mobile unit delivering street treatment services, Homewood Health Centre, Addiction Medicine Program – inpatient treatment, Guelph, Ontario, and an education piece at Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School, Minnesota, USA. While in the degree program, her internships at multiple Hazelden Betty Ford sites included inpatient, outpatient, and virtual services from a stepped-level patient care delivery model.
After graduating, she returned home and founded Island Space For Healing, an eclectic evidence-based approach to practice that offers best practices in treatment modalities and model of patient care for individuals and their families struggling with mental health and addiction issues. Her work focuses on creating an inclusive, safe and confidential environment that meets the patient where they are at in their life’s journey by providing a therapeutic space for healing. Leza is dedicated to endorsing a wellness model for all residents of Prince Edward Island and abroad and believes that a multidisciplinary collaborative approach fosters strength at all levels; individuals, families, and personal and professional communities. Leza is passionate about this vision and welcomes any opportunity to engage and collaborate.
Leza believes her greatest accomplishment is being a mother to two wonderful adult children, mother-in-law, and Meemaw, to her pride and joy grandchildren. When not at the clinic, she enjoys spending time with her family, walks on the beach, classical music, and reading. She engages in spiritual practices, meditation, and cultural experiences to broaden her “worldview perspective.”
“I am committed to coming alongside you with compassion and empathy, creating space, meeting you where you are at in your journey, and together developing strategies and tools so when “Life gets Lifey,” you are empowered to believe that there is hope in healing and recovery.”
– Leza Matheson