Lorraine initiated her services in the public sector as an Occupational Therapist in 1989. Four years later in 1993, in association with the Canadian National Railway in its primary shops, she became the very first corporate Occupational Therapist. During her expedition at CN, she held the responsibility for implementing and developing services for occupational therapy at a significant industrial site.

Lorraine has been operating Maximize Human Capabilities – MHC Ergonomics and Occupational Therapy since 1997. Her overall work and experience spans across an impressive 31 years. During this period, she has worked with people who went through complex multiple trauma experiences and injuries, which in most cases co-occurred with other illnesses. Because of the complexity of such cases, it is common for the people involved to be affected cognitively, psychosocially, as well as physically during these illnesses and injuries. Lorraine’s services also include working with individuals who went through various kinds of mishaps such as work injuries, chronic pain, vehicle accidents, anxiety and depression, arthritis, mild brain injury, fibromyalgia, and several other injuries or illnesses. For numerous employers, she carries out early on site intervention of work related accidents/injuries. Lorraine has also implemented and developed several prevention programs based on employers needs. A few examples of the companies she has worked with include forestry, education, manufacturing, mining, heavy industry, and computer-based organizations.

Lorraine has been a sessional lecturer at the sessional lecturer at the University of Manitoba – Department of Occupational Therapy in the College of Rehabilitation Sciences.and on occasion she speaks at the University of Manitoba Continuing Education Case Management Certificate Program.

Psychosocial factors can be significant barriers with rehabilitation following physical injury of illness (e.g. anxiety and depression). In addition to her clinical practice, Lorraine has developed workshops for Occupational Therapists regarding how to identify, assess, and address these barriers with all functional assessments conducted in the workplace, home or in the clinic; and how to assist our clients with regaining their active roles at home, at work and in the community.

She has attended numerous meetings and conferences, presenting studies regarding return-to-work and psychosocial factors. In 2018 Lorraine developed an integrated occupational therapy model  M.A.C., or Maximize Assessment Capabilities, to enable occupational therapists’ to assess and integrate the heavily influencing interconnecting individual systems (e.g. emotional, cognitive, sensory-perceptual, physical) and the current environment. She has taught sold out workshops in Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver since launching the model. She is also fluent in Ukrainian.

Professional Associations

Lorraine has the following professional associations:

• College of Occupational Therapists of Manitoba
• Manitoba Society of Occupational Therapists
• Former Co-Chair of the Manitoba Society of Occupational Therapists Research Fund
• Former Co-Chair of the Manitoba Society of Occupational Therapists Private Practice Group
• Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
• Former chair of the Occupational Therapy Practice Committee with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
• World Federation of Occupational Therapists
• International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP)
• Claims Association of Manitoba

Apart from these associations, some significant highlights of Lorraine’s illustrious career include her nomination for the 2012 Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards sponsored by the Women Business Owners of Manitoba where she was a finalist, featured on Breakfast Television as well as her detailed interview on CTV news which was aired nationally. Lorraine was also a member and chair of a national committee on private practice with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.

Being an associate at MHC, she adds clinical work experience and valuable knowledge and expertise regarding psychosocial rehabilitation and mental wellbeing. This is mainly due to the fact that she has been working in this industry since 1998 after she obtained her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from the Federal University of Sao Carlos in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She has significant experience in this area due to her interaction with people of all ages that experienced psychosocial and neurological difficulty in inpatient, outpatient, community-based and hospital settings.

Due to her services in the public health sector, Ana adds her several years of combined knowledge and experience to MHC with her expansive expertise on complex topics such as psychosocial rehabilitation, addictions, and mental health including harm reduction model and recovery facilitation. She is trained in Progressive Goal Attainment Program (P.G.A.P.) and has also received additional training from the Co-Occurring Disorders Initiative, and the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba as well as other sources.

Ana is well versed with assessment, planning, prevention, and continuing care with significant experience in dealing with individuals in a critical situation. Apart from her academic expertise, her professional and research focus are linked to the development of worksite assessments, the work environment’s enhancement, accommodation of job, as well as prevention of injury. Ana is also fluent in both Portuguese and Spanish.