True North Institute Community Faculty

True North Institute classes are taught by True North practitioners and community faculty. To read True North practitioner bios, please refer to the Our Practitioners section. Listed below are bios of our active community faculty members.

WERNER BRANDMAIER, DIPL.ING., a native of Austria and founder of the Institute of Feng Shui & Geopathology, comes to Feng Shui with a strong engineering background. He completed his masters in electrical engineering in 1983 and worked for more than ten years in the field of high tech medicine in one of Europe's largest and best equipped university hospitals, the AKH Wien (General Hospital of Vienna, Austria). Over the past twelve years Werner has studied with many international Feng Shui masters. He teaches seminars and is dedicated to spreading the message of Feng Shui, especially on the impact of subtle earth energies on our health and well-being. He is a member of the International Feng Shui Guild and the American Society of Dowsers.

SUZETTE CYR, RN is a doula and holistic health educator. She has 13 years nursing experience working with women, children and families during the childbearing years. She is a birth and early parent educator at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston Maine. She also works as an ER crisis nurse helping children, women and men of all ages obtain treatment for emotional/physical truama, mental illness and chemical dependency issues. She believes in the importance of mind -body awarness training to facilitate healing and integrate balance in our being. The meditation and breathing techniques offered in Calm Birth and Calm Healing, are ways one can experience and promote self healing, awarness and peace. Suzette is married with two young daughters. She has extensive cultural knowledge of Southeast Asia while she traveled and lived with her parents in Malaysia for 13 years. She has stuied herbology and shamanism and has an interest in plant medicines and the spiritual birth practices of traditional cultures.

JEN DERASPE, MS is an Institute for The Work Certified Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie and uses The Work to undo her own stressful beliefs. She offers this tool to clients and on retreats through Nurture Through Nature, her green retreat center in Denmark, Maine. FMI: www.ntnretreats.com.

ALLAN K. DREW, LMT, NCBTMB studied at theDowneast School of Massagein Waldoboro, Maine andSarasota School of Massage Therapyin Sarasota, Florida. He has taught his approach to healing low back injuries in seminarsto massage therapists.

BETSEY FOSTER, MPH has taught Qigong and T’ai Chi for 13 years and teaches at health centers and hospitals in Maine. She writes and presents on these topics and specializes in the health benefits of these arts. She is director of T’ai Chi and Qigong for All.

LARRY IRA LANDAUis the owner and director of Dragonfly Taijiquan in Portland, ME. He has been a practitioner and teacher of the Chinese healing arts of taiji and qigong for over 30 years.

JUDITH G. KIMBALL, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA is Founding Director and Professor in the Occupational Therapy program at the University of New England. Her research, writing and clinical work centers on sensory processing disorders and craniosacral therapy. 

DIANE MACKINNON, MD, ACC is a family physician and life coach. Her commitment to life coaching comes from her belief that discovering your true path and following it leads to healing in mind, body and spirit. To learn more, visit her website: www.dianemackinnon.com.

DIDI ROBINSON is a Medical Assistant with over 9 years experience in emergency services. She served for 9 years as an EMT in the Falmouth Fire/EMS/Police Department, including three years as a Paramedic. Didi is a certified CPR instructor through the American Heart Association and brings humor to the classroom.

ABBY SEIXAS, L.M.H.C., M.ED. is an author, speaker and psychotherapist in private practice. Since 1994, her popular Deep River™ groups have helped countless women reclaim their life-balance and bring more sanity and soul back into daily life. Her television appearances include NBC’s The Today Show and the Hallmark channel, and her work has been featured in national and local print media, including “O” The Oprah Magazine, Self, Body+Soul, Woman’s Day, Fitness and The Boston Globe. Abby has been in the mental health field for more than twenty-five years and has been a consultant and clinical psychotherapy supervisor at training centers in the United States, England, the Netherlands and Russia.

PAULA TETREAULT has been a gymnast, dancer and yoga practitioner for most of her life. She has taugh Hatha, Ashtanga and Power yoga since 1991. Paula is passionate about yoga and is inspired by people who live healthy lives and want yoga to be a daily part of that. Join her for classes that will add balance, power and flexibility to your life.

Team Instructors:

CYNTHIA ATKINSON, CEMP/S/I, CHTP and KATHLEEN SCACCIAFERRO, RN, MSA, CHTP/I, CEMP/I
Cynthia is a Certified Energy Medicine Practitioner, Specialist, and Instructor. The first Certified Healing Touch Practitioner in Maine, she delights in teaching people to understand their own energy system and to manage their energy in a way that fosters their natural healing capacities for optimum health, joy, and vitality. Kathleen is an instructor for the Energy Medicine Program. She is the School Nurse at the Vergennes Union High School, Vergennes, Vermont where she promotes a holistic health focus and provides Energy Medicine for faculty, staff and students. She is adjunct Faculty of the School of Nursing at the Unversity of Vermont.

SUSAN FEKETY, MSN, CNM and KAREN FAGAN
Susan Fekety is a certified nurse midwife, author and health care provider at True North. Her practice recently has included FirstLine Therapy for men and women, a Functional Medicine based-approach to teaching men and women to use nutrition as a way to get and stay healthy. Karen Fagan is a life coach who specializes in Weight Loss Coaching for women and is passionate about coaching women to achieve a healthy body image. She also is a motivational coach for people who are in major life transition personal or professional, people who are ready to become unstuck and remove the obstacles that stand in their way, facilitator with clients to create new thought patterns and take actions that will better serve them. Dr. Martha Beck, Life Coach to the Oprah show and monthly contributor to the O magazine, certifies Karen. Learn more at www.awakenyourpurpose.com.

AMY KUSTRA, MD, COLEEN CONNOLLY, RN, MAc & KRISTINE SCHER
AMY KUSTRA, MD is an integrative family medicine physician at True North where she has practiced since 2003. COLEEN CONNOLLY, RN, MAc is a Five Element Acupuncturist at True North where she has practiced since 2002. KRISTINE SCHER is a yoga instructor certified by Kripalu and Anusara. She currently teaches in the Greater Portland area.