Dr. Joan Samuels-Dennis

Dr. Joan Samuels-Dennis, Ph.D., is an award-winning speaker and authority on trauma recovery, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Joan has specialized in promoting the mental health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities for over a decade through her groundbreaking trauma recovery strategy, The Forgiveness Method.

Her career as an individual, couple, and family psychotherapist has helped countless people heal from traumatic experiences, transform their physical and mental health, overcome relational challenges, and reclaim their lives.

Her long and impactful career began at Ryerson University in Toronto, where her passion for helping others led her to become a Registered Nurse. Soon after, she earned her Master’s degree in Community Health Nursing from D’Youville University in New York. She completed her Ph.D. in Nursing and Mental Health Promotion at Western University in London, Ontario.

In 2016, she founded Becoming Inc., an organization dedicated to tackling the effects of current and historical traumas on the mental health of the African Diaspora and other oppressed people across the globe.

She is also the Founder of the Village of Peace. This independent not-for-profit organization promotes the mental health and well-being of people of African descent with services that create gathering spaces, design trauma-informed anti-racism curricula, and certify trauma recovery specialists.

Dr. Joan is also the author of 490: Forgive and Live fearlessly, Forgive: Master The Art of Letting Go, and Becoming the Journey to Love, as well as the mind behind the revolutionary new therapeutic modality, the Forgiveness Method and its accompanying certification program for mental health professionals that launches in 2023.

Dr. Joan is a Toronto native who lives in the beautiful community of Kamloops, B.C., alongside her loving husband and family. She spends her days running the various facets of her organizations, Becoming Canada Inc., the Village of Peace, and The Forgiveness Method and speaking to communities, businesses, and the public about how they may promote restoration, wellness, and healing.