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W. J. Wayne Skinner

Title(s)
Adjunct Senior Lecturer (status only)
Degrees: 
MSW, RSW
Email: 
Biography: 

Wayne is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. From its founding in 1998 until 2016, Wayne played a leadership role at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), heading its first Concurrent Disorders Program, and more recently leading the Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario and serving as Deputy Clinical Director of the Addictions and the Ambulatory Care and Structured Treatment Programs. He has participated in provincial and national initiatives related to addiction and mental health policy, collaboration and practice standards. Prior to CAMH, he worked at the Addiction Research Foundation (ARF) as a clinician, clinical supervisor, program director, consultant, research investigator and educator.

His research activities have focused on supporting families affected by concurrent disorders, communities of practice, recovery processes through mutual aid fellowship and peer support, and marginalized populations with complex needs. He is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and an active MI trainer.  He has given presentations and workshops on a wide range of topics related to addictions, mental health and concurrent disorders, nationally and internationally.

Wayne edited Treating Concurrent Disorders: A Guide for Counsellors (CAMH, 2005). In 2007, with Caroline O’Grady, he co-authored A Family Guide to Concurrent Disorders. With Marilyn Herie, he co-authored Substance Abuse in Canada (Oxford University Press, 2010).  He authored, with Carolyn Cooper, Motivational Interviewing for Concurrent Disorders (Norton & Co, 2013). In 2014, CAMH published Fundamentals of Addiction: a practical guide for counsellors, edited by Marilyn Herie and Wayne.  He co-chaired the expert panel that produced Engaging Clients Who Use Substances, clinical best practices guidelines published by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario in 2015.

Wayne served as Associate Editor (Canada) for the journal Mental Health and Substance Use: Dual Diagnosis. He is a founding editorial board member of the Journal of Gambling Issues (JGI) and a member of the Board of Directors of Gambling Research Exchange of Ontario (GREO).