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Interesting stuff for gay guys

A hard man is good to find!

Author: November 15, 2011 0 Comments

A hard man is good to find

OPEN WIDE

Bill Coleman / Vancouver / Thursday, June 30, 2011

 

Hard cocks are usually fun, so it’s not surprising that many gay guys use Viagra and other erectile stimulants recreationally. They don’t necessarily need the drugs, but they can make life more interesting and fun.

What’s that saying straight females (or is it gay men?) have? Oh yeah: “A hard man is good to find.”

“It’s fun to walk around with a bulge in your pants,” many guys tell me. When you see a hot guy walk by you may start to feel those familiar stirrings in your loins, and when he stops to talk to you, your expanding bulge can quickly show him how interested you are.

There are many reports in the scientific literature about extensive use of erectile stimulants by gay guys. Several studies indicate that gay guys who use these drugs are more likely to be HIV-positive, but researchers are careful to point out that these drugs do not facilitate HIV transmission or make it easier to become infected with HIV. But, the studies suggest, with more hard cocks around there will be more sex, and if there is more sex there will be more risky sex and therefore more HIV transmission.

Well, that is the researchers’ logic, but we know that not everyone who has lots of sex gets HIV. Transmission is about risk-taking, not about the number of guys you have sex with.

Using erectile stimulants can even encourage condom use. One of the most common reasons guys give for not liking to use condoms is loss of erection, or the fear of losing an erection partway through sex. Some guys also find it difficult to come when using condoms. Erectile stimulants can help with all these problems.

If you stay hard, you can fuck freely without concerns about losing an erection, letting you relax and enjoy the moment(s). So these drugs can be very helpful for guys who tend to lose their erections.

However, there can be side effects to erectile stimulants. Common medical advice holds that you should not use poppers while under the influence of Viagra. I know this may be a hardship for some guys, but the combination can be hard on even a healthy heart. So you will have to learn to have fun with a hard cock and no poppers.

You should not use a metal cock ring when taking erectile stimulants because the ring can become difficult to remove, resulting in a painful situation with a cock that will not go down. This is called priapism. (This is not an ad for a local shop!)

Pilots are not allowed to use Viagra for a day before flying because it can affect vision. Some people have what they describe as a blue hue to their vision after taking Viagra.

Some guys have also reported problems with erectile stimulants that they buy on the street. So be careful where you get your drugs and how much you take. You may think that one pill is great, so two will be greater. Not so! Often people need only half a dose, so try that first. It is cheaper and you are less likely to have side effects.

Some of the studies suggest that taking some protease inhibitors in high doses can cause Viagra to be metabolized more slowly; the Viagra thereby stays in the body longer and has a more lasting effect. Guys taking protease inhibitors may want to try using a lower dose to lessen the side effects of Viagra, but this should be discussed with your doctor.

If you use erectile stimulants, be careful, have fun, know your limit and play within it.

 

Interesting stuff for gay guys, Xtra newspaper columns

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How often should you get tested

Author: November 15, 2011 0 Comments

How often should you get tested?
HIV / The higher the risk, the more frequent the test
Bill Coleman / Vancouver / Thursday, January 13, 2011

Most of us hate tests.Some of us thought the end of school meant the end of tests. But gay guys know better.

Gay guys face the prospect of additional tests for life — or at least until a positive one shows up. Either way, they’re not much fun.

Still, most of us should get tested regularly.

How regularly? Have a look at the matrix I created. It’s not intended to address all aspects of a gay man’s complex sexual life. It is only my suggestion for developing a testing strategy based on individual risk activities, rather than poorly defined window periods.

For more than a decade, there was some unhelpful advice that we should wait six months after a risk to get tested. The theory was it took six months for evidence of the virus to show up, and therefore six months to be sure a negative test was truly negative.

Now we know that testing three months after a risk, using the conventional antibodies test, yields a result that’s more than 99 percent accurate.

And now there’s an even quicker test available in some locations in BC.

No more waiting even three months for an accurate HIV result. The new early-detection test (called the NAAT test) can identify the presence of HIV in the body less than two weeks after possible exposure. The Health Initiative for Men is one of several clinics in Vancouver running a trial on this test.

We, as gay guys, have been the largest group of people testing positive for the last few years, so we need better information and guidelines on when to get tested. The BC Centre for Disease Control and other public health agencies should work harder to inform gay guys about testing.

In the meantime, I have made this general guide for gay guys. My theory: the greater the likelihood of testing positive, the more frequently we should get tested.

Open Wide appears in every other issue of  Xtra.

 


HIV STI info, Interesting stuff for gay guys, Xtra newspaper columns

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Show us the real HIV transmission risks

Author: November 15, 2011 0 Comments

Show us the real transmission risks

OPEN WIDE / Stop dumbing down HIV for gay men

Bill Coleman / Vancouver / Thursday, February 10, 2011

 

Gay men need to know the truth about HIV transmission.

I asked staff at a local AIDS agency why they don’t tell people the whole story about the risks of HIV transmission. The reply was something like, “Well, we thought about it but decided not to.”

I tried to get another local organization to provide this information on its website, but they declined.

What is going on here? Do people think we can’t handle the truth? How can we make informed decisions when we aren’t given the information we need to calculate the level of risk we’re each comfortable taking?

Can you answer this question accurately: how likely is it that an HIV-negative guy will get HIV if he is fucked in the ass by an HIV-positive guy not wearing a condom? Most people do not know the answer and will guess wrong. The risk is not as high as you might think.

When I used to lecture groups about HIV, I would ask this question. Many people thought there was a 100 or 90 percent chance that the negative guy would get infected. Some ventured to suggest a 50-50 chance of infection.

The truth is the risk is far lower! If you’re getting fucked in the ass by a positive guy, the chance of transmission is one time in 200, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.

The only local place I know of that will tell us these facts is on the Spectrum Health website. It is not easy to find but it is there (www.spectrum-health.net/index.php?option=com&mdashcontent&view=category&layout=blog&id=83&Itemid=200).

Here is the breakdown of sexual transmission risks for gay men, according to the US Centers for Disease Control:

•    being fucked by an HIV-positive     guy who cums inside you:     1 in 200

•    fucking an HIV-positive guy:     1 in 1,500

•    sucking an HIV-positive guy:     1 in 10,000

•    getting sucked by an HIV-positive         guy: 1 in 20,000

I’m not suggesting we all go out and take risks. I’m just saying we’re all entitled to make our own decisions about how many risks, if any, we want to take.

If you like to fuck and get fucked but do not like condoms much, then you can see it is seven times more risky to get fucked than to fuck without condoms.  Make your own choice about how much risk you are comfortable taking and how important the sex is for you.

I also think there would be less stigma for poz guys if we all knew the real risks of HIV transmission. Maybe then negative guys would find poz guys less scary. Living with constant fear of getting HIV can become a huge burden. Knowing the facts can help all of us to feel more in control and can help in making informed decisions around our sexual activities.

Other factors can affect the odds of getting HIV. High viral loads and sexually transmitted infections make transmission more likely, for example. Whereas an undetectable viral load makes it less likely. (Needless to say, avoiding getting cum in your ass makes transmission even less likely.)

Newly infected guys can have a high viral load for two months or more and be up to 20 times more likely to infect someone. I have concluded that it may be safer to have sex with a poz guy with an undetectable viral load than with someone who mistakenly thinks they are negative but really has a high viral load, which is what happens three to six months after infection.

A final rule of thumb to prevent HIV transmission: don’t get cum in your eyes. Getting blood in your eyes in a hospital setting is considered high risk.

Open Wide appears in every other issue of  Xtra

HIV STI info, Interesting stuff for gay guys, Xtra newspaper columns

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If only there were courses on being gay

Author: November 15, 2011 0 Comments

If only there were courses on being gay

OPEN WIDE / How to make friends and connect with others

Bill Coleman / Vancouver / Thursday, July 28, 2011

 

 

If you ask me, the most common problem for gay men in Vancouveris a feeling of being lonely and disconnected.

I’m not talking about whether or not you currently have a boyfriend. I’m talking about not feeling close to anyone.

I believe that feeling of aloneness, of disconnection, alone/not connected, is the single biggest cause of guys becoming HIV-positive.

Vancouver may be full of friendly people, but there’s a common perception that it’s hard to make friends in this community. For most of us, making friends is an extremely important part of living a happy life. Feeling alone leads to social withdrawal for many guys. To build a strong community, we need to nurture confident, happy guys. We need to build a healthy community ourselves.

The beginnings of this strong community lie in supporting and respecting each other. As a therapist, I see many isolated gay guys who feel they cannot connect to anyone anywhere.

I have taken many courses in my life, most of them full of facts I did not want or need to know. But the two courses I’ve always wanted to take but could never find are Being Gay: How to Thrive in Gay Culture and Gay Sexuality: From Cruising to Kink and Everything in Between.

These are some of the most important skills for a successful, happy life, but they’re hard to learn with little or no guidance. I wonder why these courses don’t exist?

For more than 20 years, I have asked different groups in a number of cities to consider offering such courses, but no one has ever taken me up on the idea.  Maybe they’re right: maybe no one (except me) would sign up.

I’d offer the courses myself, but I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. I need them as much as — or more  than — the next guy.

I think bathhouses should offer monthly courses for new and old patrons alike. Imagine how much more enjoyable the bathhouse experience would be with a little instruction. (I’d sign up — I am a total failure in a bathhouse!)

And how about a course from online dating companies on Effective Bios and Effective Messaging: How to Find What You Want Online? They could even offer it online so people could remain anonymous.

I bet a lot of gay bar staff, who have observed years of bar behaviour, could give a course on How to Successfully Connect with a Guy in the Bar.

While we wait for gay school to start, there are some concrete things we, as individuals, can do.

We can smile more, make an effort to be more approachable and stop being so reluctant to say hi to strangers.

We can strike up a conversation first and not wait for the other person to find the courage to reach out to us.

We can stop expecting everyone to like us — and stop taking it so personally if they don’t. (Less than half the people you meet will be interested in developing a friendship with you, or with anyone else for that matter.)

We can be truly interested in the people we’re talking to, in discovering who they are and what they might share with us.

Remember: sitting at home knitting will not help you build friendships and connections.

You may wonder where I got my list of suggestions: it’s all the stuff I don’t do but think I should. I’ll try if you will. Together, maybe we can make a difference in our community and in our own lives.

 

Interesting stuff for gay guys, Xtra newspaper columns

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HIV Immunity – Interesting stuff

Author: October 21, 2011 0 Comments

What if you’re immune to HIV?
OPEN WIDE
What would you do with that knowledge?
Bill Coleman     Vancouver      Thursday, September 22, 2011
In the last decade, studies have shown that a very small percentage of people seem to be almost totally immune to HIV.In 2005, American journalist Randy Dotinga summarized the early findings like this: “An estimated one percent of people descended from Northern Europeans are virtually immune to AIDS infection… All those with the highest level of HIV immunity share a pair of mutated genes — one in each chromosome — that prevent their immune cells from developing a ‘receptor’ tht lets the AIDS virus break in. If the so-called CCR5 receptor — which scientists say is akin to a lock — isn’t there, the virus can’t break into the cell and take it over.”“To be protected,” Dotinga continues, “people must inherit the genes from both parents; those who inherit a mutated gene from just one parent will end up with greater resistance to HIV than other people, but they won’t be immune.”One study from 2001 in Science Daily reported that persons with the CCR5 gene from only one parent “had a 70 percent reduced risk of HIV infection.”Reports that I have read suggest that between one and three percent of Northern Europeans are “immune” overall, and about 10 to 15 percent have greater resistance to HIV. So it seems as if a few people are genetically predisposed to block the virus from their bodies almost, but not quite, 100 percent of the time. We just don’t hear about them very often.Thousands of organizations around the world broadcast HIV messages on a regular basis, but very few of them talk about immunity, probably because they’re concerned that some people might take the possibility of immunity as a licence to practise unsafe sex.Two organizations were so alarmed they reportedly pressured a genetic testing company to stop offering a CCR5 test to gay men. A 2007 brief from the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations describes an Australian company, delta32.com.au, that advertised CCR5 testing on gaydar.com.au but closed its website after receiving complaints about the test being offered to gay guys.

I found links to other websites that test for the CCR5 gene, but they too have closed down or did not reply to my emails. Still, the test is available to the public.

But before we discuss where to find it, there are a few important questions to consider: Would you want to know if you are immune to HIV? What would you do with that knowledge?

Would you stop using condoms?

Would you believe someone who tells you they’re immune to HIV so they don’t have to use a condom to fuck you? (What about other STIs?)

If you are an HIV-positive guy, would you want to know if you had one of the genes that make it less likely to have complications from HIV?

How much would it be worth to you to find out if you are immune to HIV?

These are all interesting and difficult questions. But I think the real question is: should you have the right to know that you might be immune to HIV?

Is it better that we not know that HIV immunity exists? Does this make a better and safer society?

I have no clear answers. But I tend to believe that honesty and transparency make for a better society. I do not think there are many times that hiding information from the public is a good idea.

So I did a great deal of searching online to find someplace where you might find out if you have the CCR5 gene and, if you do, whether you have it from one parent (partial immunity) or both (almost complete immunity).

There is a company in the US called 23andme that does a broad range of genetic tests, including testing for the CCR5 gene. To order the kit and for instructions on how to send them a saliva sample, go to  23andme.com/store. The test costs $209 (US). To see an example of the report you will receive, look at: https://www.23andme.com/health/resistance-to-hiv-aids/.

I assume there are other places that test for HIV immunity, too, but I could not find them. I hope that readers will post addresses of other places, if they find them, on xtra.ca as a comment to this column.

Do I think that, armed with the knowledge of immunity, people might practise more unsafe sex? Probably.  Is it their right to make that decision for themselves? Yes, that’s always been our right.

HIV STI info, Interesting stuff for gay guys, Xtra newspaper columns

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About Bill Coleman

Author: October 21, 2011 0 Comments

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Bill Coleman

Trained in psychology, Bill has devoted a major portion of his career to treatment, training and program development in the field of sexually transmitted disease with a particular focus on HIV. Working in North America, Europe,Africa and Asia he has cultivated his craft in many different cultural settings.

 

In practice and in life, he combines frank realism with unflinching humanism.  He believes in people, whatever their particular circumstance, and their capacity to find their way.  Bill has developed keen sensitivities for authenticity and fairness.  He is alert to ways in which organizations and systems may exert power over individuals, or for that matter, how one individual may exercise power over another.  Fittingly, his model for peer counselling specifically address these issues. His basic working premise is that when people feel safe, understood and supported, the will naturally enter into honest self-exploration and change.He currently operates a private practice and lives in Vancouver providing counselling to clients as well as consultation and training to agencies and organizations.Bill has worked as a psychologist for over 20 years working with gay men and forensic patients.  He moved to Amsterdam in 2001 and  returned to Vancouver in 2008.Bill wrote monthly columns on gay health  in Xtra – a local gay newspaper.  He is continuing his work as a psychotherapist, mostly with gay guys in Vancouver. Bill has taught counselling and has developed a video of his training method for peer counsellors.  The videos are available for viewing on this blog. Below is Bill’s resume and qualifications.

 

 

 

BILL COLEMAN, PhD
1160 Burrard St.
Vancouver BC  V6Z 2E8
778 320 4850
Email:  bcxca@yahoo.com

 PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors                 Registration number 3287

Canadian Psychological Association                                         Registration number 3099

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Clinical Counselling and Consultation, Vancouver, Canada                   September 2008 – present

Private Practice

  • Provided clinical counselling to clients with a focus on: sexuality, men’s health, HIV, gay issues, and relationships
  • Delivered consultation services to Amerisourcebergen,  , Spectrum Health and Downtown Infectious Diseases Clinic to provide counselling for HIV positive persons who are taking Kaletra
  • Provided workplace mediation consultation services  to clients including the Positive Living Society
  • Contributed to a monthly column in Xtra West sharing expertise in gay men’s health

 

The University of British Columbia Medical School                                          August 2008 – 2012

British Columbia Centre for Disease Control

Faculty Appointment

  • Provided consultation on research design and development of a 5 year CIHR funded grant investigating the provision of social support for newly infected HIV+ gay men
  • Developed a training program for training peer counsellors
  • Supervision of peer counsellors working with newly diagnosed HIV+ gay men

 

British Columbia Persons with AIDS Society                                         October 2009 –November 2009

 

  • Provided training to peer counsellors to support people living with HIV through Lighthouse Society in the Fraser Valley

 

Health Imitative for Men (HIM), Vancouver, Canada                                    October 2010 – March 2014

Vancouver, Canada

Counsellor Trainer

  • Trained peer counsellors to provide counselling to  HIM’s clients and supervised peer counsellors

The NANNIE Method, Vancouver, Canada                                                                         November 2010

Peer Counselling training DVD development and production

  • Developed the NANNIE method of peer counselling
  • Produced hour long DVD training video to demonstrate use of the NANNIE method amongst peer counsellors.  Funded by Health Canada Grant

 

Artsen Zonder Grenzen, Amsterdam, Netherlands                                       April 2004-August 2008

(Doctors Without Borders)

Clinical Psychologist and Counsellor Trainer

  • Provided training for peers to support those suffering from post-war trauma
  • Provided training for peers to support to persons with HIV
  • Trained field counsellors and health professionals to support patients in war affected areas

 

Dr. Peter Centre, Vancouver, Canada                                                                April 2000- August 2002 Clinical Psychologist

  • Consulted with management on harm reduction and provided staff counselling training in harm reduction and safe injection sites

 

British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, Canada         April 1991- August 2002

Clinical Psychologist   

  • Counselled patients and provided risk reduction training to patients newly diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases and/or HIV

 

Canadian Psychological Association, Ottawa, Canada              November 1997 – September 1999

Chair and Organising Committee Member

  • Organized “AIDS IMPACT, International Conference on the Psychosocial Aspects of HIV Infection”

 

Adult Forensic Psychiatric Outpatient Services, Canada                          January 1986- April 2002

Ministry of Health  BC

Clinical Psychologist

  • Provided group and individual therapy to individuals including sex offenders, drug and alcohol abusers and persons with antisocial personalities
  • Performed comprehensive assessments and prepared court reports

 

Prince George Health Unit, Prince George, Canada                        October 1992 – November 1998

PWA / HIV+ Counselling

Prince George AIDS Society, Prince George, Canada                                                                1991-1996

Consultant and Trainer

Mental Health Services, Prince George, Canada                                           August 1988 – April 1989

Clinical Psychologist

  • Assessed and treated young offenders

 

Mental Health Services, Kamloops and 100 Mile House, Canada                May 1984 – April 1987

Clinical Psychologist

  • Young offender assessment and treatment.

 

Children’s Service Centre, City of Calgary, Canada                          September 1982 – August 1983

Clinical Psychologist/Administrator

  • Provided individual and group counselling, staff training, consultant to staff, supervise social worker. The centre housed 102 children from age 8 – 19.

 

Solicitor General Alberta & Calgary General Hospital, Canada       April 1981 – September 1982

Clinical Psychologist, Forensic Outpatient Clinic

  • Assessed and treated inmates on remand
  • Assessed and treated offenders in Calgary and other communities and jails in southern Alberta

 

Corrections Canada, Drumheller and Bowden, Canada                             May 1977 – January 1981

Clinical Psychologist

  • Provided parole assessments, group therapy, individual treatment, local staff training, member of a team that designed a national prison guard hostage negotiating training package

 

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Counseling Europe, Den Haag, Netherlands                                     February  2003 – January 2006

  • Taught advanced counselling skills in the last year of a 3 year certificate course in counselling
  • Provided supervision of advanced counsellors in Training

 

Health Canada Grant, Prepare and publish a training program for teaching counselling skills to persons in Canada on HIV and AIDS                                                                 April 1995 – July 2000

  • Chaired the working group and prepared modules on: HIV and Substance Use, and Counselling Recently Diagnosed Persons with HIV; in Phase, A Program in HIV/AIDS Education, Psychological Aspects of HIV/AIDS, Training Modules.

 

Vancouver Community College, Vancouver, Canada                            April 1989 – December 1989

Instructor Counselling Skills Program: Group Therapy Course

Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada                                                January 1988 – April 1988

Instructor Criminology Department:  Criminology 417 “Special Topics -The Sex Offender”

Cariboo College, Kamloops, Canada                                                          September 1983 – April 1984

Instructor Psychology Department:  Introductory Psychology

Northern Lights College, Dawson Creek & Ft St John, Canada         September 1976 – April 1977

Counsellor for Student Services

Psychology Instructor: Social Psychology; Psychology of Adjustment

Okanagan College, Vernon, Canada                                                                      August 1975 – May 1976

Psychology Instructor: Introductory Psychology; Social Psychology; Psychology of Adjustment

 

ACAEDMIC Publications

Taylor,D., Steinberg, M., Harris, P., Doupe, G., Coleman,B., Spencer, D., Rees, J., Tigchelaar, J., Sandstra, I.,Oglvie, G., Rekart, M. L., BC Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, (2007) Psychological Influences on Sexual Risk-Taking Among HIV Positive MSM, International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research, Seattle, USA.

Coleman, B. (2002) Understanding Risks, Canadian Association of Nurses in AIDS Care Conference, Vancouver, BC.

Preece, M,  Viljoen, H, Coleman, B., (2001), Development of an Instrument to Assess Psychosocial Programming Needs in a Forensic Psychiatric Population: Some Preliminary Findings.  Poster session, Presented to the Founding Conference of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services, Vancouver April 2001.

Coleman, B. and Miller, M. L. (1996) Emotional reactions and safe sex practices of individuals who are newly diagnosed HIV+. Canadian Health Psychologist 4, 27-29.

Coleman, B. (1996) Learning to talk about sex (workshop at International AIDS Conference, Vancouver.)

Coleman, B. (1996) Tri-National “Response to AIDS” (developed Canada’s presentation at International AIDS Conference, Vancouver.)

Coleman, B. (1995) Emotional needs of HIV+ persons (poster presentation, International Biopsychosocial AIDS conference, Brighton, England).

Coleman, B. (1995) Legal and ethical issues raised by HIV/AIDS (panel member, BC HIV/AIDS Conference).

Coleman, B. (1994) Dealing with death and illness with our clients (presented to Networking Workshop in HIV and AIDS).

Coleman, B. and Miller, M. L. (1994) Counselling in HIV/AIDS (organisers of satellite conference at the BC HIV/AIDS Conference)

Coleman, B. (1993) Psychological and social issues in HIV disease/AIDS (presented to the Northern BC HIV Disease/AIDS Conference).

Coleman, B. (1992) AIDS in the workplace: caring for friends and co-workers (presented at the AGM for the Professional Theatre Assn. of Canada, St. Johns, Newfoundland).

Coleman, B. (1980) Psychological description of medium security federal Inmates. Presented to the Psychological Association of Alberta.

Coleman, B. (1980) Training correctional staff in human relations skills. Presented to the Psychological Association of Alberta.

Proctor, S. and Coleman, B. (1971) A volunteer crisis intervention centre on a University campus. Present to the American Psychological Assn. (Rocky Mountain Division).

 

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Clinical and Community Psychology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada    1985

Thesis: The Personality and Social Support System of the Property and Violent Offender

 

M.Sc. Clinical and Counselling Psychology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada    1975

Thesis: Effects of Counsellor-Client Conceptual Systems in Counselling

 

B.Sc. Clinical and Social Psychology, University of Utah, Utah, USA          1972

 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Elected to co-chair with the Chief of Police the Diversity Advisory Committee                                       2001 – 2002

Invited to be participate in International “Think Tank” on Gay Health Issues                                        2001 – 2002

Board member of Community Based Research Society of Vancouver                                                        1999 – 2003

Member, appointed to Vancouver City Police “Diversity Advisory Committee” to advise the Chief of Police on diversity Issues                                                                                                                                                         1996 – 2002

Chair, “Working Group” for Canadian Psychological Association, (funded by Health Canada), to prepare and present HIV/AIDS training for counsellors across Canada                                                                            1995 – 1997

Pacific Foundation for the Advancement Of Minority Equality, (The Gay and Lesbian Centre):  Chair of the Board                                                                                                                                                                           1994 – 1995

Pacific Foundation for The Advancement Of Minority Equality, (The Gay and Lesbian Centre):  Member of the Board                                                                                                                                                                           1993 – 1997

AIDS Vancouver:  Treasurer                                                                                                                                  1992 – 1993

AIDS Vancouver:  Member of the Board                                                                                                            1989 – 1993

Pacific Foundation for the Advancement of Minority Equality, (The Gay and Lesbian Centre):  Established a “Free Counselling Centre;” volunteer counsellor at the “free clinic.”                                                                       1988                                                                         B. C. Psychological Association:  Board Member – Chair of Member Services Committee; adjudicated ethics complaints                                                                                                                                                                              1988

Amnesty International:  Facilitator for amnesty groups in the BC region                                                  1986 – 1990

Thompson Valley Credit Union:  Member of Board of Directors                                                                  1986 – 1987

North Thompson Recreation Society:  President of Society                                                                            1985 -1986

 

SKILLS & INTERESTS

  • Word, PowerPoint, Front Page, Access, Excel, SPSS
  • Squash, Skiing, Biking, Hiking, Volleyball, Walking, Camping, Travel

 

Interesting stuff for gay guys

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