Aspiria

Eric Rubel, M.A., M.Ed., OACCPP

National Director, Clinical Services

Eric Rubel is a psychotherapist who specializes in addictive behaviours.  He has over 18 years experience in the addictions and mental health field.  Eric has worked closely with many organizations across all industry sectors and extensively within the transportation industry, in which he provided direct clinical and consultative services on addictions and mental health issues involving workers in safety sensitive positions.

Much of Eric’s formal clinical training in mental health and addictions came from his 5 years of work at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).  Here, he engaged in published, clinical research, assessment, and treatment of individuals suffering from different types and levels of addiction and mental health problems.

Following his work at CAMH, Eric joined a national EAP provider, where he developed and headed the addictions service for over 10 years.  During this time, Eric was responsible for the internal training and management of the clinical team in the best practices of addiction assessment, treatment, and referral.  Eric also served as a key expert consultant to many organizations that were experiencing addiction problems (alcohol, drugs, smoking, gambling, and concurrent disorders) among their employee populations.  Eric has given numerous corporate training workshops on addictions in the workplace to organizations. Key focus areas of these workshops included: signs and symptoms of addiction problems, employer duty to accommodate, and company alcohol and drug policy development.  Eric has worked closely with organizations such as: Nav-Canada, VIA Rail, Canadian Waste Services, De Havilland, FedEx Canada, Nabors Drilling, and Diavik Mines, in the development of unique protocols for employees in safety sensitive positions who were challenged with addiction and/or mental health problems.

Eric is keenly aware of the rise of mental health and addiction disability claims over the past number of years and the impact they have on the employee, the employer, and the insurance provider.  He has worked closely with all of these groups in addressing disability issues from a preventive approach.  Proper assessment, treatment matching, effective treatment, return-to-work plans, aftercare, and ongoing case management are the other key areas of Eric’s focus in the disability management field.  Much of Eric’s expertise in disability management has directly come from his years of experience, working in the Group Disabilities departments of leading international insurance providers, as an expert consultant in the areas of addictions and mental health.

Eric holds a Masters degree in Clinical Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto, a Masters degree in Environmental/Organizational Psychology from York University, and an Honours B.A. degree in Psychology from York University.  Eric’s formal training is in cognitive and motivational therapies with a specialization in the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders and addictive behaviours.  Eric’s community involvement includes being an active member of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation- Toronto Chapter, where he sat on the Board of Directors for 5 years and currently participates in many fundraising activities.