We’re here to help.
Life on the frontlines is tough.
You’re working every day to make a difference in the world—whether you’re serving vulnerable communities, fighting for a better world, reporting from the frontlines, teaching the next generation of changemakers or in the trenches of healthcare. Every day brings new challenges, and the weight of it can leave you feeling stressed, burned-out, and demoralized.
That’s where Resileo comes in.
We’re Dr. Rebecca Dempster and Yesim Arikut-Treece, two psychologists from different parts of the world who have joined forces to help changemakers, frontline professionals, caregivers, and teams protect themselves as they work to protect others.
Dr. Rebecca Dempster is a clinical psychologist from Canada, and Yesim Arikut-Treece is a counseling psychologist from the United Kingdom. Together, we bring over 45 years of combined experience in mental health and trauma support in some of the world’s most high-pressure, high-stakes environments.
That’s us congratulating one of the graduates of our community mental health helpers training in Khanke Camp, just outside of Dohuk in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where we met in 2018. Our work there – providing therapy to Yezidi women survivors of genocide – was incredibly intense. It took a lot of skill and a lot of support from each other to maintain our own wellbeing in the midst of it.
It’s that experience—along with the tools, practices, and support we developed together—that we bring to you through Resileo. Our mission is to help you build resilience, recover from moral injury, and sustain your impact, no matter where you are in the world or what field you work in.
Our Values
We are optimists. Most therapists are. To do therapy, you have to believe that it’s possible to recover from hardship and horrors. You have to believe that healing is possible, and that people can grow and change.
And we do. We believe all those things.
But we also understand that mental health is shaped by the systems we live and work in. Whether it’s the high-stakes nature of humanitarian work, the burnout culture in many organizations, or the political and societal structures we navigate, we recognize that the systems people work and live within have a profound impact on their mental well-being.
Our approach is systems-aware. We understand that no one exists in a vacuum. The work we do with individuals is not just about helping them cope; it’s about understanding how larger systems contribute to their trauma, stress, and burnout. We don’t see mental health challenges as individual weaknesses—we see them as natural responses to the pressures of a world that isn’t built for well-being. That’s why we actively work to decolonize mental health care, recognizing its political dimensions and ensuring our approach is feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and grounded in justice.
We understand the personal and the political. Our work is deeply informed by our real-world experience, both as mental health professionals who have worked in high-pressure, low-support environments, and as women living inside the patriarchy. We know the toll it takes when people are asked to do more with less, and to navigate systems that aren’t built for them. We also know that personal resilience alone isn’t enough when systemic change is needed. That’s why we don’t just offer tools for individual coping—we offer support to help people recover from and thrive within these systems, while pushing for the change that’s so urgently needed.
We focus on the long-term. Our optimism is rooted in the belief that meaningful, sustainable change is possible. Not just for individuals, but for teams, organizations, and entire systems. We support those on the front lines—whether you’re in humanitarian work, teaching, journalism, healthcare, or any other high-stakes, high-pressure environment—because we know that in order to support others, you must first be supported. Our work isn’t just about surviving; it’s about helping you thrive, both personally and professionally.
We’re evidence-based and practical. We draw on scientifically validated methods, but we also know that real-life solutions must be practical and actionable. We focus on strategies that are easy to understand and implement, no matter where you are in your journey. Whether you're dealing with stress, trauma, or burnout, we offer concrete tools that you can use right away.
We believe in the power of community and connection. No one should have to face the challenges of high-pressure work alone. That’s why we foster a sense of belonging and mutual support in everything we do—whether it’s one-on-one therapy, healing circles, team support, or online resources. We’re here to help you create sustainable change, both for yourself and for the organizations you work with.
We’re honored to share our skills, resources, and experience with you. Make sure you subscribe to stay connected and receive our latest tools and insights. We’ll start you off with a guided visualization to reduce stress.
Official Bios
Dr. Rebecca Dempster is a clinical forensic psychologist with more than 25 years of experience. After completing her Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University, she worked at an outpatient psychiatric hospital providing assessment and therapy for people struggling with suicidal urges, problematic anger, and sexual offending. She was the Senior Clinical Lead on a project for Corrections Canada to develop a trauma-informed substance abuse program for female offenders and provided consultation to British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Services on the development of a specialized concurrent disorders program for forensic psychiatric patients.
In 2008, Dr. Dempster began her humanitarian career, as a consultant with UNHCR on psychosocial issues during post-election violence in Kenya. In 2009, she worked as a Senior Staff Welfare Officer for UNHCR. Since 2010 she has consulted with humanitarian agencies and organizations on humanitarian staff wellbeing and mental health and psychosocial programming for crisis-affected populations. From 2016 to 2018, she was the Director of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for HIAS, supporting programs across the globe in delivering services for refugees. In 2018, she worked as a psychologist with Free Yezidi Foundation, providing individual and group therapy for Yezidi women survivors of genocide. Her areas of expertise include staff resilience and well-being, trauma-informed interviewing, capacity building, designing and implementing mental health and psychosocial programming with a particular focus on community mental health and staff well-being. She currently resides in Amman, Jordan where she provide therapy and consultation on mental health and psychosocial programming.
Yesim Arikut-Treece is a Chartered Psychologist (British Psychological Society), EMDR practitioner (EMDR Europe) and DBT therapist with more than 20 years of experience. She specializes in trauma therapies, working both with individuals and in groups for short- and long-term therapy. She is experienced in clinical supervision, teaching and training, leading community mental health and psychosocial projects, service development and capacity building in low income countries and crisis situations.
Her most recent role was as the lead psychologist at Free Yezidi Foundation, working both in Khanke and Sharia IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She led the Trauma Team supporting Yezidi survivors of genocide, providing MHPSS and offering psychotherapy both individually and in groups. She helped build local capacity by training Yezidi women and girls as community MHPSS workers and supervising their work in the camps providing psycho-social support to the Yezidi community. She supported these teams throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to provide clinical supervision and support remotely. Prior to moving to Iraq, Yesim worked as a Senior Psychologist and DBT Team Leader at a NHS Primary Care Psychological Therapy Service in the UK and in a private practice in the United Arab Emirates. She currently lives in Malaga, Spain, where she provide online therapy and staff wellbeing support.