April Byers, MSc., R.Psych., the founder and Director of NeuroThrive Networks has for over 30 years, worked with children, adults, families, community agencies and collaboratively with other professionals internationally and with teams in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as Central and Southern Alberta.

She has acquired graduate level training in Neuroscience, Trauma and Neurotherapies. She trained at the graduate level in Education, Community Rehabilitation and Disabilities, Clinical Neuropsychology, Counselling, Family Mediation, and Conflict Resolution.

Her knowledge in these areas has informed her work in clinical, educational and community settings over the years. Her fascination with the brain, neural plasticity and recovery of function was born from engagement in both neuroscience research and applied (community) service to individuals impacted by disability. Subsequent exposure to enrichment studies in animal research led to a growing appreciation that brain health has a direct application to daily function. Working at the cross-section of several disciplines has repeatedly illustrated to her the value and importance of supporting people to become agents of change in their own lives and to experience mastery in realizing their own unique potential for resilience and well-being. She realized that a person functions in a system of systems - from the remarkable symphony of neural networks within, to the environmental systems in which a person lives, loves, works and plays. Understanding the person in their environment and all potential factors that promote or detract from their well-being has profound implications for treatment.

Working across both public and private sectors over the years has illustrated a need for a different approach in the way we support individuals. She has adopted a collaborative approach that seeks to understand the whole person in the context of their lived experience and focuses on individual-in-system adaptability, strengths and unique challenges. Such an approach conserves resources and utilizes evidence-based practices in the most ethical, efficient and effective manner possible. Opportunity for access to coordinated, personalized services designed to maximize functional resilience (on mulitple levels) allows people to experience healthy, thriving lifestyles, and to realize their own potential in whatever place they may wish to live, love, work and play.