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Dr. Melissa Jay | she/her
Program Director & Lead Faculty

tân'si, hello & tawow, welcome!

As a cisgender nehiyaw (Cree) member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, my work is grounded in decolonized healing and centres on putting social justice into action and supporting continued learning and unlearning across our lifespan. My roles as a psychologist, certified yoga therapist, and associate professor reflect my dedication to walking alongside incredible souls committed to self-awareness and community care.

I am privileged to learn from and be guided by many inspiring Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and yoga guides. It is a joy to offer trainings and supervision to fellow helpers and organizations committed to community care.

You can typically find me watching shows, listening to music, or outside with my spouse, Michael, and our loving rescue-turned-therapy-dog, Lulu.
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Sending care your way :)
My Credentials:
  • Registered Psychologist (R.Psych)
  • Associate Professor
  • Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT)
  • Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 500)
  • Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT)
  • Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RPYT)
  • Continuing Education Provider (YACEP)

University Education: 
  • Ph.D. Psychology (2019)
  • Master of Counselling Psychology (2011)
  • Bachelor of Arts: Psychology (2007)
  • Master of Business Administration (current student)

Professional Affiliations: 
  • College of Alberta Psychologists
  • Canadian Psychological Association
  • Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention
  • International Association for Yoga Therapists
  • Yoga Alliance
Some of my Certifications: ​
  • Graduate Diploma in Management (GDM)
  • 75-hour Skill in Action (Michelle Cassandra Johnson)
  • 300-hour Embody Yoga’s Roots Training ( Susanna Barkataki)
  • 300-hour Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Training (TCTSY)
  • 85-hour Pre and Post-Natal Yoga Teacher Training (Mamata Yoga)
  • Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Institute
  • 300-hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training (Inspired Yoga Institute)
  • 20-hour Embrace Yoga's Roots Training (Susanna Barkataki)
  • 95-hour Children and Teens' Yoga Teacher Training (Yoga Ed.)
  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (Sue Johnson)
  • 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training (Yandara)
  • Attachment-Based Group for Parenting & Caregivers​

Canmore Location:

109-705 10th Street Canmore, AB T1W2A3
We're next to Communitea & Vermelho, 
​on the corner of 10th St. and 6th Ave.

Established in 2014.
​Copyright © 2026 by
Canmore Counselling & Trauma-Informed Yoga Psychology School is an Indigenous and Black-owned family business, co-created by Melissa Jay and Michael Yudcovitch. 

​Our team lives across Turtle Island, and we honour the Nations who continue to nurture these lands. Our primary office is located in Châ Ûpchîchîyen Kudebi (translated from Îyârhe Nakoda as “shooting at the willows”), colonially known as Canmore, on Treaty 7 territory and the current and ancestral lands of the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda), Tsuut’ina First Nation, and Blackfoot Confederacy. These lands are also home to the Rocky View Métis District 4 within the Battle River Territory. 

We are grateful to be students, practitioners, and guides of yoga, an Indigenous wisdom tradition with roots in India and across South Asia and parts of Africa. We are committed to learning from and amplifying South Asian teachers and practitioners while continuing to learn alongside our own students, faculty, and alumni. We believe trauma-informed care requires an active commitment to community, social justice, decolonization, anti-oppression, anti-racism, reciprocity, and meaningful care for people and communities who have been intentionally and historically marginalized.

As a team, we are committed to uplifting Truth, language, culture, and relationship as essential to right relations and to our ongoing work of reconciliation and decolonization. Thank you for being here :)