Lauren Currie began her PhD in Counselling Psychology in September 2020. Her research interests include addictions counselling, trauma, and forensic psychology. Lauren completed her M.A. in Counselling Psychology in May 2020 and her thesis examined the psychometric properties of a hope based measure for career with an addictions population. Her doctoral research will be on the topic of addiction and identity.
Jessica Ahn completed her BSc. Psychology at McGill University in December 2018. Her research interests include stigma towards counselling, how cultural factors influence help-seeking behavior, and forensic psychology. She joined the lab in May 2019 as a volunteer and joined the MA program in Counselling Psychology in September 2023. Her thesis pertains to investigating help-seeking for psychotherapy by Korean individuals using the lens of Frank’s common factors model.
Teresa Maynes completed her MA in Counseling from Boise State University in Idaho, USA. She joined the lab in September 2021 and is completing her PhD in Counselling Psychology. Her research interests include addictions counselling, domestic violence/sexual assault, and spirituality. Her dissertation project will study the impact of a hope-based career counselling intervention for individuals with addiction.
Debopriya Sen began her MA in Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia in September, 2022. Her research interests include cross-cultural psychology, culturally-suited counselling modalities for South Asian populations, and traditional healing methods. Her thesis research focuses on understanding attitudes towards seeking counselling within India and factors influencing such attitudes.
Isabella Panagos completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus in 2019. She joined the lab in February 2022 as a volunteer research assistant and then became an independent study student before being promoted to project coordinator on a large scale SSHRC-funded research project in 2024. She began her MA in Counselling Psychology in September 2024. Her undergraduate independent study research project was about developing a typology system that could be used to describe and evaluate the progression of identity and career-focused group counselling sessions among participants who have a history of problematic alcohol use. Her thesis project is investigating how hope may mediate vocational outcomes in a career counselling intervention for individuals with a history of problematic substance use.
Carrie Bove completed her MA in Counselling Psychology at Simon Fraser University in 2015. She works for Indigenous Child and Youth Mental Health as an outreach clinician and runs a private counselling practice in the Tri-Cities. Her research interests include cultural counselling, Indigenous knowledge, traditional healing, service accessibility, and counsellor processes. Her previous projects include understanding how counsellors combine Indigenous and Western counselling practices and the role of Elders in Mental Health Services. She began as a secondary volunteer research assistant on the thesis project of Maria Stahre. Carrie then co-facilitated (with Dr. Bedi) an identity and a career development groups for individuals with a history of alcohol addiction as part of Dr. Bedi’s SSHRC Insight Development Grant. Next, she completed a secondary data analysis as an independent study volunteeron a project that explored the dynamics of client and counsellor gender and professional designation on service accessibility. In September, 2024, she began leading a research project as an independent study volunteer, that is investigating an assumption of some research on Contact Theory (of prejudice reduction) – that those in locations with a high percentage of minoritized individuals will have greater contact with members of that minoritized group and vice versa.
Nathanael Siaoman earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of British Columbia in 2024. In September 2024, Nathanael started his Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology at Trinity Western University. He began volunteering as a research assistant in Dr. Bedi’s lab in November 2022 and in January 2025 was hired to coordinate a scoping review project that examines profession-wide and disciplinary issues within Canadian counselling psychology. His thesis, conducted in collaboration with the lab, focuses on evaluating how identity-based group career counselling interventions may contribute to alcohol addiction recovery by reducing relapse risk and cravings. He is also currently leading
Research not Rhetoric, Proof not Politics, Evidence not Emotion, Doubt not Dogma.
“Without critical thinking, this is not education but indoctrination. I do not want to teach you what to think but how to think…for yourself.“
“Confusion is a precursor to discovery.”
“Great minds do not always think alike.” (Heterodox Academy)
“The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.” (William Osler)