About

I am an experienced teacher and a Registered Clinical Counsellor through the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. I hold a PhD in Health Sciences for which my doctoral research was on resilience in teachers who were simultaneously raising their own children while teaching; my work for this degree earned me the 2018 Women’s Health Research Foundation Silver Award at the Canadian Student Health Research Forum in Winnipeg, MB and the 2019 Governor General’s Gold Medal for UNBC. I have worked as a teacher and/or counsellor with adults and children of all ages from infant/toddler to post-secondary.

I am a frequent presenter on educator well-being and resilience with a focus on how we (as an education system) might better recognize and support the emotional aspects of the work we do in schools as humans working with other humans. I work with EdCan as an “expert” contributor in this area; with the BC K-12 school staff well-being network as a founding member; with universities as a sessional instructor in Education courses on human development, inclusive education, and inquiry (and how to integrate teacher well-being and resilience into and across all of these areas); and with school districts to help build and support meaningful, locally-relevant supports for school staffs.

My approach to workplace well-being facilitation integrates my training as a scientist (through a BSc in Biology and a PhD in Health Sciences) with my experience and ongoing development as a teacher (including a BEd in secondary science education with time spent in a variety of education roles including principal and union leadership) and a mental health clinician (including an MEd in counselling and extensive training in attachment-focused therapies with a focus on applications in infant mental health and – especially – caregiver support). I also rely heavily on my sense of humour and my enthusiasm for researching, writing, and continually doing the work of building communities that care for each other. I always seek to integrate story and joy into this work of connecting with each other and building and sustaining ever more vibrant communities of care. I look forward to having a conversation to see how I might bring this enthusiasm and experience to your organization.