The Centre for Mental Health Research is proud that the important service with refugee mental health provided by one of the Department of Psychology's doctoral student's, Brenda Chiang, and one of our adjunct faculty, Dr. Nicole Ethier, is highlighted in the current issue of the Faculty of Arts' publication for its alumni and friends, Arts & Letters.
Their work, at the Sanctuary Refugee Health Centre, focuses on providing mental health services to refugees in the region. Considering the extraordinarily stressful lives most have led, many refugees arrive in Canada suffering from severe anxiety, mood problems, or PTSD.
In response to specific needs of our local refugee population, Brenda provided psychological consultations and assessments of refugees under the supervision of Dr. Ethier.
Brenda described the importance of her work well. "To learn first-hand about refugees' lives and experiences, to observe their resilience in the face of the hardship and difficulties they experience, is both powerful and moving. It inspires compassion and understanding in a whole new way."
Dr. David Moscovitch describes additional value of this work. "We are also proud that Brenda and Dr. Ethier are working to not only provide a much needed service but also are developing a model for training future psychologists in working with this underserviced population with such unique needs. Our department is hoping to continue training our doctoral students in this valuable area."
For more on the work of Brenda Chiang and Dr. Nicole Ethier, please read the full article at Arts & Letters.