Profiles

Allison Kelly is the director of the Self-Attitudes Lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from Queen’s University and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from McGill University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Toronto General Hospital’s Eating Disorders Program before joining the University of Waterloo as a faculty member in 2012. Dr. Kelly conducts and supervises research on topics related to self-compassion, self-criticism, shame, disordered eating, and body image, as broadly described on the lab home page and faculty page.

Aleece received her Honours Psychology (Bachelor of Science) degree from the University of Guelph, and began the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Waterloo in September 2018. In her current research with Dr. Kelly, she is exploring the extended effects of self-compassion during adverse experiences on eating disorder symptomology. 

Jenessa received her Honours Psychology degree (Bachelor of Arts) from the University of Windsor, and began the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Waterloo in September 2020. In her current research with Dr. Kelly, she is exploring how a compassion-based intervention can help reduce the perception that experiencing negative emotions is unbearable in those who hold this belief.

Michelle received her Honours Psychology degree (Bachelor of Arts) from Simon Fraser University. She began the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Waterloo in September 2022. Broadly, her interests include how compassion-based interventions can promote the reduction of distress in self-critical individuals.

Monica received her Honours Bachelor of Knowledge Integration and her Honours Psychology (Bachelor of Arts) degrees from the University of Waterloo. She began the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Waterloo in September 2022. Broadly, her research interests include fear of self-compassion and how self-compassion is socially learned.

Jenna received her PhD from the University of Toronto in 2018 and is currently an AMTD postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Kelly. Her program of research seeks to better understand emotion dynamics among youth during the transition to university and the role of self-compassion in facilitating adaptation during this transitional period. This project is funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant.

Giselle graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Science in Psychiatry, and is currently the Research Coordinator in the Self-Attitudes Lab. Previously, she worked as a research coordinator at McGill University Health Centre and Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.