Faculty
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Dr. Tanya Surette, Ph.D., R. Psych., CCC., CCC-S Associate Professor & Program Coordinator Dr. Surette is a Registered Psychologist and Canadian Certified Counsellor, with specializations in formal assessment, trauma, and creative approaches to counselling and supervision for individuals across the lifespan. Her research focuses on equity, social justice, cultural responsiveness in counselling and education, and counsellor wellness and career longevity. Her research aims to investigate opportunities to interrupt systems of oppression and integrate theory and practice into efforts to reach vulnerable, underfunded, and marginalized populations. In addition, her research informs her work as a counsellor educator and the integration of practices that support counsellor resilience and thriving in the helping profession. Her research program is grounded in a curiosity of experience as it is lived, through the narratives of those currently living it, and prioritizes lived experiences as the ultimate source of validation for knowledge. Teaching Interests
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Dr. Kelly Brenton, PsyD., RCT, CCC Assistant Professor & Clinical Coordinator Kelly is a Registered Counselling Therapist (NS College of Counselling Therapists) and a Canadian Certified Counsellor (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association) with over 20 years of experience as a counsellor and educator. Her clinical experience includes specializations in school counselling, assessment, trauma, and integrative approaches to counselling for individuals, families, and couples. Her research focuses on professional counsellor identity development and counsellor wellness through the lived experiences of counselling practitioners and preservice counsellors. This research seeks to support resilience and wellness within the counselling profession and is integral to her counsellor educator practices. Teaching Interests
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kelly.brenton@acadiau.ca|
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Dr. Birdie Bezanson, Ph.D., R. Psych. Assistant Professor Dr. Bezanson has worked primarily with youth in educational settings and residential treatment facilities. Her clinical practice has focused on youth who have been affected by complex trauma and children and youth with learning challenges. Dr. Bezanson’s extensive travel and time living in other countries cultivated a deep curiosity in the methods and practices of non-western healers. While at UBC, she developed an interdisciplinary research program to study the systems of healing ascribed to by traditional healers in the Açores, Portugal, and the implications of these practices for this immigrant group in North America. In her research, she sought to develop culturally responsive interventions. Her interests now focus on utilizing mindfulness as a universal intervention for children and youth in academic settings and as a clinical training tool for preparing preservice counsellors to develop a deep therapeutic alliance with clients. Teaching Interests
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Dr. Ahlam Rahal, Ph.D., RCT. Assistant Professor Dr. Rahal is a certified school counsellor (Palestine/Israel), a Registered Counselling Therapist with the NS College of Counselling Therapists (NSCCT), and a researcher interested in critical multiculturalism, power dynamics and social justice in mental health and educational settings. In her professional background, Dr. Rahal has worked as a school counsellor with minorities and marginalized social groups in educational and mental health institutions, alongside her work with agencies and community centres to support vulnerable social groups. Dr. Rahal also worked as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University from 2020 to 2023. Teaching Interests
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