Faculty
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Dr. Tanya Surette, PhD, RPsych, CCC, CCS 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. Janis Dawson, EdD, RCT-C, CCS Assistant Professor & Red Spruce Coordinator Janis is a Registered Counselling Therapist Candidate and a Canadian Certified Counselling Supervisor. With 15 years of counselling experience, Janis has worked in a variety of settings, including post-secondary, non-profit, and private practice. Her practice areas are narrative, solution-focused and one-at-a-time (single-session) therapies. Janis currently serves as Coordinator of the Red Spruce, a community-serving mental health centre run through the School of Counselling at Acadia University. Prior to coming to Acadia, Janis taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland & Labrador's Master of Education (Counselling Psychology) program and worked as a trainer and consultant, implementing Stepped Care 2.0 mental health systems provincially, nationally, and in post-secondary settings. Janis’s areas of interest are counsellor identity development, interprofessional collaboration, promoting accessible services through mental health systems change, and integrating one-at-a-time thinking into counselling, Peer Support services, community settings, and primary care. Teaching Interests
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janis.dawson@acadiau.ca|
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Dr. Inna Viriasova, PhD, MEd, RCT-C, CCC Associate Professor Inna is a Registered Counselling Therapist (Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists) and a Canadian Certified Counsellor (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association). She recently joined the counselling program following a decade-long academic career in political science. Her clinical experience includes working with individuals and couples navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, relational challenges, life transitions, and the impact of sociopolitical stressors on mental health. Her approach is attachment-based, depth-oriented, and trauma-informed. Inna’s academic background in critical theory and contemporary political philosophy informs both her teaching and research. Her current projects explore the mental health of university faculty and examine the meaning of wellbeing and the good life in times of social and political turbulence. Inna’s interdisciplinary education, research, multicultural background, and lifelong commitment to political justice shape her work as a counsellor educator and guide her therapy practice with clients. Teaching Interests
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inna.viriasova@acadiau.ca|
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Mark Baigent, MC, RCT, CCC Assistant Professor Mark holds a Master of Counselling degree from Gonzaga University and is an assistant professor in the School of Counselling at Acadia University, where he has taught since 2023. He is a Registered Counselling Therapist with the Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists (NSCCT) and a Canadian Certified Counsellor with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA). He has spent time working in non-profit agencies, schools, private practice, and post-secondary. As a counselling therapist, Mark works with couples, families, and individuals with a primary focus on improving relationships and attachment in a private practice setting. He has prior experience working in non-profit agencies focused on child & family grief, supporting young parents, and facilitating group therapy for veterans & first responders. He believes being a counsellor educator makes him a better counsellor, and he continues to enjoy working with students and clients at all phases of life. Teaching Interests
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mark.baigent@acadiau.ca|
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Sarah Pittoello, MEd., RCT, CCC Assistant Professor Sarah Pittoello (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in Acadia's School of Counselling, where she coordinates and supervises at the Red Spruce Mental Health Centre. She is a Registered Counselling Therapist (RCT) and a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) with experience working at Acadia University’s Counselling Center and in private practice. She is also a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. At Acadia, she has offered individual and group counselling, workshops, and guest lectures on a variety of subjects, including mindfulness, somatic practices, and relational dimensions of sustainability. A settler in Mi’kma’ki, she is interested in exploring and creating the conditions, processes, and practices to heal disrupted relationships and cultivate generative ones, particularly through how we tell, share, and listen to stories. Sarah is also a mother, writer, involved in community theatre, and grower and educator on local food systems. Teaching Interests
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sarah.pittoello@acadiau.ca|
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Dr. Ahlam Rahal, PhD, 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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