Research
In Their Own Words - Parenting in Peterborough
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A community based, participatory study, in partnership with Peterborough Public Health, to document everyday care work in Peterborough and learn how parents can be supported to raise healthy children.
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Research is complete and in the final stages of report writing and knowledge mobilization.
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Click on the Research for Social Change Lab logo to learn more about this project and other exciting projects happening at the lab!
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Exploring sustainable wellbeing at fYrefly
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FYrefly is an annual arts-based leadership camp for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. Camp is designed to help youth develop the leadership skills and personal resiliency necessary for them to become agents for positive change in their schools, families, and communities.
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For 2025, camp is happening August 7 - 10th. This year, I will be the Mental Health Lead at the camp, providing mental health care to campers with identity specific, queer-informed, strength-based supports that focus on emotional regulation, coping skills/strategies, and resilience.
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This summer, the director of the camp, Dr. Rachael Nichols and I will be conducting research to help us better understand how campers, volunteers and staff describe their experiences at fYrefly and the support received by the mental health team.
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Click on the fYrefly logo to read more about this amazing camp, and please consider donating to help keep it going! Camp fYrefly Ontario simply would not exist without the support of many generous individuals, community organizations, churches, businesses, and corporations. Annual Camp operating costs exceed $50,000. We raise these funds from a variety of sources, which include fundraisers, community partnerships, and grants.
Doctoral Research Plans -
Pathways and Barriers - Parent pursuit of mental health care for their children/youth
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Across Ontario, families seeking mental health care for children and youth often encounter fragmented, complex, and difficult-to-navigate systems. Long waitlists, unclear eligibility criteria, jurisdictional ambiguities, and siloed services contribute to significant delays in care, placing a heavy burden on parents and caregivers to coordinate support across multiple sectors. While existing research has focused on service gaps and clinical outcomes, less attention has been paid to the everyday work families do to access care—and how that work is shaped by institutional, social, and even political contexts.
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My research seeks to critically examine how parents navigate the mental health system on behalf of their children and youth. Rather than treating navigation as an individual skill or deficit, I approach it as a socially organized process—one that is shaped by policy, institutional routines, and dominant discourses of responsibility, risk, and care. This inquiry is informed by my own professional practice in social work, child welfare, and child and youth mental health, and by a broader commitment to understanding and addressing systemic inequities in access to care.