Marla Buchanan

Since 2019, the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has spread across the world and caused health, social, political and economic impacts. International students have been experiencing disproportionate and unique impacts due to COVID-19, but despite this, there is a lack of research examining how they were navigating, or coping with, these challenges (Browning et al., 2021; Koo, Yao, Gong, 2021; Maleku et al., 2021). This study sought to expand on the unique experiences international students had during the pandemic and explore their narratives of coping. The research design was based on narrative inquiry, within a social constructionist paradigm. The participants were six international students attending the University of British Columbia who were willing to discuss their challenges during the pandemic and how they navigated those challenges. Each participant completed an hour to hour and a half long interview, and a follow-up respondent verification interview. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Six major themes emerged through data analysis including; taking action, social connection, optimism and hope, acceptance, complications with coping, and growth. This study furthers research in this area and contributes to the knowledge base to better help counsellors and institutions understand and support these students.

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Trauma has a life-long negative impact on the growth and development of many children. School-based trauma-informed interventions provide the opportunity to offer cost effective mental health support to children who may not otherwise access counselling. Previous research has found that many school counsellors and teachers report feeling inadequately prepared to support traumatized children. Additionally, many teachers and school counsellors report never receiving training in trauma-informed practices. There is a current lack of empirical Canadian research on the use of trauma-informed practices by school counsellors, particularly with young children.The present study investigated the stories of school counsellors and teachers using trauma-informed practices when supporting young children (ages five to eight) through narrative inquiry. Narrative interviews were conducted with two school counsellors and two teachers. Narrative thematic analysis was employed to construct themes and the verification process included member checking procedures. Four themes emerged from the analysis of participants’ narratives: Being Introduced to Trauma-Informed Practices, Trauma-Informed Practices as a Whole School Approach, Barriers to Trauma-Informed Approaches, and Strengths and Success of Implementing Trauma-Informed Approaches. The constructed themes are presented and the implications of the findings, and recommendations for future educational policy, practice, and research are discussed.

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This thesis examines the environmental assessment for the proposed Northern Gateway Pipelines project, focusing on Aboriginal concerns with the process. Northern Gateway is a highly contentious oil pipeline that would link the Tar Sands in Alberta to the BC coast in Kitimat, in an effort to ship Canadian crude to Asia. I focus on the extent and quality of First Nations’ participation in the EA and its meaningful acknowledgement of Aboriginal rights and ontologies. Environmental assessment in Canada has become an important space for the negotiation of Aboriginal rights though it was never intended as such and is wrought with criticism. I present this analysis within a post-colonial framework, grounded in political ecology, political ontology and posthumanism. It is important to understand the case of Northern Gateway in BC today within a broader analysis of a legacy of colonialism, and colonial relationships. To explore these issues, I center on the experience of one Aboriginal organization, the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, in Smithers BC, which is publicly opposed to Northern Gateway.

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Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is the most common cause of coital pain in reproductive aged women who continue to experience significant barriers to accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. Psychological interventions have been accumulating research support as effective for improving pain symptoms and the well-documented negative psychological and sexual sequelae of PVD. Quantitative results from a recent RCT comparing eight-week group MBCT with group CBT (‘COMFORT study’) with 130 PVD-diagnosed women, showed both interventions significantly improved pain symptoms, sexual functioning, psychological and sexual distress, (Brotto et al. 2019). Research suggests individual women may benefit differently from change oriented therapeutic modalities like CBT or acceptance-based therapeutic modalities like MBCT, and that non-modality specific elements of program delivery may account for some of the documented positive impacts. There are few qualitative inquiries exploring how women with PVD experience their participation in psychological interventions or which aspects of programming they attribute to personal change. The current study used a narrative inquiry to provide insight into how 8 women experienced the COMFORT program and may be unique in providing their perspective more than 5 years after participation. Women storied their experiences via semi-structured interviews, with responses audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and constructed into eight narratives in collaboration with interviewees who provided feedback, edits and approval of the final versions presented here in full. Thematic analyses across cases revealed common themes related to the difficult journey to diagnosis and treatment, the painful disruption of symptoms to their identity, psychological and sexual functioning and intimate relationships, perceived benefits of participating, and suggestions for improving treatment for women with PVD. Women reveal how personal histories, beliefs, and individual, relational and cultural contexts impacted their treatment experiences, the benefits they attributed to participating, challenges they experienced before, during and after their participation and their ideas about what constituted treatment ‘success’. These narratives contextualize quantitative findings, may help to inform future empirical inquiries, provide information that may be useful in clinical contexts and lend further support to the importance of including qualitative research into treatment program evaluation and sexual health research more generally.

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Much of the literature on therapeutic treatments for military personnel who have suffered an operational stress injury or PTSD from active duty focuses on individual therapy models. While models of group therapy for military veterans do exist, limited understanding of the impact of their process is known, particularly with Canadian military veterans. This study attempts to understand the experience of one particular type of group therapy called Therapeutic Enactment (TE) through the lens of a Canadian Armed Forces veteran. A case study research design was employed for this study. The participant of this study was a male, Canadian military veteran who had suffered an operational stress injury related to his role in the military and had completed at least one prior Therapeutic Enactment in relation to this difficulty. Data was collected through a 1-hour semi-structured, open-ended interview with a participant via a virtual recorded interview over Zoom. The results of the study were analyzed using the six-phase process of thematic analysis from Braun and Clarke (2006). Four main themes, each with two or three subthemes emerged from this data analysis. The four major themes were: 1) Trust, 2) Beneficial aspects of Therapeutic Enactment, 3) Challenges in Therapeutic Enactment, and 4) Recommendations for future Therapeutic Enactments. This study contributes to our overall understanding of how Therapeutic Enactment is experienced and gives guidance for practical application for clinicians. Implications for future research are also discussed.

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Sexual assault is a common experience, with nearly 460,000 sexual assaults each year in Canada. Research suggests that women attending university are sexually assaulted at a higher frequency than the general population. These statistics are likely much higher since many people do not report their assault. Sexual assault has wide-ranging harmful physical, financial, social, and psychological impacts. There is an urgent need for more research into the experiences of sexual assault. The present study investigated this phenomenon using narrative inquiry. The research question for this study asked: What narratives were constructed by student survivors about their experiences of sexual assault on campus? While the majority of research on campus sexual assault is quantitative, there are a handful of qualitative studies on the topic, but little using narrative research design. Narrative inquiry suggests that language creates our understanding and verbal communication is the link to entering into the meaning systems of others. The current study utilizes a narrative approach that allowed space for the diverse stories of sexual assault survivors. Four participants were interviewed for this study. Three of the participants identified as female and one identified as male. All of the survivors were current students at the University of British Columbia and had experienced a sexual assault within the past five years. Five main themes emerged about their experiences: (a) Difficulty Considering the Experience to be a Sexual Assault; (b) Harmful Emotional Consequences; (c) Hesitancy to Report the Sexual Assault; (d) A Placating or Freeze Response; and (e) A Desire to Reconnect the Friendship with the Perpetrator. This study is significant because it informs university sexual assault policies and procedures, as well as provides valuable information for how counselling psychology practitioners can more effectively work with sexual assault survivors.

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In an era of globalization, moving and disappearing borders mean a changing world of career. In the midst of such transformation marginalized peoples’ differences are at risk of being excised in a global shift towards sameness. Indigenous people in Canada are underemployed and experience higher rates of poverty, higher risk of health concerns and lower levels of educational attainment. To date, limited research has examined the experiences of Indigenous women who have been successful in career decision-making despite this social context. This study sought to address the gap in the literature. The research question was, How do Indigenous women describe their success in career decision-making? Through the use of a qualitative narrative approach, in-depth unstructured interviews were conducted with four Indigenous women between the ages of 27 and 36, for the purpose of learning about their experiences and the significance of their career decision-making histories. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using Braun & Clark’s (2006) thematic content analysis. An overarching theme of the women Learning to have Confidence in Their Own Intuition encompassed six other themes which emerged, including: Having Healthy Relationships, Maintaining a Balanced Life Style, Participating in Education, Practicing Lived Engagement, Having Access to Financial Resources, Encountering Mentors. The research findings are presented and discussed within the context of the existing literature on career theory, Indigenous epistemology and social setting. These findings help to improve understandings of Indigenous women’s experiences of career decision-making and will hopefully help counsellors and institutions better meet the call of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (2012) which asked for conversations between Canadian government and Aboriginal people to co-create strategies to eliminate the disparity in education and employment between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

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Firefighters are exposed to high stress environments, often witnessing multiple traumatic events throughout their careers. Due to a number of recent suicides, unknown deaths, and line of duty deaths in the fire service, a call to examining firefighters’ psychological support and accessibility has become a priority in occupational health and safety. The primary objectives of this study were to investigate firefighter occupational stress, peer supports, and attitudes towards psychological help for behavioural health. Findings from the data collected from 254 firefighters from a large fire department in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia show that disruption of sleep, isolation from family due to work demands and stress, and upsetting thoughts about past runs were the top occupational stressors for firefighters. However, data suggest that these occupational stressors were mitigated by the levels of peer support received; that is, those who reported higher levels of peer support also reported lower levels of occupational stress. Survey data revealed firefighters are in support of seeing professional psychological help for behavioural health. Qualitative data provided insight on what firefighters deemed as helpful or challenging variables when connecting with support, while also providing suggestions for effective mental health supports. Implications of and recommendations from these findings are discussed.

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Atheists have been paid little attention in the social sciences, particularly in the field of addiction recovery. An Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) support group, which puts emphasis on belief in God as a means to achieving sobriety, is often the first form of help that people struggling with alcoholism access. The purpose of this study is to provide a rich description of the experiences of atheists who attended AA as a part of their recovery from alcoholism. A semi-structured interview was conducted with four male participants who attended AA and do not believe in God. Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was used to describe their experience by identifying themes in their stories. The following four themes were identified: religiosity a barrier, exploring personal responsibility, community and connection, and openness and growth. Suggestions for further research and implications for counselling professionals are discussed.

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The past few decades have seen a rise in the visibility and legal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, yet persistent stigmatization has left many searching for alternate ways of seeking connection. An increasingly popular means for LGBTQ individuals to find relationships is through online dating. While the Internet has been prolific in connecting LGBTQ communities, existing research on the use of Internet-dating sites in sexual minorities has focused primarily on gay men’s dating practices, overlooking queer women. The present study used a narrative approach to address the primary research question: What are queer women’s experiences of using online dating websites to find partnership? Qualitative, open-ended interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of five women who identified as queer and had used dating websites. Interviews were then transcribed and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic content analysis, resulting in the creation of three themes and 13 subthemes. These themes represent a significant and unique aspect of participants’ experiences of online dating, including their reasons for going online, how they navigated those spaces and the issues that they faced. The research findings aligned with previous literature on the subjects of online dating and queer women’s communities, and also highlighted new ideas for consideration and further exploration. Investigating these narratives may ultimately be used to inform clinical practice for sexual minority clients by contributing to our understanding of queer lived experiences and adapting counselling approaches based on this knowledge. This may improve LGBTQ client satisfaction with counselling and increase the potential for beneficial therapeutic outcomes.

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This study uses narrative methods and filmmaking to understand the experiences of six war veterans who performed "Contact! Unload," the theatre component of “Man, Art, Action,” a recent (2015/16) Movember-funded arts-based project, designed to engage veterans and the Canadian public with issues of military mental health. This research harnesses participants’ personal change narratives over the course of creating, rehearsing and performing Contact! Unload to understand therapeutic benefits for participants, to contribute to existing theories on action-oriented and theatre-based approaches to psychotherapy, and to inform a discussion of the needs of veterans in transition.

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Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is a viable relationship practice, yet there is evidence for persisting stigma towards these relationship forms in society and in the disciplines of psychology and counselling. While clinical recommendations for counselling practice with CNM clients have been produced, it is not always clear how these recommendations ought to materialize in practice. This research project explored the following research question through narrative inquiry: How is culturally competent counselling practice achieved with consensually nonmonogamous clients? Three narrative accounts of counsellors who identify as being culturally competent to work with CNM clients were co-constructed through semi-structured interviews to gain insight into how these counsellors ensure their practice is ethically and culturally competent for CNM clients. Interview content was analyzed to identify salient themes, resulting in 40 categories and five major themes: knowledge, advocacy and advancement, affirmative integrative practice, minimization of judgment, and personal factors. The research findings reflected both existing literature on the subject and also illuminated new areas for consideration and research, achieving its aims of furthering understanding of culturally competent counselling with CNM clients. The findings serve to provoke further discussion regarding the enhancement of culturally competent counselling practice with CNM clients in the three areas most influential: knowledge, awareness, and skill.

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Work-related stress is prevalent among many working adults and can lead to a host of detrimental health, psychological, and socio-economic consequences (Van Gordon, Shonin, Zangeneh, & Griffiths, 2014). Researchers have begun to look at the benefits of using mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace (Virgili, 2013), but they have yet to further investigate the mindfulness factors that promote or detract from work performance. To address the absence of empirical accounts in this domain, this qualitative study explored the subjective experience of participants applying mindfulness strategies in the workplace. Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT; Butterfield, Borgen, Maglio, & Amundson, 2009), a well-validated framework for data analysis and interpretation, was used to explore mindfulness factors that help or hinder effective work performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 participants from Google’s mindfulness-training program, Search Inside Yourself (SIY). Data analysis and interpretation identified common themes, patterns, and emerging categories among positive and negative outcomes on work performance, as well as wish list items of resources that participants felt would improve the SIY course and help them to effectively integrate mindfulness into their workplace. Among the helpful factors of integrating mindfulness, 10 categories emerged: (1) communication and interpersonal skills, (2) self-regulation, (3) optimization of performance, (4) ability to cope with stress, (5) empathy, (6) well-being, (7) self-compassion, (8) leadership skills, (9) creative and critical thinking skills, and (10) passion at work. Among the hindering factors of integrating mindfulness, four categories emerged: (1) misperceptions about mindfulness, (2) suitability, (3) time requirements, and (4) dissonance between work goals and mindfulness. To increase the trustworthiness of the research results, nine credibility checks were conducted throughout the study (Butterfield et al., 2009).

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Yoga is a popular alternative mental health intervention and an integral component of leading mindfulness-based interventions. Yoga helps with concerns like anxiety and depression (e.g., Field, 2011), but we do not yet understand how it helps. With the aim of developing more potent theoretical models of therapeutic yoga, there have been calls in the literature to explore yoga’s underlying principles and constructs, and to use qualitative research methods to look at the lived experience of healthy, long-term practitioners (e.g., Field, 2011; Solomonova, 2015). Mindful nonattachment (e.g., Sahdra, Brown, & Shaver, 2010), which is associated with the promotion of psychological freedom, emotion regulation, well-being, and distress tolerance (e.g., Desbordes et al., 2014; Sahdra et al., 2010; Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, & Freedman, 2006), is an important underlying construct in yoga and may be a helping factor not only in mindfulness, but across psychotherapeutic modalities. This research project investigates the meaning of the lived experience of nonattachment for four long-term yoga practitioners from Vancouver BC. Using Smith, Flowers, and Larkin’s (2009) method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, interviews with long-term yoga practitioners were conducted to explore their experience of nonattachment in detail. Six superordinate themes emerged: a flexible identity in relationship, developing nonattachment moment by moment, how to see things differently, processing lived experience, choosing freedom, and framework for a way of life. Areas of congruence with the literature and novel findings are discussed in view of the relevant literature on nonattachment and on self-regulatory features of yoga.

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Female youth in custody are a marginalized population. The majority of research on the topic of risk factors for female youth in custody is quantitative in nature. There has been a lack of opportunity for female youth in custody to tell their own stories in their own words within a research setting. The primary research question was: What are the stories of female youth in custody? This research question was approached through a post-modernist perspective and used a social constructionist epistemology. A narrative methodology was employed. Participants completed a timeline of life events during a pre-interview, and the timeline was used as an elicitation device during the interview. The interviews were transcribed using Mikel Brown and Gilligan’s (1992) Listener’s Guide. The participants were asked to check their transcribed interviews for completeness and accuracy. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) Thematic Analysis Method. Within this method, the findings were coded and seven themes were identified. The themes included: Family Life, Peer Relationships, School Experiences, Substance Use/Mental Health, Childhood Trauma, Misbehaviour/Criminality, and Future Plans. The findings of the research study have provided invaluable information for future prevention efforts for at-risk children. The findings have also helped to inform counselling psychology practice for the population of female youth in custody.

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The concept of interpersonal mattering, or one’s perceived significance in the lives of others, has demonstrated importance in the success and well-being of students. This construct, however, has yet to be adequately explored in the teachers who are responsible for creating mattering environments for their students. The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of teachers’ lived experiences of mattering in the workplace. The aim was to improve understanding of this phenomenon so that teachers and employers may have a greater understanding of the ways in which mattering may impact teachers’ satisfaction and their ability to support students. Participants included six full-time teachers from a variety of different settings. An in-depth interview and a follow-up member check was conducted with each participant. Interpretative phenomenology was used to gain a rich understanding of the essential meanings of the mattering experience from the teachers’ descriptions of their lived experiences. The following three essential themes were uncovered; impacting students, being seen, and belonging to a community.

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The human-animal bond has long been a topic of interest for both researchers and clinicians. There are many studies that support the benefits of animals with regards to humans’ psychological and physical wellbeing, such as improved mental and physical health in pet owners and the use of animals in paramedical practices (e.g., Rector, 2005; Souter & Miller). However, although therapists are engaging animals in their practice all over the world, there is no empirical research looking to understand clients’ experiences of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) in a counselling setting. This was the purpose of the current study. An interpretive phenomenological research design was used. Six adults who had previously been clients of an AAT therapist were interviewed, and their time with an AAT practitioner ranged from 1 to 7 months. The resulting transcriptions were analysed using Langdridge’s (2007) four stages of thematic analysis. Five unifying themes emerged across participant experiences, including: A Comfortable Environment, Animal Behaviour and Characteristics, Human-Animal Relationships, Intrapersonal Experience, and Engagement in Therapy. Three of these five themes also included sub-themes. This study contributes to the current literature by exploring the previously unheard perspective of AAT clients and inviting further discussion on how clients perceive and interpret this unique approach to counselling. Future research regarding AAT and counselling are also discussed, as well as implications for counselling practice.

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A complex systems view of the mind describes self-regulation as the ability of the mind to dynamically organize itself in a way that integrates the flow of physiological, affective, cognitive and relational experience as a guide to meaning making and adaptive action. Increasing recognition of the complex effects of interpersonal trauma has challenged clinicians to expand therapeutic work to address the self-regulatory challenges of traumatized clients. In addition to disruptions in memory, survivors of interpersonal trauma experience profound disruption in their sense of body, self, and relationships. Working directly with the body through the practice of yoga is believed to address these self-regulatory disruptions, but little research has explored the meaning of this experience for participants in a real-world setting. This study uses an interview-based, narrative method to explore the stories of survivors of interpersonal trauma who participate in yoga classes as part of their recovery process. Specifically, it explores how participants describe and understand their experience of body, self and relationships within the practice of yoga, and in relation to their process of healing from trauma. Four unique narrative accounts were constructed from in-depth interviews with four participants, and analysis utilizing the Listening Guide Method (Gilligan, 2015) focused on themes related to body, self and relationships. A cross-narrative analysis identified themes of teacher as frame of trust and knowledge, reconnection to self through body, restoration of self as agent, and contact with suffering. Findings are discussed in light of existing literature on yoga, mindfulness and traumatic stress studies, and novel findings are framed within an attachment-based, developmental, and complex-systems lens.

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Yoga is a mind-body practice that is widely practiced in North America and has demonstrated physical, mental, and emotional benefits, many of which overlap with the benefits of counselling and psychotherapy. Yoga postures, philosophy, breathing, and meditative practices have begun to be used within the counselling paradigm. However, little research has been done on the use and integration of yoga in counselling. This study explored the experience of clients who engaged in counselling that included yoga. Descriptive phenomenology was used to gain a rich understanding of the common essential features of the phenomenon from the participants’ descriptions of their lived experience. Participants included six clients of counselling that integrated yoga (i.e., the use and inclusion of mindful awareness, breath, and bodywork with verbal processing). In-depth interviews and two follow-up member checks were conducted with each participant. Essential themes that emerged include: (1) yoga components: breath, bodywork, body awareness, and mindfulness; (2) counselling component: curious, nonjudgmental verbal processing; (3) integration and transition between components; (4) yoga facilitates processing and regulation; (5) counsellor qualities matter; and (6) this therapy as a whole person, whole life approach. This study contributes to the understanding of this holistic psychotherapy from the client perspective, which gives clients, counsellors, and researchers greater insight and awareness into this emerging integrative practice. Implications for future research and practice in counselling psychology are discussed.

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Using narrative analysis, this in depth case study explores and gains a better understanding of the experience of being a child of a traumatized combat veteran. One adult male participant was recruited for the study. Five themes were extracted from the data: (1) After the War; (2) Distant Father, Prominent Mother; (3) Having a Distant Father; (4) Residual Effects of Trauma; and (5) Being Different. These findings suggest the difficulties that children in families face when a parent suffers from untreated combat trauma. These findings may help practitioners in their support of this unique population.

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This thesis is an interpretive description of street-involved youth refusing counselling; it has two primary research questions. The first research question asked why street-involved youth refused counselling, and the second research question investigated research participants’ advice to counsellors who want to work with this population. Data collection comprised of semi-structured interviews with seven people. These seven people were recruited as they have current or past experiences of being street-involved youth who refused counselling. This interpretive description was informed by thematic analysis. Findings of this study suggested that street-involved youth’s reasons for refusing counselling are embedded in their perception of counselling, their experiences of counselling, and their desire to protect themselves. Research participants’ advice to counsellors who would like to work with this population also emerged in three layers: increasing counselling’s accessibility for street-involved youth, building connections with street-involved youth, and using street-involved youth friendly interventions. Findings emphasized the significance of counsellor-youth relations and the time and patience such relations may require. Findings also demonstrated a need to re-evaluate forced counselling and suggested to give youth more control over their counselling experiences.

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Counselling and psychotherapy literature frequently reports that group-based interventions are effective and appropriate for addressing psychological trauma. Predominantly, this literature is grounded in theoretical assumptions about the process of healing trauma, or the clinical experiences and observations of clinicians. Although a small and growing body of empirical outcome studies exists, virtually non-existent are investigations into clients' own experiences of the process of group trauma therapy. On the premise that understanding client perspectives is integral to refining intervention techniques and shaping future empirical research, the present study is an inquiry into participants' experiences of therapeutic enactment (TE), a multimodal group-based trauma intervention. Following their participation in the intervention, participants were interviewed using a video-assisted method known as interpersonal process recall (IPR), with the aim of accessing their experience in a more immediate, less retrospective way than more frequently used interview methods. The interview transcripts were analyzed thematically and are re-presented herein as three distinct accounts of experiencing therapeutic enactment. Insights for both clinical and research development are discussed.

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Routine exposure to violence in the community, and witnessing the harm and death of others while on-the-job places police officers at risk of developing traumatic stress over time. Research indicates that operational stress experienced by the officer can “spillover” to his or her home life, and a spouse or significant other can become traumatized by association, a concept known as secondary trauma. The direct impact of operational stress on the individual officer has been examined, and studies that consider its effects on police spouses and the marital relationship are based primarily on survey data. The quality of police marriages appears to be dependent on the ability of the couple to cope effectively with this “spillover” effect. The present study includes the stories of eight female spouses of police officers, and explores their perspectives on the experience of being married to a police officer who encounters operational stress, and the impact of stress and coping strategies on the marital relationship. Data were collected using the Life Story interview method, the stories were transcribed verbatim and narrative summaries were created from the transcripts. Coding of the data was done using qualitative data analysis software and a thematic analysis was conducted, resulting in the creation of nine themes and 18 subthemes. These themes illustrate the unique stressors arising from policing, and the individual and relational coping strategies used within the couple relationship to foster resilience and maintain the marriage over time. The results do fit the concept of the spillover effect and the theory of dyadic coping, indicating that individuals within couple relationships do not cope with stress in isolation. Social support is viewed as a buffer against the development of traumatic stress, and findings from this study will help to inform the creation of new treatment and prevention initiatives aimed at enhancing support for police families, other first-responder groups, and couples that experience elevated stress levels over an extended period of time.

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This is an account of my personal journey of struggles, reflections and realizations as a care provider for individuals who live with cancer. Using the autoethnography method, I asked the very personally relevant question, “How do I understand my role as an emerging health care provider (HCP) to immigrant and young adults with cancer?” In other words, where do I fit in? How can I be the most effective caregiver possible? This telling of my journey incorporates my own experiences as well as the experiences of those who live and work with cancer. The journey begins almost a decade ago with an unexpected phone call that sends me to the bedside of a family member with cancer, and proceeds to my more recent experiences as a family caregiver, volunteer and counselling student and researcher. Drawing on multiple data sources, I explore the concept of health care provider, the desire to protect others and wear masks, and my own feelings of regret and guilt. Although this thesis presents my own realizations and insights, I hope that readers of these stories find resonance or dissonance with their own experiences, allowing them to make more sense of their own roles and circumstances.

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This thesis examines the environmental assessment for the proposed Northern Gateway Pipelines project, focusing on Aboriginal concerns with the process. Northern Gateway is a highly contentious oil pipeline that would link the Tar Sands in Alberta to the BC coast in Kitimat, in an effort to ship Canadian crude to Asia. I focus on the extent and quality of First Nations’ participation in the EA and its meaningful acknowledgement of Aboriginal rights and ontologies. Environmental assessment in Canada has become an important space for the negotiation of Aboriginal rights though it was never intended as such and is wrought with criticism. I present this analysis within a post-colonial framework, grounded in political ecology, political ontology and posthumanism. It is important to understand the case of Northern Gateway in BC today within a broader analysis of a legacy of colonialism, and colonial relationships. To explore these issues, I center on the experience of one Aboriginal organization, the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, in Smithers BC, which is publicly opposed to Northern Gateway.

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This qualitative research used a Critical Incident Technique to explore the resources women have used in their recovery from cumulative trauma, how they used these resources, and what meaning these resources had for the women who used them. Interviews were conducted with seven women who had experienced traumatic events in both childhood and adulthood, and who had reached a level of recovery from this cumulative trauma. Several findings emerged which have the potential to inform counselling approaches when working with women who have experienced cumulative trauma. One finding was that of new resource categories which may be useful for counsellors to explore in their work with women recovering from cumulative trauma. Another finding in regard to the importance of the meaning of these resources was highlighted, leading to the suggestion that counsellors work on a 'meaning' level when exploring helpful resources with their female clients who are recovering from cumulative trauma.

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