Marnie Wedlake, PhD, RP
Education and Training
- PhD (Western)
- MEd (Western)
- Hons BA (Waterloo)
Professional Designation
- Registered Psychotherapist (College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario)
Supervising Graduate Students
- Yes
Research Interests
- Mental Health and Wellness
- Post-traumatic Stress Injury and Trauma-informed Practice
- Mental Health, Mental Distress and Social Justice
- Theoretical Application and Professional Practice in Mental Health Care and Education
- Arts and Humanities in Health Care
Detailed Research Descriptions
Primary Research Interests
Mental Health and Wellness
- Existential Despair across the life span, particularly in post-secondary students
- Living well with compromised (mild, moderate, severe) mental health
- Workplace mental health, particularly emotionally safe workplaces, and accommodations for compromised mental health
Post-traumatic Stress Injury and Trauma-informed Practice
- Trauma-informed practice across the health professions
- Social determinants of mental health, particularly short- and long-term impact of adverse childhood experiences on mental & physical health, and overall quality of life
- Extreme states, particularly psychosis, as natural and expected responses to trauma and adversity
- Attachment theory, particularly the impact of compromised attachment on mental health in youth and adults
Mental Health, Mental Distress and Social Justice
- Positioning the self as the primary author (i.e. first authority) of one’s own story in those who experience mental distress
- Impact of psychiatric diagnosis on identity, agency, and sense of wellbeing in those who experience mental distress
- Vulnerability of service-user voice and personal authority within health care system hierarchies
- Critical analysis of various approaches to treatment and psycho-education for live with experience extreme states and/or serious mental distress
Additional Interests
Theorectical Application and Professional Practice in Mental Health Care and Education
- Existentialism in theory and practice
- Dialogism and practical applications of theories of dialogue
- Use of social constructionism and constructivism to inform processes aimed at making meaning, making sense, and creating understanding
- Critical analysis of selection, review and evaluation processes used to determine the nature of evidence in evidence-based, evidence-informed, and best practices
- Critical analysis of ethics in education and mental health
- Practical applications of constructivist pedagogy
- Critical narrative and critical autobiographical research
Arts and Humanities in Health Care
- Poetry, art, composition, and creative writing as data
- Aesthetic representation of knowledge
- Aesthetic representation of personal and lived experiences
Recent Publications
- Wedlake, M. (2020). How to help students facing traumatic loss. The Conversation, Canadian Edition, April 17, 2020.
- Wedlake, M. (2020). COVID-19, fear and the ‘brave’ souls who disregard retail shop directional arrows. Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, Open Volume 11, August 20, 2020.
Teaching Areas
- Mental health and wellness across the lifespan
- Social Determinants of Mental Health
- Post-traumatic Stress Injury across the lifespan
- Understanding and managing stress
- Trauma-informed practice across the health professions
- Current & emerging paradigms in mental health & wellness
- Cultivating and maintaining wellbeing and resilience
- Innovative modalities and models of treatment, service delivery, and care
- Ethical practice in mental health and wellness
- Mental health and the media
Research Affiliations
- Associate with the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawl