PhD student contributes to improving mental health care

Emily Sullo has dreamt about improving mental health care for equity-deserving groups since high school. Now, she’s living her dreams as a Clinical Psychology PhD student.

Growing up in a resource-deprived area, Emily was aware of the gaps in health services and the unmet needs of vulnerable populations, with several of her close family and friends directly affected by these issues. Motivated by a desire to make a difference and improve access to services and treatment for equity-deserving groups, Emily looked for learning opportunities that aligned with her goals.

Prior to Emily’s journey at McMaster University, she completed a master’s degree in Global Health Systems at Western University. The program focused on addressing a range of health needs, including mental health in low-to-middle income countries, rural regions, and equity-deserving populations.

Driven by her interests, Emily applied to McMaster University’s Clinical Psychology PhD program. She is currently working on her thesis alongside Dr. Randi McCabe and Dr. Taylor Hatchard, aiming to improve psychological assessment for equity-deserving groups.

“Minority stress describes the persistent stressors that equity-deserving groups are uniquely exposed to or experience, such as discrimination and internalized stigma, which increase their risk for several mental health disorders. Despite the impacts minority stress has on mental health, these experiences are hardly considered during psychological evaluation as there are many challenges applying this in practice,” Emily explains. “Equity-deserving groups have unique strengths and needs that must be addressed with respect and humility.”

A memorable milestone of Emily’s PhD journey was witnessing the launch of the project. Emily and her fellow researchers worked tirelessly to develop the project and to obtain ethics approval. When they were finally able to begin recruiting, Emily expressed her excitement to see the enthusiastic response from participants.

Emily also had the opportunity to share the current version of the assessment tool with clinicians and researchers at several conferences, including two research days at McMaster. She shared a poster at the 35^th Annual Research and Scholarship Day for the Department of PNB and a conference presentation at the Graduate Research Day hosted by the Department of PNB.

“We’re just getting started. My aim is to continue advocating for change within the mental health field. I’m grateful to have support from Dr. McCabe and Dr. Hatchard and can’t wait to continue learning from them.” When Emily graduates from McMaster, she aspires to be a clinician-scientist with a focus on developing and improving care techniques for marginalized groups, particularly community-based initiatives. With each step she takes, she’s well on her way to achieving her goals.