Bree Akesson

Photo of Bree Akesson

Associate Director, Centre for Research on Security Practices (CRSP) Associate Professor Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Global Adversity and Wellbeing Faculty of Social Work and Social Justice & Community Engagement (SJCE) Graduate Program Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work Brantford, Ontario bakesson@wlu.ca Office: (519) 884-0710 ext. 5345

Media Relations

Aonghus Kealy
Communications and Media Relations Officer
akealy@wlu.ca
(548) 889-4855

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Media Relations

Aonghus Kealy
Communications and Media Relations Officer
akealy@wlu.ca
(548) 889-4855

Lori Chalmers Morrison
Director: Integrated Communications
lchalmersmorrison@wlu.ca
(548) 889-4857

Vanessa Barrasa
Director: Communications & Issues Management
vbarrasa@wlu.ca
(548) 889-3812

Brantford Campus:

Beth Gurney
Director, Strategic Communications and Community Engagement
bgurney@wlu.ca
(548) 889-4199

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Bio/Research

Education
PhD in Social Work, McGill University (2009-2014)
MPH in Population and Family Health, Columbia University (2004-2006)
MSSW in Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice, Columbia University (2003-2006)
BA in Sociology, Columbia University (1997-2001)
Other Affiliations<...


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Bio/Research

Education
PhD in Social Work, McGill University (2009-2014)
MPH in Population and Family Health, Columbia University (2004-2006)
MSSW in Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice, Columbia University (2003-2006)
BA in Sociology, Columbia University (1997-2001)
Other Affiliations
Clinical Treatment Facilitator, Global Psychiatric Epidemiology Group, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, New York State Psychiatric Institute
Faculty Affiliate, Child Protection in Crisis (CPC) Learning Network, Columbia University
Faculty Affiliate, Centre for Research on Children and Families, McGill University
External Affiliate, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University

My program of research focuses broadly on international social work, ranging from micro-level understandings of the experiences of children and families affected by war to macro-level studies on social service and mental health systems strengthening. My past research projects include:

-an evaluation of psychosocial programs for children in Chechnya (2005) with International Rescue Committee and northern Uganda (2008) with Save the Children.
-UNICEF-funded mapping of social work education in West and Central Africa (2014).
-SSHRC-funded place-based study on the experiences of Palestinian children and families living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (2014).
an eight-country baseline study to determine child protection practices and social service workforce needs in southeast Europe (2015-2016) in partnership with Terre des Hommes.
-Delphi study to determine effective practices and approaches to strengthen the global social service workforce (2015-2017).
-SSHRC-funded mixed methods study investigating Syrian families’ well-being and mobility in Lebanon using geographic information systems (GIS) (2015-2018).
-UNICEF-funded project to support university professors to mainstream child protection content into undergraduate curriculum in Ghana (2015-2018).
-USAID-funded project to support the counseling psychology academic programs in two universities in Afghanistan (2016-2018).

My current research projects include:

-SSHRC-funded mixed methods study of the resettlement experiences of refugees in Ontario.
-SSHRC-funded phenomenological study of the experiences of pregnancy loss among Syrian refugee families living in Lebanon.


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