Self-Attitudes Lab

At the @ABCTNOW conference, PhD student Jenessa Shaw's poster shared findings from a #qualitative study of feared food exposure experiences in adults with #EatingDisorders undergoing #CBT. Thanks to everyone at #ABCT2025 who came to check it out!

Come check out PhD student Jenessa Shaw’s @ABCTNOW poster presentation on feared food exposure this morning at #ABCT2025!

Meet MA student Emily Fuller! Emily (she/her) is a first-year grad student in @UwaterlooPsych clinical psychology and the Self-Attitudes Lab. For her research Emily will explore the relational aspects of self-compassion. She is also interested in 2SLGBTQIA+ wellness & body image.

The PEAR Lab at @WesternU is recruiting adults experiencing problems with their eating and/or body image to complete a virtual problem-solving #research study. Compensation will be provided. If you’re interested, check out this poster & complete the screening form!

Congratulations to former PhD student @aleecekatan for graduating with her doctoral degree last week! Aleece is now doing a SSHRC-funded post-doc at @UBC.

Congratulations to former research assistant Caitlyn Mask for graduating with her bachelor’s degree last week! Caitlyn is also currently pursuing a Master of Information at @UofT in their Library and Information Science concentration.

#TBT PhD student Jenessa Shaw presented results from one of her dissertation studies — on individuals in #EatingDisorder treatment who completed feared food exposures — with the Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association & St. Paul's Hospital to help inform treatment.

#TBT Dr. Allison Kelly presented a poster at the Canadian Psychological Association convention in June, sharing findings that #SelfCompassion indirectly promoted more help-seeking intentions and motives by facilitating greater engagement with personal feelings of distress.

#TBT Grad students Monica Grove & Michelle Korlacka at the @UWaterlooPsych Discovery Conference. Monica's work showed effects of hearing a peer display #SelfCompassion & Michelle shared work on intervening with #SelfCriticism with #CompassionFocused & #Cognitive interventions.

#TBT Our honours thesis students presented at the @UWaterlooPsych Discovery Conference! Samantha explored #BodyCompassion in women with bulimia, Hayden studied gender expectations of a #SelfCompassion exercise, & Emma looked at self-compassion in South Asian vs. White students

The @WWEDCoalition is hosting a virtual conference on Diversifying Perspectives in #EatingDisorder Care on October 24th. If you’re interested in learning more, visit this link: eventbrite.ca/e/diversifying…

Huge congratulations to former PhD student @aleecekatan on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation last term! Aleece will also be graduating from UW later this month and just began a post-doc at @UBC. We are incredibly proud of her for these achievements!

#TBT @allison_kelly and Sydney Waring find a self-compassionate letter-writing intervention for non-treatment seeking women with #anorexia, increases #SelfCompassion, decreases shame and fear of self-compassion, and may increase readiness to get help. doi.org/10.1002/eat.22…

Meet our research assistant Caitlyn Mask! Caitlyn is a fourth year student @UwaterlooPsych who has been working with our lab since December 2023. She has been helping PhD student Jenessa Shaw transcribe interviews with participants and is excited to start coding these interviews

Congrats to Mia Mackenzie on finishing her last semester @UwaterlooPsych! Mia completed her honours thesis in our lab, finding that more #SelfCompassion is related to less negative #BodyImage, while more loneliness is linked to more negative body image.

Congratulations to Hayden Wong on completing his last semester of undergraduate studies and his honours #Thesis! Findings suggest women expect and report more distress with a #SelfCompassion exercise than men, while other experiences were largely similar between genders.

We are excited for undergraduate student Samantha Beneteau to conduct her honours #Thesis with our lab! Samantha is examining the links between #BodyCompassion & disordered eating behaviours & psychosocial functioning in individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for Bulimia Nervosa

#SelfCompassion may be contagious & benefit others! Hearing someone display self-compassion is associated with more state self-compassion, more positive affect, & lower negative affect in the listener. Read Kathryn Miller & @allison_kelly's paper here: doi.org/10.1037/cbs000…

Big congratulations to @aleecekatan on being awarded a University of Waterloo #Psychology Memorial Award! This award recognizes outstanding @UwaterlooPsych students based on academic excellence.

Meet (most of) the members of the Self-Attiudes Lab @UwaterlooPsych this semester! We are so thankful to have such a wonderful team of researchers. #Psychology #Research