CPSA Member: Kelly Lyons

Graduate Program: UBC Counselling Psychology MA

Year: Second

Pronouns: She/her/hers

What drew you to studying counselling psychology?

In my previous position of coach and sessional instructor, I felt burdened by my lack of knowledge around how to support myself while supporting others, being able to listen and empathize without feeling the need to help everyone and fix everything. I chose counselling psychology because I believed that there was more that I could do to support others. There is, and will always be, more that I can learn to put myself in the best position to support others.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

Often I’ve felt like my accomplishments were accidents or part of a team effort and were not truly mine. Recently I was selected to receive the SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS-M scholarship to complete my master’s thesis research. When I received the news in April, shortly after we all went into lockdown, I felt like someone, somewhere had made a mistake. Getting into this program is one of the acheivements I am most proud of. Being selected for a scholarship of this magnitude helped me to start believing that I’ve done the work that demonstrates my being here is not a mistake. I still know it has been a team effort with everyone that has supported me in the past as we do not work in vacuums, although that might be the next step against COVID.

As you look ahead, what are you career goals?

1. Acquire my Canadian Counselling Certification
2. Apply for the PhD program here at UBC to continue my research on coach-athlete relationships and the impact on mental health and work towards licensing
3. Join the road of academia with the optimism of someday receiving tenure
4. Finally, the big hairy goal of being a sport psychologist at the Olympics

Who are your therapist heroes? Who inspires you?  

Okay, this is going to sound cheesy, but honestly, I love learning from my classmates. I love seeing people battling through becoming more self-aware in the search to help others. It’s really inspiring to be around everyone here and I am so grateful to get to be a part of this journey.