Kristy Kowatch

Kristy is a PhD student whose research interests include culturally relevant mental health treatments for First Nation people, substance use as a form of self-medication, resilience in childhood and adolescence, as well as responsible gambling in northern Ontario and Indigenous populations. Her dissertation research examines the development, implementation, and evaluation of a transdiagnostic group intervention for First Nations children, relying on cultural skills and practices as a medium for intervention. Kristy’s work is supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Award from the Institute of Indigenous Peoples Health and Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant. Kristy has collaborated with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, as well as Thunderbird Partnership Foundation on research projects. Kristy completed her pre-doctoral residency in the 2022 - 2023 year with the Northwestern Ontario Residency Psychology Internship Consortium in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  In her leisure time, Kristy enjoys spending time with family, snowboarding, gardening, crafting, and walking her dog.

Publications

4. Mutti-Packer, S., Kowatch, K., Steadman, R., Hodgins, D. C., el-Guebaly, N., Casey, D. M., . . . Smith, G. J. (2017). A qualitative examination of factors underlying transitions in problem gambling severity: Findings from the leisure, lifestyle, & lifecycle project. Addiction Research & Theory, 25(5), 424-431. doi: 10.1080/16066359.2017.1307967

3. Toombs, E., Kowatch, K.R., & Mushquash, C.J. (2016). Resilience in Canadian Indigenous youth: A scoping review. International Journal of Child and Adolescent Resilience, 4(1), 4-32.

2. Kowatch, K.R., & Hodgins, D.C. (2015). Predictors of treatment-seeking for gambling disorder from the transtheoretical model perspective. International Gambling Studies, 15(9), 450-469. doi: 10.1080/14459795.2015.1078391

1. Kowatch, K., Whalen, J. M., & Pexman, P.M. (2013). Irony comprehension in action: A new test of processing for verbal irony. Discourse Processes, 50(5), 301-315. doi: 10.1080/0163853X.2013.799934