Recently tenured, Dr. Reeves leads immersive student learning on Indigenous mental health
It takes just one person to start creating positive change in the lives of others.
Dr. Allison Reeves is a registered psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Guelph-Humber (U of GH) and she strives to help others through her expertise in the field. She recently received tenure from the University of Guelph, being promoted to Associate Professor at Guelph-Humber as of July 2025.
“I’m always learning. That’s just being human…It must start with a moral compass,” she said. “I’m just one person in my little corner of the world trying to support Indigenous communities in ways that are healing for them.” But sometimes, all it takes is that one person to be that necessary catalyst.
Dr. Reeves leverages her background in the field to listen to Indigenous communities to advance health equity, help them recover from colonial harms, and to offer culturally sensitive mental health services. Always being open to learning and supporting Indigenous Peoples through allyship is important to her because human rights and ethics are at the core of what drives her.
When she isn’t teaching at Guelph-Humber, Dr. Reeves is a clinical psychologist consultant at Anishnawbe Health Toronto, a large Indigenous health centre in the city that offers culturally centred clinical practices in traditional Indigenous healing, traditional counselling, psychotherapy, psychiatry, and psychology. Here, she supports initiatives that are prioritized at a community level, as Indigenous Peoples are the leaders in setting their own clinical and research priorities.
“All my research work focuses on Indigenous community health and wellness, and I do work in partnership with communities,” she explained.
She is also a forensic psychologist, with skills to conduct assessments for legal cases. This can include identifying harms from trauma for victims taking their abusers to court.
Sharing a successful moment with her students
This passion spills over to U of GH, where she teaches her students about counselling, developing an empathetic approach, and understanding how to work respectfully with Indigenous communities by drawing from her experience. Starting July 2025, Dr. Reeves will officially begin her tenured role at Guelph-Humber as an Associate Professor, where she’ll continue to shape the minds of her bright students through this promotion – students she strives to create close connections with as a teacher and mentor.
Finding out about the great news of her tenure and promotion is a moment she shared with her students. After a lecture, Dr. Reeves decided to check her emails as students packed up and saw a message from Psychology Chair Dr. Alice Kim containing the word “congratulations” in bold letters. She gasped in surprise, and her students asked what happened. So, Dr. Reeves shared her achievement, and they clapped, cheered, and congratulated her, despite being unsure of what tenure means.
“The hilarious part was they had no idea what we were celebrating. They just knew that they were celebrating something great that happened to me,” Dr. Reeves said, smiling.
Serving Indigenous communities with psychology expertise
That moment was a culmination of two decades of hard work.
It all started when she first discovered her purpose. Before studying psychology, Dr. Reeves earned her undergraduate degree at Western University in health sciences.
This was also a pivotal time because during her undergrad is when she learned more about the history of Indigenous Peoples and the horrors of colonialism in Canada. Dr. Reeves met regularly with campus Elders to hear about their personal experiences with intergenerational trauma and the pain of colonialism.
“That really set me on a brand-new course because I became much more interested in health equity for Indigenous Peoples and I veered away from the natural sciences,” she said. “I ended up doing a master's degree in public health and public health equity and health promotion and worked specifically in Indigenous community contexts.”
Dr. Reeves also began working with young Indigenous women in reserve communities, supporting their health issues. This is when it clicked: if she learned about counselling, she could better address the Indigenous community’s unique needs.
She went on to earn her master’s degree in counselling psychology at the University of Toronto, and this is where she met Dr. Suzanne Stewart (a member of the Yellowknife Dene First Nation and a registered psychologist) – her research advisor who she described as a “mentor” and “like a big sister.” From there, she completed her PhD and postdoctoral fellowship in clinical and counselling psychology.
“The incredible resilience of Indigenous Peoples has been inspiring and has motivated me to continue working in this area,” she said.
Introducing exciting opportunities to learn about Indigenous mental health at U of GH
Dr. Reeves is grateful for the opportunity to share her knowledge and experiences with her students at Guelph-Humber. She was instrumental in the introduction of a mandatory Indigenous mental health course for all first-year Psychology students at U of GH – one of the first of its kind, according to Dr. Reeves.
“First, you start with education, in this case, mandatory education, on Indigenous mental health, and cultural safety. From that first step of education, now you start to mobilize and take action,” she said.
Moreover, this spring, Dr. Reeves ran a field course, taking her psychology students outside the classroom for an intensive, immersive learning experience. For two weeks, meeting daily, students embarked on PSYC*3600 Indigenous Field Study in Psychology. While there may be a textbook, the true learning came from building relationships with Indigenous people in the field and experiencing the subject matter first-hand.
Over the span of the course, students visited sites around the Greater Toronto Area to have enriching experiences meeting Indigenous counsellors, Indigenous Elders, and people who work in the Indigenous mental health and healing area. The students also saw and learned about a sweat lodge (where ceremonies to purify the body, mind, and spirit take place) and other ceremonies, participated in land-based teachings with traditional knowledge keepers, and learned about mental health and how it pertains to the sacredness of the land.
The students also visited the Ontario courts in Toronto to learn about the Gladue legislation from the Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto. During criminal cases, this legislation considers the lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples, giving the judge historical context before sentencing. For instance, if an Indigenous person has experienced poverty, marginalization, or multiple traumas throughout their lifetime, this will be taken account during sentencing as these factors impact the committing of crimes. Students also participated in ceremony at the sacred petroglyphs site, one of the largest ancient rock carving sites in Canada.
“Experiential knowledge is unique in the sense that you actually meet real people and form real relationships, address biases that we may carry amongst non-Indigenous Peoples, address our own internalized stigma,” Dr. Reeves said, adding that she hoped the course was “transformative” for the students. “It's a good opportunity for the students to get that first-hand knowledge, build relationships, build empathy, and potentially influence their future careers.”
She noted the first step to being of service to Indigenous communities is to be trained in cultural safety principles, competency, and humility, and recognizing our own biases, privileges, and blind spots that could be harmful to interpersonal relationships at the clinical level. From there, people can develop into true allies as they continue their developmental arc. This is the path she hopes she could empower her students to take if they’re interested in Indigenous healing and cultural resurgence.
Advice for the future
Ultimately, learning never ends. Dr. Reeves is always open to learning and hopes her students can aspire to be lifelong learners as well. She wants them to understand the importance of relationship building and getting involved – whether it’s within the community at large or the U of GH community.
“If you show up consistently and show people that you’re reliable, that you’re mature, that you’re trustworthy, that you have empathy, then so many doors will open,” Dr. Reeves shared.
To learn more about the University of Guelph-Humber’s Psychology program, click here.