Meagan De Jong

I am doing a masters in Counselling Psychology at the University of New Brunswick. I graduated with a BASc in Music and Psychology from the University of Lethbridge in May 2008. As an undergraduate I worked for the Lethbridge Schizophrenia Society, designing programs for clients, fundraising, bringing awareness to the disorder through partnership presentations and running a family support group. It was through working there that I became interested in schizophrenia and advocating for the betterment of those with mental illness. This interest led me to study how undergraduates perceive schizophrenia, a research paper that my supervisor and I got published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction in 2009. It was also through my participation in the Schizophrenia Society that I found out about and got involved in mind your mind's Get Real project.

Upon graduating from my BASc I took a year off to work and figure out where I wanted to do my Masters. During this time I held various research assistant positions in the psychology department at the U of L, was a teacher's assistant for the first year psychology class, a marker for several psychology courses and worked at the YWCA as a Youth Support Counsellor, the U of L Disability Office and the Schizophrenia Society.

My masters work focuses on the stigma experiences that young adults with psychosis have had and how these experiences have affected their ability to be self-determined and thrive. My interest in this topic grew out of my participation with Mobilizing Minds and work with the individuals at the Schizophrenia Society.

When I am not working, I enjoy listening to music, singing, playing piano, reading psychology books (especially the ones where people have written about their personal experiences with mental illness) and hanging out with my sister (doing anything really, although playing Wii and watching movies are some of our favourite things to do). When I graduate I hope to work as a mental health counsellor in Alberta and continue to advocate for better mental health treatment for youth and young adults

What do you like about being involved with Mobilizing Minds?

I enjoy learning more about research, mental health and the action that others are taking as far as advocacy, research and other work in the field. I also really love working with the team(s) as they are all very accepting, friendly and helpful.

What do you hope to achieve with Mobilizing Minds?

I hope to learn more about mental health research and services available. I also look forward to the creation of our resources for young adults and distributing these all throughout Canada.