After graduating from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) in 2000 I began a three-year postdoctoral fellowship in ethnogerontology at the Center for Studies of Ethnicity and Human Development. I had thought to do a few years internationally, but 3 years turned into 10 and I was the Deputy Director of this institute from 2003 until 2009. The entirety of this time was on soft money and I initiated a funded program of work examining the links between psychological characteristics (particularly fear and embarrassment) and health behaviors (notably cancer screening) in the diverse ethnic populations of Brooklyn, New York.

Despite having published in several applied areas including emotion, emotion regulation and health behavior, cancer screening, comparative social gerontology, and adult attachment, I am fundamentally interested in basic questions. The return to New Zealand together with being based in a hospital is thus a nice opportunity to begin testing specific ideas in experimental and clinical designs. Current research interests include experimental studies of emotions in health and decision-making, mindfulness, compassion and self-compassion in medical and health settings, links between emotion regulatory skills and health outcomes, and adult attachment.

Qualifications:
PhD (Psychology) (Canterbury)

Media Keywords:
Adult attachment, Cancer screening, Compassion, Mindfulness, Decision-making and help-seeking, Discrete emotions, Ethnic differences, Health and emotions, Help-seeking, Psycho-oncology, Lifespan socioemotional development, Disgust, Embarrassment