Dr. Adam Stibbards
BA, MA, PhD
Professor and Program Coordinator, Honours Bachelor of Counselling Psychology
Biography
Adam Stibbards is the Program Coordinator for the Honours Bachelor of Counselling Psychology (HBCP) degree program at Georgian College. He was a central member of the program development team, including writing and designing the curriculum for clinical skills training and research-oriented courses in the program. As a faculty member, Adam is committed to an engaging, experiential approach to teaching and learning. He also offers academic advice to HBCP students, liaises with graduate programs in counselling psychology, supervises students in program development and implementation for the community-facing HBCP clinic, and works to cultivate a sense of community within the program and at the Orillia Campus in general.
Adam has been at Georgian since 2011, as a faculty member, and a co-ordinator of the Social Service Worker diploma program from 2012-19. He was a psychotherapist in private practice for many years, offering individual, couple, family and group psychotherapy. Earlier in his career, Adam worked with children and youth with developmental and/or behavioural challenges in school, foster-care and residential settings.
Adam completed his PhD in 2017, after being immersed in outdoor, pre-service teacher courses in ecological education. He examined the mechanisms by which this immersive, experiential teaching and learning approach leads to deeper, transformative learning. His master’s thesis utilized a case study approach to examine how several clients experienced change through a person-centred and Jungian psychotherapeutic approach. Adam’s research activities and interests are focused around empathy, teaching and learning, nature, mindfulness, therapeutic animals, and transformative experiences in general.
I’m fascinated by what makes people change, what leads to healing, what sparks curiosity and motivation to engage more fully with our lives. My professional life as therapist, educator and researcher has been focused around these central questions. Working with Honours Bachelor of Counselling Psychology students and faculty has offered the deepest chance in my career to explore this fascination, through all three professional lenses at once. Belonging to our community is a gift.
Dr. Adam Stibbards
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Education – Cognition and Learning, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay ON, 2017
- Master of Arts (MA) in Psychotherapeutic Studies, Lesley University, Cambridge MA, USA, 2004
- Education – Guidance Studies diploma, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, 1994
- Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough ON, 1992
- Curriculum design and implementation of Honours Bachelor of Counselling Psychology program, Georgian College, 2016 to present
- Coordinator and professor, Honours Bachelor of Counselling Psychology program, Georgian College, 2019 to present
- Design and delivery of clinical skills training, research and psychology courses
- Academic advisor
- Program Advisory Committee co-ordination/facilitation
- Supervision of development of the community-facing clinic
- Liaising with Canadian graduate programs in counselling psychology
- Supervision of student research
- Supervision of student program development
- Design and delivery of clinical skills training, research and psychology courses
- Academic advisor
- Program Advisory Committee co-ordination/facilitation
- Supervision of development of the community-facing clinic
- Liaising with Canadian graduate programs in counselling psychology
- Supervision of student research
- Supervision of student program development
- Mindfulness Facilitator Training, Mindfulness Without Borders, 2019
- Coordinator and professor, Social Service Worker program, Georgian College, 2013-19
- William A. West Education Medal – highest-level PhD graduating student, Lakehead University, 2017
- Award for Teaching Excellence, Trent University, 2008
- Psychotherapist, Private Practice, 1998-2010
Research interests
- Empathy in therapy and education
- Nature therapy
- Therapeutic animals
- Mindfulness
- Therapeutic photography
- Transformative change in learning and therapy
- Post-traumatic growth
Research projects
- Outcomes and Experiences of the Sweet Charity Canine Ambassador Program: Children and Youth Mental Health
- Role: Co-researcher
- Year funded: 2018-23
- Funded by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) – College Innovation Grant
- Assessing Post-Traumatic Growth in Firefighters: A Pilot Project
- Year funded: 2021-22
- Empathy Training at Georgian College: A Review of Teaching and Learning Approaches
- Role: Lead Researcher
- Year funded: 2019
- Funded by: Georgian College RIS Grant
- Outcomes and Experiences from the Hope Haven Therapeutic Riding Center
- Role: Co-researcher
- Year funded: 2018
- Funded by: Trillium Grant
- Embodied Transformation: Tapping into the Nature of Emergent Learning
- Doctoral dissertation
- The Grain: Archetype and Experience in Psychotherapy
- MA dissertation
Featured publications
- Stibbards, A. (2022). ‘The tool of our trade’: Defining and teaching empathy in college programs. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2023.1.11023
- Puk, T. & Stibbards, A. (2012). Systemic ecological illiteracy? Shedding light on meaning as an act of thought in higher learning. Environmental Education Research, 18, 353-373.
- Puk, T. & Stibbards, A. (2011). Growth in ecological concept development through embodied experience in teacher education: The discerning teacher. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 6(3), 191-211.
- Stibbards, A. & Puk, T. (2011). The efficacy of ecological macro-models in preservice teacher education: Transforming states of mind. Applied Environmental Education and Communication, 10, 20-30.
- Puk, T. & Stibbards, A. (2010). Ecological concept development in preservice teacher-candidates: Opaque empty shells. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 5(4), 461-476.