Welcome!
My name is Anne-Marie (I am a double-first-namer), and I am glad you stopped by!
I am a medical sociologist that focuses on mental health and wellness topics. Originally, I started out as quantitative researcher of wellbeing. In fact, I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand (in 2010) because they were one of the first to collect nation-wide data on happiness, quality of life, and life satisfaction. While I was there, I also started to study the links between wellbeing and suicide rates, which led me into suicidology work (the study of suicide prevention and postvention).
After receiving my MSc, I began to work at a suicide prevention research institute in Meanjin Brisbane, Australia. My tasks as a research assistant involved helping manage a huge data set that housed the psychological autopsies of over 20,000 individuals. It was a very hard job. As someone who lost a family member to suicide, I also felt our data was not doing enough to understand what was keeping people safe or helping people get timely care.
From there I decided to shift gears, and I designed a qualitative PhD project on the connection between depression, recovery, and spirituality. This study is still one of the largest of its kind. Today, I have over a decade of research experience learning best methods and practices for researching range of topics, including interactions with doctors, spiritual encounters, and the hardships of navigating our complex and confusing mental health systems.
I am honored to be an Assistant Professor of Sociology at California State University, Chico, where I live and work. Thank you for being here, please reach out if you have any questions or thoughts.