Current Degree:
PhD in Clinical Psychology
Undergraduate Degree:
Bachelor of Criminology/Bachelor of Science (Psychology) (honours)
What department are you in, and what is your research topic?
Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science – Experiences of family violence, risks and help-seeking behaviour among South-Asian Australians.
What are your personal interests?
Outside of academics I love to read, play board games, and struggle to run for fun. Academic interests include cross-cultural/cultural psychology and forensic psychology.
Tell us a bit about why you are doing this research, how you got to where you are now (e.g. analysing results), and any obstacles or adversities you’ve faced with respect to your research (e.g. ethics sign off, noisy data, COVID)
Growing up as a South-Asian Australian, I was acutely aware of some of the cultural differences that influenced my day-to-day experiences. However limited research exists on the South-Asian Australian experience. Therefore, I was inspired to take up the challenge and fill this gap, particularly as I believe in the scientist-practitioner model, where my research will hopefully inform culturally-sensitive practice.
Research only came into my vision after signing up to do an intensive undergraduate research course. Why would I do that? Because I love travelling and I got to go to China for 2 weeks! It was a great experience and it really opened my eyes into why culturally-sensitive research is important. Honours helped solidify my interest in research, as I enjoyed the process of everything coming together and seeing an emergence of new knowledge. The pathway into post-graduate psychology definitely presented obstacles. I did my undergrad interstate, hoping I’ll come back home to Sydney for Honours. However, when Honours rolled around I had to choose between the comfort of returning home and staying in Canberra where I’d started to build some momentum. I ended up sticking it out in Canberra.
Then, as I applied for post-graduate courses – I found myself needing to go to Melbourne to pursue my dreams – not just for the two years of clinical psychology training… but four to incorporate a PhD. I am overall glad to have had these made tough decisions, as I feel confident I’m meant to be where I am. I also now have friends and family scattered across these three states/territories – so it feels like home wherever I go.
What would you like to do post PhD?
Ideally, I’d love to be a part time academic (research + teaching) and part time clinician – sounds like a great balance! A sneaky bit of overseas employment in either (or both!) would also be great.
Any book and/or podcast recommendations?
Books: Anything by Yalom
Podcasts: Australian True Crime & Where Should We Begin
hessa.school.blog 