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Dr. Melissa Jay (she/her)

I am a nehiyaw (Cree) member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Associate Professor, Registered Psychologist, Yoga Therapist, and forever student. My work is grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing, relational accountability, and trauma-informed practice supporting decolonization and social justice.

At Athabasca University, I teach and coordinate courses in Human Services and serve as Program Coordinator for the Human Services program. My teaching and scholarship centre culturally responsive and socially just practice, Indigenous worldviews, decolonization, trauma-informed care, and the ways we can put social justice into meaningful action within our professions and communities.

Much of my scholarship is relational and collaborative. I am co-editor, alongside Dr. Sandra Collins, of , a collaborative text bringing together approximately 75 contributors. My research also explores culturally responsive counselling, access to mental health care, community care, trauma-informed practices, yoga therapy, and approaches to research that honour relationship, reciprocity, and multiple ways of knowing.

Alongside my academic work, I am the co-owner and director of Canmore Counselling and the Trauma-Informed Yoga Psychology School, including our IAYT-accredited Yoga Therapy Diploma. Through this work, I have the privilege of learning alongside counsellors, psychologists, yoga therapists, yoga teachers, students, and community members who are imagining more accessible, relational, and socially just approaches to care.

My home is in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, Châ Ûpchîchîyen Kudebi (translated from Îyârhe Nakoda as “shooting at the willows”), colonially known as Canmore, alongside my spouse and our rescue-turned-retired-therapy-dog, Lulu. I am grateful for all of the many people and communities who walk alongside me.

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Research interests

Indigenous Ways of Knowing; Relational Accountability; Decolonization; Social Justice; Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Practice; Trauma-Informed Practice; Yoga Therapy

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Educational credentials

• Ph.D. in Social Psychology
• Master of Counselling: Counselling Psychology
• Bachelor of Arts: Psychology

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Professional affiliations

• College of Alberta Psychologists
• College of Health and Care Professionals of BC
• Canadian Psychological Association
• International Association of Yoga Therapists
• Yoga Alliance

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