Kia ora koutou! My name is Aleisha, and I am a second-year doctoral student currently completing a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology at Massey University. I am a proud Southlander, hailing from the idyllic Fiordland countryside, but I currently live in Tāmaki Makaurau, where I have been based for the past nine years. I have a deep passion for all things mental health and psychology-related, with particular interests in suicide prevention; acute mental health concerns, experiences, and interventions; frontline responses to mental health crises; lived experience-informed psychological research and practice; neurodivergence; eating and body image-related concerns; disparities and inequities in access to and treatment within mental health services; and cultural humility and responsiveness in psychological practice. 

My academic journey in psychology started at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT), where I obtained a Bachelor of Health Science in Psychology. I then transferred to Massey University, where I attained a Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction in Psychology, followed by a Master of Health Science with Distinction in Psychology. My master's research adopted a strength-based approach centred on positive body image, examining whether self-compassion protected Aotearoa New Zealanders' appreciation of their bodies from sociocultural threats often associated with negative body image. 

During my postgraduate studies, I had the privilege of supporting and sharing in the experiences of many whaiora through my role as a crisis helpline counsellor. These experiences and connections with whaiora ignited a keen interest in Aotearoa New Zealand’s responses to mental health crises and deepened my passion for understanding how we can more effectively and better support those facing mental health crises, as well as played a significant role in shaping my doctoral research topic.

My doctoral research examines whether the Aotearoa New Zealand Government’s newly introduced mental health policies, specifically the mental health target of shorter emergency department lengths of stay for mental health presentations and the Mental Health Response Change Programme of reduced police involvement in mental health-related incidents and an increased health-led response, are supported by empirical evidence demonstrating improvements in mental health and clinical outcomes, as well as effectiveness and cultural appropriateness within diverse cultural contexts, particularly for Māori and other ethnic minorities and marginalised groups.