Dr. Sarah Hickinbottom-Brawn
B.A. (SFU), M.A. (SFU), Ph.D. (SFU), Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC)
Dr. Sarah Hickinbottom-Brawn holds a B.A. Honours in Psychology, an M.A. in Counselling Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Simon Fraser University. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with a private practice in North Vancouver and has 25+ years experience teaching counselling and education at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral level across four universities (SFU, UBC, KPU, and CityU). Dr. Hickinbottom-Brawn has also received numerous awards for her scholarly work including the Sigmund Koch Early Career Psychologist Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society for Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology. She has published in Theory & Psychology, The International Journal of Critical Psychology, and The Canadian Journal of Higher Education, is a co-author of the book Persons: Understanding psychological selfhood and agency (Jack Martin, Jeff Sugarman, & Sarah Hickinbottom; Springer, 2010), a consulting editor for the Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology and a reviewer for The Canadian Journal of Counselling & Psychotherapy. Her academic work is grounded in ontological and philosophical hermeneutics and is focused on deconstructing the moral, sociocultural, historical, political, and economic underpinnings of Western psychology, while her clinical interests lie in relational, emotional, existential, and constructivist therapies for client issues that call for a significant re-interpretation of self and ways of being (e.g., grief/loss, illness, accidents, divorce, career transitions, etc).
Courses taught
- CNPS 3310 Theories of Counselling
- CNPS 3320 Career Counselling & Career Edu-cation
- EDUC 1100: Introduction to Higher Education
- EDUC 2220: Educational Psychology
- EDUC 4100: Post-Secondary Transition
Areas of Interest
Research Interests: Theoretical and philosophical psychology; ontological and philosophical hermeneutics; deconstructing the sociocultural and historical constituents of self, identity, and personhood; historical and cross-cultural critiques of Western psychological research and practice; psychotherapist and counsellor education; existential philosophy; higher education; moral philosophy and education; psychological agency.
Clinical Interests: Chronic health conditions; grief and loss; major life transitions; depression, stress and anxiety; career counselling; career change; existential issues and concerns; existential, narrative and constructivist approaches.
Scholarly Work
- Books
- Martin, J., Sugarman, J., & Hickinbottom, S. (2010). Persons: Understanding self and agency. Springer.
- Articles and Chapters
- Hickinbottom-Brawn, S. & Burns, D. P. (2015). The problem of first-year seminars: Risking disengagement through marketplace ideals. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 45, 154-167.
- Hickinbottom-Brawn, S. (2013). Brand you: The emergence of social anxiety disorder in the age of enterprise. Theory & Psychology, 23, 733-752.
- Christopher, J. C. & Hickinbottom, S. (2008). Positive psychology and the disguised ideology of individualism. Theory & Psychology, 18, 563-589.
- Hickinbottom, S. (2007). The (mis)education of the psychology student. International Journal of Critical Psychology, 19, 77-92.
- Selected Presentations
- Hickinbottom-Brawn, S. (2016). Counselling in pathologized cultures: Change through deconstructing disorder. Presentation for the Western Canada EAPA Branch, Vancouver, BC.
- Hickinbottom-Brawn, S. (2015). Remembering practices: Grief and loss from a narrative perspective. Presentation for Vancouver Mental Health Professionals Network.
- Howe, K., Slaney, K. & Hickinbottom-Brawn, S. (2015). The female voice in theoretical and philosophical psychology: An interactive symposium. Symposium at the Midwinter Meeting of the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, Salt Lake City, UT.