OVERVIEW
Dr. Aiken (he/him) brings a deep interest in how people create meaning and navigate identity through counselling. At Adler University, where he has taught and supervised in the counselling psychology program since 2020, his work integrates research and education. His scholarship has examined the experiences of gender-diverse and transmasculine clients working with cisgender male therapists, and his teaching extends to gender and sexuality, meaning-making in suffering, and existential and culturally responsive approaches to counselling, counselor education, and clinical supervision. He was appointed director of training in 2024.
Alongside his academic role, he has maintained a private counselling practice since 2015. He is a licensed professional counselor in Colorado and Wyoming, a registered clinical counsellor in British Columbia, and a diplomat clinician of logotherapy with the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy. Guided by values of meaning, equity, and professional integrity, he is committed to mentoring emerging clinicians and fostering cross-border dialogue on mental health.
MEMBERSHIPS + ASSOCIATIONS
- British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors
- Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association + B.C. Chapter.
- Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE)
Formerly known as ALGBTIC.
- American Counseling Association
- Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy
PRESENTATIONS + PUBLICATIONS
Publications
On Tragedy and Transformation: A Logotherapeutic Autoethnography
2024
In A. Batthyany (Ed.), Logotherapy and Existential Analysis: Proceedings of the Viktor Frankl Institute Vienna, Volume II. Springer International Publishing
Presentations
Benjamin has shared his work at numerous international and regional conferences, including the World Congress of the Viktor Frankl Institute, the Matthew Shepard Symposium on Social Justice, the Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE), the Association for Creativity in Counseling, the Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors, and several regional conferences of the American Counseling Association.
RESEARCH + OPPORTUNITIES
As a Diplomat Clinician of Logotherapy, Dr. Aiken is actively involved in research, publication, and conference presentations exploring the application of Logotherapy in clinical practice, counsellor education, clinical supervision, and autoethnographic inquiry. He welcomes opportunities for collaboration with students, scholars, and practitioners interested in meaning-centered approaches and narrative methods in mental health.
