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Christina Cook, Ph.D., RCC

Assistant Professor

Counselling Psychology

Vancouver

ccook4@adler.edu

OVERVIEW

Dr. Cook (she/they) is an assistant professor at Adler University and holds a doctorate in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia. She is an arts-based scholar, interdisciplinary theatre artist, and clinical counsellor. Dr. Cook’s research draws on arts-based methodologies to focus on trans, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming narratives and ways of knowing, and her work advocates gender liberation for all. As a clinician, Dr. Cook has been in private practice as a psychotherapist and working with trans and queer community members since 2018. Also a theatre artist, her plays explore trans joy, and her writing has been nominated for a Governor General’s Award.

MEMBERSHIPS + ASSOCIATIONS

  • British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC).

Publications + Presentations

Publications

“Weaving a body out of words”: Playwriting strategies for trans-informed research-based theatre.

2025 McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l’éducation de McGill, 59(1), 12–38.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v59i1.10255

Empathy and listening in Research-based Theatre.

2024 Arts, 13(5), 140.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13050140

Promoting inclusion for disabled students in healthcare education: Using Research-based Theatre to enhance knowledge and empathy.

2024 Nurse Education in Practice, 79, 104085.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2024.104085

Addressing water-health equity through biological engineering and theatre.

2023 Nordic Journal of Art & Research, 12(2).
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.7577/ar.5637

Research-based Theatre about veterans transitioning home: A mixed methods evaluation of audience impacts.

2022 Social Science & Medicine, 292.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114578

A Spotlight on Research-based Theatre.

2022 Learning Landscapes Journal, 15(1), 349-365.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.v15i1.1081

Research-based Theatre across disciplines: A relational approach to inquiry.

2021 Applied Theatre Research, 9(1), 55-72.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.1386/atr_00048_1

Give Me Your Hands: Therapeutic experiences of collective theatre creation in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

2020 Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 54(3), 324-348.
Publication Link: https://cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/article/view/69478

Teaching Research-based Theatre online: A narrative of practice.

2020 Arts Praxis, 7(2), 56-69.
Publication Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d

Dramatizing learning, performing ourselves: Stories of theatre-based evaluation in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

2019 Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 34(2), 255-271.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.44172

Thawing out: Therapy through theatre with Canadian military veterans.

2019 The Arts in Psychotherapy, 62, 45-51.
Publication Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.11.001

Community stories and growth through Research-based Theatre.

2018 LEARNing Landscapes, 11(2), 109-126.
Publication Link: https://learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article

Presentations

Positionality in Research-based Theatre.

2023 Symposium presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education Conference, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Toronto, Canada.

Performative prologue: Research-based Theatre: The tragedy and comedy of knowledge exchange.

2023 Keynote presented at the CREATE Centre Research-Based Theatre Symposium, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

Voyage boldly: Into the transverse.

2022 Paper presentation at the International Drama in Education Research Institute, Coventry, England.

“What is it, exactly?” Exploring Research-based Theatre.

2022 Workshop presented at the International Drama in Education Research Institute, Coventry, England.

Research-based Theatre: Exploring interdisciplinary possibilities.

2022 Workshop presented at the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association World Congress, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Introducing Research-based Theatre onstage and online.

2020 Conference presentation at the Artful Inquiry Research International Symposium, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada.