Janelle Kwee, Psy.D., Licensed Psychologist
Director of Clinical Training + Full Professor
Clinical Psychology | Psy.D.
Vancouver
OVERVIEW
Janelle Kwee was trained in the practitioner-scholar model in the American Psychological Association-accredited Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program at Wheaton College. She completed her predoctoral internship through an American Psychological Association-accredited internship consortium, with a primary rotation in primary care psychology and a secondary rotation in community mental health.
Dr. Kwee is a licensed psychologist in British Columbia through the College of Health and Care Professionals of British Columbia, licence No. 02019. She has been a core faculty member in graduate psychology programs since 2006, with experience in teaching, research, clinical and research supervision, program leadership, and administration.
Throughout her academic career, Dr. Kwee has supervised more than 30 graduate theses and dissertations in counselling and clinical psychology. She has authored or co-authored dozens of articles and book chapters and has delivered more than 70 peer-reviewed academic conference presentations. She also regularly presents lectures and workshops in academic and community settings.
Dr. Kwee has been active in membership and section leadership within the Canadian Psychological Association. She also serves as a trainer for the Center for Existential Analysis and Logotherapy in the United States.
Dr. Kwee has remained active in clinical practice throughout her career as an academic and clinical psychologist. In addition to her role at Adler, she provides private clinical and consulting services as a licensed psychologist in Langley, British Columbia. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
MEMBERSHIPS + ASSOCIATIONS
- Canadian Psychological Association
Publications + Presentations
Publications
BOOKS
Acompañar para sanar: Principios de consejería Cristiana para ayudadores (Accompaniment for Healing: Christian Counseling Principles for Lay Helpers).
2026
Family Bridges/Lazos de Familia, Oakbrook Terrace, IL.
Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention and Treatment.
2018
Routledge, New York, NY.
ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
Young women’s embodiment and sexual satisfaction: Narratives of disruption, healing, and a positive feedback loop.
In Review
Submitted to the Journal of Sex Research.
Existential Self-Care for Psychotherapists: A Person-Centered Framework of Wellness.
2026
In E. Maisel, D. Laird, & A. Cantu (Eds.), Existential Wellness: Human-Centered Approaches as Alternatives to the Medical Model. Ethics International Press Critical Psychology and Critical Psychiatry Series.
The social process of involuntary separation and the search for connection.
2024
Health Psychology Open.
Voices of (m)otherhood: Listening to the experiences of single and childless women.
2023
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Existential Fulfillment in Maternal Health: Affirmation of Four Fundamental Motivations in Childbearing Women’s Experiences.
2023
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 37, 9-30.
Grieving in Community: Accompanying Bereaved Parents.
2023
Journal of Community Psychology, 51, 2246-2260.
Intergenerational voices of adoption: Family stories of adoptees and their adult children.
2022
Adoption Quarterly.
Observing the ethical imperative of self-care during the pandemic: Opportunities from an existential-analytic framework of wellness.
2022
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 34.
Integrating attachment processes with lifespan integration therapy: A hermeneutic single case efficacy design with an adopted child.
2021
Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 15(1), 131-148.
Lifespan integration therapy with trauma-exposed children: A hermeneutic single case efficacy design.
2021
Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 14(3), 401-413.
Existential Analysis (EA) in Canada: Reflections from psychotherapeutic practice, training, and research.
2021
Existenzanalyse, 38(1), 122-130.
Inside and out: Western patriarchal cultural contexts and women’s relationships with their bodies.
2021
In Stoyanov, E. et al. (Eds.), International Perspectives in Values-Based Mental Health Practice: Case Studies and Commentaries. Springer.
Counselling Psychology and Under-Represented Groups: A Vision for Advocacy as Mutual Transformation.
2020
Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 54(4), 678-684.
Women’s experiences of well-being in the perinatal period: What helps and hinders.
2020
Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 54(1), 1-21.
The influence of care providers in shaping women’s perinatal experience: Helping, hindering, and wishlist factors.
2020
Journal of Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health, 34(3), 171-190.
Advocating for transformative practices in counselling psychology assessment: Challenges and opportunities.
2019
Proceedings for the 2018 Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference. Prism Online Repository, University of Calgary.
Reclaiming the person in counselling psychology research and practice: An existential-analytical approach.
2019
Proceedings for the 2018 Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference. Prism Online Repository, University of Calgary.
Body-self unity: Feminist and existential perspectives.
2019
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 25.
Challenges and new developments in Logotherapy and Existential Analysis.
2019
In van Duerzen, E., Craig, E., Längle, A., Schneider, K., Tantam, D., & du Plock, S. (Eds.), World Handbook of Existential Therapy. Wiley, New York, NY.
Finding Meaning in the Aftermath of Family Bereavement: An Existential Analytic Approach.
2018
In L. Armstrong (Ed.), Existential Elements of the Family. Peeters, Walpole, MA.
Journeying together: Applying the four fundamental motivations of existential analysis for thriving relationships.
2018
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 25.
Practical strategies for promoting embodiment in working with eating disorders.
2018
In Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention and Treatment. Routledge, New York, NY.
Embodiment and eating disorders: An emergent vision for theory research and practice.
2018
In Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention and Treatment. Routledge, New York, NY.
Understanding disordered eating and embodiment through a feminist lens.
2018
In Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention and Treatment. Routledge, New York, NY.
Intergenerational journeys: Mothers raising embodied daughters.
2018
In Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention and Treatment. Routledge, New York, NY.
Embodiment: A non-dualistic and existential perspective on understanding and treating disordered eating.
2018
In Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention and Treatment. Routledge, New York, NY.
Sexuality, disordered eating, and embodiment.
2018
In Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention and Treatment. Routledge, New York, NY.
Restoring lived corporeality: An existential-analytical approach to eating disorders.
2018
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 23.
Intimate friendship: How do we get there?
2017
In Mutual by Design: A Better Model of Christian Marriage. Christians for Biblical Equality Publishers, Minneapolis.
Sacred sexuality.
2017
In Mutual by Design: A Better Model of Christian Marriage. Christians for Biblical Equality Publishers, Minneapolis.
Sex after baby.
2017
Current Sexual Health Reports, 9, 142-149.
Can I be here? Cultivating safety in the counselling room for survivors of trauma.
2017
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 19.
Women’s healthy body image and the mother-daughter dyad.
2017
Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 51(2), 97-113.
Exploring a group of high-risk adolescents’ experiences with a suicide prevention program using the listening guide.
2017
SAGE Research Methods Case Health.
Focusing on the mother in maternal health care: A review of perinatal mental health needs and promising interventions.
2016
Journal of Psychological Therapies in Primary Care, 5, 1-25.
Bridging the researcher-practitioner gap through systematic case study research.
2016
Psychotherapy Research.
Participatory critical incident technique (PaCIT): A participatory action research approach for Counselling Psychology.
2016
Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 50(1), 51-74.
Women’s Postpartum Sexual Health Program: A collaborative and integrated approach to restoring individual and relational health in the postpartum period.
2016
Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.
Working together for women’s empowerment: Strategies for interdisciplinary collaboration in perinatal care.
2015
Journal of Health Psychology.
Nothing about us without us! Youth-led solutions to improve high school completion rates.
2015
Educational Action Research.
Peace promotion among ethnically diverse youth: Reflection on an agency’s vision.
2015
Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 6(1), 1-14.
Removing Barriers to Athlete Performance Enhancement: A Hermeneutic Case Study of OEI.
2014
The Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 8, 379-399.
Listening for the voices of resilience: A group of adolescents’ experiences with a suicide prevention education program.
2014
The International Journal of Youth and Family Studies, 5(1), 24-46.
Phenomenology in Psychotherapeutic Praxis: An Introduction to Personal Existential Analysis.
2013
Experiencing EPIS, a Journal of the Existential and Psychoanalytic Institute and Society, 2(1), 139-163.
The Adult Survivor: What Healing Is and Is Not.
2011
In The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused. Wipf & Stock, Eugene, OR.
Treatment implications from etiological and diagnostic considerations of Internet addiction: Cautions with the boot camp approach.
2009
Proceedings of the e-CASE 2009 International Conference, Singapore, 1459-1476.
BRIEF ARTICLES AND EDITORIALS
The good life.
2023
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 38.
The COVID-19 outbreak: A unique moment in history.
2020
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 29.
The person and authenticity.
2019
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 24.
Embracing the opportunities of our own lives: A call to creativity.
2018
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 23.
Meaning: A question with your name on it.
2017
Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis, 22, 4-8.
Happiness and Nostalgia.
2016
Featured Article in the Existential Analysis Canada Newsletter, Fall 2016.
Presentations
Personal Existential Analysis: Engaging the Practical Method of Existential Analysis in a Two-Part Pre-Congress Workshop.
2026
Invited Workshop at the Fourth World Congress of Existential Therapy, Denver, CO.
Living Authentically and Finding Meaning: Experiential and Clinical Applications.
2026
Invited Presentation at the Fourth World Congress of Existential Therapy, Denver, CO.
Inner Consent in Clinical Practice: An Experiential Introduction to Existential Psychotherapy.
2025
Workshop for the Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, St. John’s, NL.
Existential Meaning in Clinical Practice.
2024
Workshop for the Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, Ottawa, ON.
Learning to (Dis)connect: Women’s experiences of sexual (dis)embodiment and sexuality education.
2024
Poster presentation for the Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, Ottawa, ON.
Existential Supervision in Clinical Practice: A Trans-Theoretical Approach.
2023
Workshop for the Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, Toronto, ON.
All Actual Life is Encounter: An Existential-Analytical Therapy Group Part I and II.
2023
Oral Presentation at the Third World Congress of Existential Therapy, Athens, Greece.
Observing the ethical imperative of self-care during the Covid-19 pandemic: Opportunities from an existential analytic framework of wellness.
2022
Workshop for the Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association.
All actual life is encounter: An existential-phenomenological therapy group.
2021
Workshop for the Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association.
Saying ‘YES’ to your embodied existence: An invitation for psychotherapists.
2021
Invited All-Day Colloquium presentation for doctoral students, George Fox University, Newberg, OR.
How partners and families influence maternal well-being: Helping and hindering factors.
2019
Postpartum Support International Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
How Families and Partners Influence Maternal and Infant Health: Emotional Availability, Partner and Family Relationships, and Postpartum Sexual Health.
2019
Breakout Session at the Postpartum Support International Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
Models of interdisciplinary collaboration to provide maternal psychosocial care.
2019
Poster presentation at the Postpartum Support International Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
The role of Canadian Counselling Psychology in Advocating for the needs of underrepresented groups.
2019
Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Halifax, NS.
Embodiment: Intersections between feminism and existential philosophy and psychotherapy.
2019
Invited Symposium Presentation at the Second World Congress of Existential Psychotherapy, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Existential-analytical methods for the treatment of anxiety.
2019
Invited Symposium Presentation at the Second World Congress of Existential Therapy, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Towards a holistic, phenomenological framework of assessment in counselling psychology: Reflections on assessing embodied experience.
2018
Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference, Calgary, AB.
Phenomenological encounter in therapy: A pathway to the person.
2018
Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference, Calgary, AB.
Living an embodied life: Experiential strategies to dwell and thrive within one’s body.
2018
Professional Development Workshop, International Congress of Applied Psychology and Canadian Psychological Association Convention, Montreal, QC.
Person-centered research: An existential-analytical approach.
2018
Professional Development Workshop, International Congress of Applied Psychology and Canadian Psychological Association Convention, Montreal, QC.
The lived experience of shame in athletes: An existential-phenomenological exploration.
2018
Giving Voice to Experience Conference, Seattle University, Seattle, WA.
Person-centered research: An existential phenomenological approach.
2017
Workshop presentation at the MA Counselling Psychology Research Day, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC.
Personal and Relational Dimensions of Voice-Centered and Feminist Research.
2017
Symposium Presentation at the MA Counselling Psychology Research Day, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC.
Silenced knowings of women’s experiences with others, self, and body.
2017
Symposium presentation at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Toronto, ON.
Being ‘woman’ and ‘mother’ in the postpartum period: Addressing the silence and struggle through an innovative sexual health intervention program.
2017
Paper presentation at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Toronto, ON.
Ripples of betrayal: A voice-centered relational inquiry into the violation of human bonds.
2017
Paper presentation at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Toronto, ON.
Case conceptualization in Existential Analysis: An approach with trans-theoretical applications.
2017
Workshop at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Toronto, ON.
Psychotherapy practice and research targeting attachment processes in children.
2016
Symposium presentation at the Counselling Psychology Colloquium, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC.
Building practice-based evidence for psychotherapy with children, youth, and families: Challenges and opportunities.
2016
Presentation at the Counselling Psychology Colloquium, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC.
How women’s experiences of childbirth shape their embodied sense of self.
2016
Presentation at the Counselling Psychology Colloquium, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC.
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how: An existential therapeutic approach to finding meaning amidst life crises and impasses.
2016
Workshop session at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Victoria, BC.
Seeking the body electric: Understanding eating disorders through embodiment and feminist-existential lenses.
2016
Symposium at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Victoria, BC.
Clinical supervision in counselling psychology: An integrative developmental-phenomenological approach.
2016
Workshop session at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Victoria, BC.
Til we have voices: Listening phenomenologically to voices of healing in psychotherapy research.
2016
Giving Voice to Experience Conference, Seattle University, Seattle, WA.
Re-Envisioning the Role of Systematic Case Studies in Psychotherapy Research.
2015
Poster session at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Toronto, ON.
Pregnancy and postpartum mental health: Ecological influences on mothers’ wellbeing.
2015
Canadian Psychological Association Pre-Conference Workshop for the Section of Women and Psychology, Ottawa, ON.
Why women and men should be able to be happily and productively employed, have babies, and raise happy, healthy families all at the same time: How do we make this happen?
2015
Full-day pre-conference workshop at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Ottawa, ON.
From ‘what if’ to what is: An existential-phenomenological approach to the treatment of anxiety.
2015
Workshop session at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Ottawa, ON.
Promoting resiliency through embodiment: Conceptually and empirically grounded approaches for working with the body in eating disorder prevention and treatment.
2015
Workshop session at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Ottawa, ON.
Introduction to Existential Analysis and the Structure of the Four Fundamental Motivations.
2015
Presentation at the 1st Existential Psychotherapy International Congress, London, United Kingdom.
Clinical applications of the fundamental existential motivations, Part I: FM 1 and FM 2.
2015
Symposium at the 1st Existential Psychotherapy International Congress, London, United Kingdom.
Clinical applications of the fundamental existential motivations, Part II: FM 3 and FM 4.
2015
Symposium at the 1st Existential Psychotherapy International Congress, London, United Kingdom.
Fulfillment of personal meaning during life’s impasses: An existential analytical approach.
2014
First Congress on the Construction of Personal Meaning, Vancouver, BC.
Thick Psychometrics: Alternative Methodologies and Guidelines for Counselling Practice and Research.
2014
First Congress on the Construction of Personal Meaning, Vancouver, BC.
Nothing about us without us! Youth-led solutions to high school completion rates.
2014
First Congress on the Construction of Personal Meaning, Vancouver, BC.
Perinatal experiences as they transcend medical events: Insights on silencing, empowerment, vulnerability, and strength.
2014
Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Vancouver, BC.
Mothers’ voices on perinatal wellbeing: Exploring helping and hindering factors.
2014
Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Vancouver, BC.
Addressing women’s psychosocial needs through multidisciplinary perinatal care.
2014
Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Vancouver, BC.
Influences on paternal involvement: What dads say about negotiating role responsibilities.
2014
Poster session at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Vancouver, BC.
Healthy body image among young women: Reflections from daughters about the development of body image intergenerationally.
2014
Conversation session at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Vancouver, BC.
Mothers, daughters, and bodies: Intergenerational influences on healthy embodiment.
2014
Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association Annual Conference, Victoria, BC.
Transformative engagement: An experiential introduction to using response art in qualitative research.
2014
International Association for Counselling Annual Conference, Victoria, BC.
Lifespan Integration Therapy: Efficacy and potential for transcultural practice.
2014
Poster session at the International Association for Counselling Annual Conference, Victoria, BC.
Engaging Vulnerable Youth in Research and Social Action: The Utilization of Participatory Action Research and the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique as a Research Methodology and Advocacy-Oriented Intervention.
2014
International Association for Counselling Annual Conference, Victoria, BC.
La fenomenología en la Práctica Psicoterapeutica: Una introducción al Análisis Existencial Personal.
2014
Invited Plenary Session at the First International Congress of Existential Analysis and Logotherapy, Mexico City, Mexico.
Una Aproximación Práctica al Método de Analysis Existential Personal.
2014
Workshop Session at the First International Congress of Existential Analysis and Logotherapy, Mexico City, Mexico.
Women’s Experiences of Perinatal Wellbeing: Helping and Hindering Factors.
2014
Inaugural Conference of Perinatal Services BC, Vancouver, BC.
Meeting Psychosocial Needs in Perinatal Care: Models for Multidisciplinary Collaboration.
2014
Inaugural Conference of Perinatal Services BC, Vancouver, BC.
Phenomenology in Psychotherapeutic Praxis: An Introduction to Personal Existential Analysis.
2013
Existential and Psychoanalytic Institute and Society Annual Conference, Missoula, MT.
Attending to the Whole Person in Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Adjustment: A Proposal for Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Perinatal Care.
2013
Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Quebec City, QC.
Nothing About Us Without Us! Youth-Led Solutions to Improve High School Completion Rates.
2013
Canadian Psychological Association Annual Convention, Quebec City, QC.
Counselling Psychology Research that Amplifies the Voices of Youth.
2013
3rd Annual Counselling Psychology Research Conference in British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
Harnessing women’s pregnancy and birth experiences for maternal empowerment.
2013
3rd Annual Counselling Psychology Research Conference in British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
Voices of the Silenced: An Arts-Informed Feminist-Relational Study of the Subjective Experience and Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder.
2013
3rd Annual Counselling Psychology Research Conference in British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
A Critical Incident Analysis of Factors that Help and Hinder Paternal Involvement.
2010
Inaugural Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference, Montreal, QC.
Gambling research, values, and pathological gambling: A psychotherapeutic perspective.
2009
14th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking, Lake Tahoe, NV.
Rediscovering Voice: Restoring Imago Dei through Relational Self-Awareness.
2008
Christian Association for Psychological Studies Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ.
Mental Health Concerns among Service Providers in Latin America: An Assessment of Perceptions of Mental Health and Further Training Needs.
2005
American Psychological Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
Religious Institutions as Sources of Mental Health Care in Latin America: An Assessment of Care Activity and Training Needs of Lay Counselors and Clergy.
2005
American Psychological Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
Gang Activity in Honduras: An Assessment of Needs and Interventions.
2005
American Psychological Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
La Reconstrucción Humana y Participación Social (Rehabilitation and Social Action).
2004
Three-day workshop presented at the Primera Jornada Nacional sobre Rehabilitación y Reconstrucción Humana de Personas Vinculadas a Pandillas y Maras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Moral Reasoning in Bolivian Street Girls.
2000
Christian Association of Psychological Studies Annual Conference, Tulsa, OK.
Moral Reasoning in Bolivian Street Girls.
2000
American Psychological Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
LEADERSHIP + ENGAGEMENT
- Past Chair of the Section of Women and Psychology, Canadian Psychological Association
- Founding Editorial Committee Member of Existencia: The Inter-American Journal of Existential Analysis
- Reviewer for Various Academic Journals
CURRENT RESEARCH + OPPORTUNITIES
- Existential Analysis and Logotherapy
- Lifespan Integration Therapy
- Voice-Centered Research
- Qualitative Methods
- Embodiment and Sexuality
- Trauma
- Maternal health
- Psychotherapy Process Research
- Personal and Professional Development of Psychologists and Psychotherapists