Degree
UBC Philosophy BA ’07
Occupation
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Biography
First responders must carry the heavy burdens—moral, physical, and psychological—that are placed on them by policy makers on behalf of all of us. Having been a first responder myself, I am keenly aware of the stresses they face. The current psychological services available to them are inadequate, in both quantity and quality. I want to change that: to help first responders get the high quality psychological services they deserve.
Philosophy helped provide the tools and categories necessary to: assess arguments and evidence, and formulate responses to various issues which occurred in my professional and personal life. It also provided models for how discussions of issues, even hotly contested ones, should be conducted.
What advice would you offer current philosophy students thinking about career avenues?
Think outside of the box. Get out of the academic ivory tower. Find those places, those risky places, where the philosophical value of avoiding the ad hominem, and the skills to properly assess arguments and evidence, have a real impact, on real peoples’ lives. The civil discourse degenerates when the search for truth is abandoned, and replaced with the quest for power by whatever means, to the detriment of all concerned.
