Welcome to the Nicholls Lab website. We are a part of the University of British Columbia Department of Psychiatry and BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services. Our offices are located at the BC Forensic Psychiatric Hospital. The primary goal of our work is to improve public safety and the health and wellbeing of persons living with complex mental health, substance use, and/or criminogenic needs. We do this by researching mental health, risk, and recovery to support clinical services and to implement and evaluate evidence-informed policies and programs. Our work has influenced clinical practice and policy at many levels through improving understanding of the complex needs of people in forensic, correctional, and homeless populations. You can view a list of recent publications here (for a complete list see Dr. Nicholls’ ResearchGate page).
Abigail Yuen is co-author on IAFMHS paper and incoming MA Counselling Psychology student!
Congratulations to Abigail Yuen for co-authoring an IAFMHS paper and being accepted into an MA Counselling Psychology! WHO: Abigail graduated from The University of British Columbia in 2021 with a BA (Honours) in Psychology. She completed two honours theses and a directed study during her time at UBC. Abigail joined our team in 2021 and […]
How do people who have experienced an incarceration describe heaIthcare services? IAFMHS 2024 Conference Symposium
Our team conducted a symposium at the @IAFMHS 2024 Conference in San Francisco last month, during which we shared findings from our evaluation of Canadian correctional healthcare services. Our results highlighted the voices of people with lived and living experience of incarceration. Read the abstract below for an overview of our symposium. People who are incarcerated experience […]
JSAT (Jail Screening Assessment Tool) Symposium at IAFMHS 2024 Conference
Back in June, Dr. Nicholls and two of our trainees, Dr. Austin Lam and Liam Gorsuch, presented a symposium at the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services 2024 Conference, entitled “Examining the needs and trajectories of subgroups of people admitted to custody in provincial correctional centres: Substance use, Suicide, Sexually motivated offending and Women”. […]
Congratulations to Dr. Tonia Nicholls and Dr. Amanda Butler, who received a $1.3 million CIHR Project Grant!
The lab is pleased to announce that Dr. Tonia Nicholls and Dr. Amanda Butler, as Co-Principal Investigators, received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research | Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (CIHR) Project Grant! CIHR Project Grants are extremely competitive federal grants designed to support multi-year projects that show the most promise for advancing […]
The KERB Project and FPH! The Underrepresentation of Indigenous People in NCRMD Findings.
We’re excited to announce our collaboration with the Knowledge Exchange on Reader Boards Project (KERB) by BCMHSUS! KERB intends to raise awareness by communicating key mental health and substance use research findings. It aims to highlight overarching ideas from leading research by breaking them down into infographics to be displayed at sites across the province […]
IAFMHS Conference 2023– The NTP-C Symposium!
The International Association of Forensic Mental Health (IAFMHS) 2023 Conference held in Sydney, Australia focused on the Reintegration and Recovery among People in Forensic Mental Health and Criminal Legal Systems. Dr. Anne Crocker chaired a symposium on The National Trajectory Project-Community (NTP-C): A National Study of Opportunities and Obstacles to Successful Community Reintegration of Canadian […]
Introducing Knowledge Reader Boards at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital: Is the High- Risk Accused Designation for people found NCRMD Useful?
We’re excited to announce our collaboration with the Knowledge Exchange on Reader Boards Project (KERB) by BCMHSUS! KERB intends to raise awareness by communicating key mental health and substance use research findings. It aims to highlight overarching ideas from leading research by breaking them down into infographics to be displayed at sites across the province […]
Our Facility
We are based out of the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, a 190-bed tertiary psychiatric facility for individuals who are diagnosed with a mental illness and are in conflict with the law. We are located in the beautiful Colony Farms Regional Park in Coquitlam, BC.
