​Dr. Dueck was born and raised on a ranch in northern Alberta and has always had a heart for working with animals and people. After high school, she pursued post-secondary studies at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, where she developed a passion for psychology — particularly rehabilitation psychology. She completed a BA (Honours) with a Major in Psychology and Minor in Kinesiology.
She returned to Alberta to complete her Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Counselling Psychology before relocating to Vancouver, where she earned her PhD in Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
During her doctoral studies, she pursued additional supervised clinical training in traumatic stress. In 2001–2002, she completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Workers' Compensation Board of BC (now WorkSafe BC), receiving specialized training in the assessment and treatment of work-related mental health disorders, chronic pain, and injury adjustment. She then completed a two-year post-doctoral program in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC (2002–2004), further deepening her research and clinical expertise in traumatic stress. Dr. Dueck became a registered psychologist with the College of Psychologists of British Columbia in 2004. In 2005, she was awarded a Michael Smith Career Investigator Award and began a five-year research tenure as an Assistant Professor in UBC's Department of Psychiatry, where she pursued her research interests, taught undergraduate medical students and psychiatry residents, and provided clinical supervision to graduate psychology students.
​
Feeling increasingly drawn to full-time clinical practice, Dr. Dueck transitioned out of academia after completing her research tenure in 2010. She joined Back in Motion Rehab, where she worked as a psychologist for 12 years, gaining extensive experience across a wide range of programs including Return-to-Work Focused Psychological Treatment, Psycho-Vocational Assessments, Occupational Rehabilitation, Customized Active Rehabilitation, and the Occupational Trauma Program, primarily within the context of third-party insurers such as WorkSafe BC, ICBC, and various disability insurance companies.
​
In 2022, Dr. Dueck made the decision to leave her employed position and establish her own part-time private practice — a significant transition that aligned with another lifelong dream: helping animals. After relocating to Kamloops in 2019, she founded a non-profit farm sanctuary and now serves as its Executive Director. Outside of her psychology practice, she dedicates her time to caring for rescued animals, farm work, and the administrative operations of the sanctuary.
​
Dr. Dueck maintains her registration as a psychologist with the CHCPBC and is a member of the British Columbia Psychological Association, EMDR Canada, and EMDR International (EMDRIA). She regularly attends professional training workshops and participates in a peer consultation group to continually develop her clinical skills, particularly in EMDR therapy.
​
Looking ahead, Dr. Dueck hopes to further bridge her passions for working with people and animals as she is currently pursuing training in equine-facilitated and animal-assisted therapy. Stay tuned for more on this exciting expansion of her practice!
​
​
​