Dr. Stephanie Knaak
Senior Research and Evaluation Analyst
Dr. Stephanie Knaak comes to the Reichert & Associates team with a strong academic background and over 20 years of experience in the research and evaluation field. She holds a PhD from the University of Alberta and is trained in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research. She also has expertise in scale development and validation. Her areas of specialty include mental health and substance use, harm reduction, workplace mental health, and stigma reduction.
As a part of the Reichert & Associates team, she is currently involved in the evaluation of the scale up of the CBT Skills Groups Program Initiative and was instrumental is developing an anti-discrimination framework as part of the evaluation of the provincial overdose emergency response. Some of Stephanie’s other work includes establishing the evidence base for the effectiveness of BC’s Adult Mental Health PSP Program (including international adaptations and implementations in other Canadian jurisdictions), Fraser Health Authority’s Trauma and Resiliency-Informed Training (TRIP) program, The Working Mind (TWM) workplace mental health training, as well as research on the implementation and design of successful anti stigma initiatives and training.
Stephanie is considered an international expert in the field of mental illness and substance use related stigma and stigma reduction. In recent years she has published over 35 academic articles specifically on stigma reduction and related topics. In 2020, she was invited to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime in Vienna to consult on the development of international guidelines for the reduction of stigma in the context of substance use. She is a member of Health Canada’s Stigma Stakeholder Working Group and is regularly solicited as an expert content advisor for training programs aimed at mental health and substance use stigma reduction. She also holds adjunct professorial appointments at the University of Calgary and the University of Manitoba.
Stephanie divides her time between Calgary, AB and the beautiful BC Interior. She loves travelling and the outdoors. She is also a devoted student of yoga, and recently completed her meditation teacher training certification.