Dr Alissa Beath graduated from KRB in 2004 and completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology. In 2015, Alissa completed a PhD in Psychology which focused on emotion regulation, emotional intelligence and stress; investigating how personality traits (for eg. emotional intelligence) are related to emotion regulation strategies (for eg. cognitive reappraisal) in order to help individual’s cope with life stress.
After completing her PhD, Alissa applied this work to the context of health conditions, particularly gastrointestinal conditions. She is particularly interested in the role of psychological processes (cognitions, emotions, and behaviours) in the development, maintenance, and the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders. In addition, Alissa conducts research into education psychology, investigating university students’ experiences of stress and well-being throughout their studies, and how individual factors like resilience and self-efficacy help students at university.
In the last three years, Alissa has worked as the Undergraduate Director of Psychology, overseeeing three distinct degree offerings at Macquarie University; her role oversees approximately 6000 students. Alissa has led the creation of Macquarie’s online Psychology degree offered via Open Universities Australia since 2018. Alongside these positions, Alissa also conducts research in the fields of both health psychology and educational psychology and supervises honours and higher degree research students. Alissa is a proud member of MQ’s Ally Network and the MQ node of Academics for Refugees.
In 2021 Alissa won the Vice Chancellor’s (Macquarie University) Award for teaching excellence. This award recognises excellence in teaching and support of learning, and the impact they have on motivating and inspiring students to learn. In 2018, Alissa also won the Faculty of Human Sciences Dean’s Award for Programs that Enhance Learning and in 2020, she won the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences’ Teaching Excellence Award.
Alissa has joined our KRB Connect Alumnae Mentoring Program. She been involved in mentoring programs throughout her career (as both mentee and mentor) and finds it incredibly fulfilling. Alissa has been lucky enough to have been mentored by exceptional colleagues and teachers who have had very positive impacts on her, both personally and professionally. A large part of her job is supporting university students and other staff, and she views the KRB mentoring program as an opportunity to connect with and support others. If you would be interested in being mentored by Alissa, please contact Victoria Dalton at daltonvi@krb.nsw.edu.au