Forensic Psychology Program at StFX and the Annual Forensic Psychology Day

 The applied forensic psychology program at STFX is 1 of 4 undergraduate programs in forensic psychology across Canada. The program recently (in 2020) was adapted to the 4-year undergraduate program that it is today, before the only option was a 2-year concentration of forensic psychology which began in 2013. The program has grown exponentially in the last few years and is providing lots of opportunities for students in regard to practicum placements and future opportunities.

Forensic psychology is the interface between psy- chology and law. The applied part is referring to the practical skills that are also emphasized in the program. Such skills include active listening, critical thinking skills, clinical/investigative interviewing and psychological profiling.

So, what do most students of Forensic Psychology do after they leave StFX? A few students currently in the program took the initiative of tracking down previous students of either the 4-year undergraduate program or the previous 2-year concentration to find out what careers they are in now. The results they gathered indicated that the majority of students go into fields such as clinical psychology, counseling, social work, policing, and law.

The program headed by Dr. Watt is set to host the annual Forensic Psychology day at X coming up on March 10th. There will be several guest speakers coming in to give talks on a variety of different forensic psychology areas. Just a few of the speakers include Dr. Mary Ann Campbell from the University of New Brunswick, who will be giving a talk on trauma informed police interviewing. Dr. Ternes from Saint Mary’s University will be speaking on deception and lie detection. This day is something many students in the program can look forward to, the talks will surely be informative and may even give students an indication of where the Forensic Psychology degree at StFX could lead them in the future.

I personally am excited for the annual Forensic Psychology Day at StFX, I have really enjoyed being a part of the program and can’t wait to see where the program goes moving forward!