Dr. Erika Penner, PhD, R.Psych

Dr. Erika Penner, PhD, R.Psych Co-Director of Advocacy Dr. Penner completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Simon Fraser University. Her research focused on the experience of children and youth within government systems. She subsequently became a staff psychologist at the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children where she provided diagnostic and functional assessments for children and youth, many of whom were eligible for CYSN services. Many of the children and youth she worked with had experiences of trauma, and caregivers had struggled to navigate complex medical and child welfare systems. She later provided assessments through The Children’s Foundation, an organization that provides trauma-informed and culturally-sensitive services to the province’s most at-risk children and youth. 

Currently, Dr. Penner continues her assessment work at the Provincial Assessment Centre, a tertiary care facility that serves youth and adults with developmental, mental health and behavioural disorders. She also has a leadership educational role, most recently developing the organization’s consent policy in light of BC Ombudsperson’s report Committed to Change: Protecting the Rights of Involuntary Patients under the Mental Health Act. Dr. Penner is a staff psychologist in Medical Psychology at BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH). In this role, she is a leader in providing education and teaching across disciplines including to students and residents in medicine, psychology, psychiatry, and nursing. She conducts research in her capacity as a Clinical Investigator at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, with her most recent project focusing on the mental health needs of pediatric transplant patients. As a clinician, educator, and researcher, Dr. Penner is keenly aware of the disparities that exist in health care and the urgent need to broaden our notion of health care to include the full scope of mental, physical, social and behavioural health. Most recently, Dr. Penner has taken a role as one the Directors of Public Advocacy with the BC Psychological Association. 

She has worked collaboratively with BC Divisions of Family Practice to use research to inform the development of Primary Care Networks. She helped to develop the Psychological First Aid telephone line within weeks of the COVID pandemic lock-down in BC, a service that provided mental health support to all British Columbians. As part of her leadership role in advocacy for psychologists, she has reviewed the province’s Modernization framework and she is currently working in collaboration with the other Associations of Health Professionals to provide feedback to the Ministry of Health as to the implementation of this framework.