DoctorAyesha Qureshi

I am a psychologist, educator and researcher with more than 20 years of experience spanning university teaching, research, community health, and, more recently, clinical mental health and addiction practice. My research interests centre on resilience, wellbeing and mental health, and I am a mixed-methods researcher with a particular interest in qualitative research.

My academic career began in Pakistan after completing a Master’s degree in Psychology at the National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, in 2005. I taught psychology as a visiting faculty in various public and privatesector universities before moving to Saudi Arabia, where I taught psychology at Jazan University from 2013 to 2019. In 2019, I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand to undertake a PhD in Psychology at the University of Otago. My doctoral research explored resilience and wellbeing among family carers of people affected by stroke, and my thesis was recognised with an Exceptional Thesis Award. In 2025, I began further professional training in mental health and addiction practice through Te Taketake  Diploma in Applied Addictions and Co-existing Problems Counselling at the Moana House Training Institute. Alongside this training, I have undertaken supervised clinical practice with Specialist Addiction Services at Wakari Hospital and Moana House, working with people experiencing mental health, addiction and co-existing challenges. I expect to complete this training in November 2026 and progress towards provisional registration with DAPAANZ.

Across my teaching, research and clinical practice, I am particularly interested in strengths-based approaches to resilience, wellbeing, mental health and addiction, and in connecting research evidence with education and real-world practice.