Diana Coholic

Biography

Diana obtained her Ph.D. at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and her M.S.W. degree at the University of Toronto. Diana is a practicing clinical social worker with 25+ years of experience, and she has been involved with the local chapter of the Ontario Association of Social Workers since 2005. At Laurentian University (LU), she is a core member of the research group ECHO - Evaluating Children's Health Outcomes. She is also the SSHRC Leader for LU. For almost six years, Diana was the Academic Director for the Northern Ontario Region of the YouthREX project that has a mission to make "research evidence and evaluation accessible and relevant to Ontario’s youth sector through knowledge mobilization, capacity building and evaluation leadership." 

Diana's research investigates the effectiveness of arts-based mindfulness group work for the improvement of wellbeing and resilience particularly in marginalized children and youth. The 12-week arts-based mindfulness group program that she and her team developed is called Holistic Arts-Based Program (HAP). HAP helps youth improve their mood and self-esteem, and develop better coping skills and relationships through the enjoyable experience of creative group work. A session by session ouline of HAP can be found here: Facilitating Mindfulness: A Guide for Human Service Professionals. More information (including videos & webinars) can be found on her research website: www.dianacoholic.com. 

Starting in 2022, she and her team are studying the benefits of HAP within school systems in cooperation with school boards across northeastern Ontario and beyond. The goal of this 3-year project is to study the benefits of HAP at school for young people, and also how teachers, school-based helping professionals, and caregivers experience learning about and/or facilitating the program. The team’s objectives are to:  

1. teach young people mindfulness skills & concepts that could lead to improved resilience including abilities to focus, cope, and engage in effective relationships;  

2. train teachers, social workers, early childhood educators and other school-based personnel in arts-based mindfulness methods, which may impact the resilience of school systems;

3. investigate the delivery processes and outcomes of different formats of HAP (traditional 12-week program, whole class format, imbedded in the curriculum); and, 

4. educate parents/guardians in arts-based mindfulness methods, which may reinforce the students’ learning and improve family systems. 

As of February 2022, HAP is being facilitated in elementary and high school classrooms within four school boards: Rainbow District School Board, Sudbury Catholic District School Board; Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l’Ontario and Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario.

Education

• Ph.D., University of New South Wales
• M.S.W., University of Toronto
• B.A., University of Guelph

On The Web

Article in The Conversation, January 12, 2020: Visual Arts Helps Marginalized Youth Learn Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

Research Website